16-Year-Old Family Member of Terry Smith Arrested for Murder

Menifee Mayor Scott Mann addresses the media after the announcement by Capt. John Hill (far left) of the arrest of a family member of Terry Smith.

A 16-year-old family member of Terry Dewayne Smith Jr. was arrested for murder today after police found human remains matching the boy's description in a shallow grave in the Smiths' Menifee back yard.

Capt. John Hill of the Menifee Police Department told reporters he couldn't confirm the identity of the body. In a phone interview earlier, however, the boy's father told Menifee 24/7 he was informed that authorities believed it to be the body of his son.

"I have come to the realization that it's Terry," said Terry Dewayne Smith Sr. from his home in West Virginia.

Hill said he could not name the family member who was arrested. He answered only a couple questions before walking away from the podium, leaving several questions unanswered:

-- Was the family member who was arrested the 16-year-old half brother of Terry, who initially told police and Menifee 24/7 that he last saw the boy walking toward their home Saturday night?

-- If the Smith yard was searched as thoroughly during the first day of Terry's disappearance as Hill says it was, why wasn't a shallow grave with "partially exposed human remains" discovered earlier?

-- Are any other family members under suspicion?

There may be more questions than answers in a case that has captured the emotions of an entire community for four days. Hundreds of citizen volunteers combed the countryside night and day, searching for a young boy who apparently was lying dead on the family's property.

Volunteers, who will gather at Menifee Market on Scott Road for a prayer vigil tonight at 7:30, expressed their sadness and shock at the news.

"I'm very angry, for a lot of reasons," said Canyon Lake resident Darlene Moline, who attended the press conference. "All these people showed up to look for him. It's been horrible heat, it's dry to the bone out there, and we're out there shlepping through the brush. And his mom is sitting there at home?

"The bottom line is, an 11-year-old boy isn't with us anymore -- and for what reason? What could he have possibly done to deserve this?"

Natalie Adams, who drove from Temecula to take part in the search the last three days, also was distraught and angry.

"It's BS," she said. "They (family members) have known the whole time that he was there and they let us wander around aimlessly?"

Asked whether the Smith home and yard was searched thoroughly on the first day of the disappearance, Hill said, "We conducted multiple searches. We were diligent in our search, using rescue team members, volunteers and guard dogs. Sometimes it takes a while to put all the puzzle pieces together."

Some have speculated that searchers didn't notice the body at first because it wasn't there. The police's report that they were summoned to the residence at 1:30 this morning raises the question of whether the boy's body had been hidden elsewhere and was moved to that location under a pepper tree in the back yard after the search of the property was completed.

According to police, a search warrant was required to go back on the property today after they were redirected to the property. They won't say who called in the tip.

Volunteers said they thought the property was suspicious because a foul smell near the area on Tuesday.

"At first, we thought it was the porta-potties by the Market," said Moline about the volunteer command center, which is adjacent to the Smith property. "But death does not smell like a porta-potty. That smell was terrible."

Deputy Albert Martinez of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said the name of the teenager arrested was not released because he is a juvenile. He said no other arrests were made "at this time," although he confirmed that others in the household -- including the mother, Shawna (or Bekkah) Smith -- were questioned.

Martinez said a positive ID of the boy won't be available from the coroner's office for at least a day, maybe more. He also was asked about a a report -- seen first here on Menifee 24/7 -- that the boy's father and two teachers dispute the mother's assertion that Terry was autistic.

"That is not a belief I have -- it's just what we were told," he said. "We have to go based on what the parents tell us."

Police searched the back yard of the Smith residence before focusing on an area under the pepper tree in the background.