14 DAY TRIAL // An 11-year-old boy suffering from diagnosed with autism has gone missing from Menifee, Riverside County in California on Saturday.
Christian Post reported that Terry Dewayne Smith was last seen at 33000 block of Helen Lane.
“The child is autistic. He does have the mental capacity of a 7-year-old,” informs Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy Albert Martinez.
He disappeared in the Menifee hills area, prompting a massive search operation on the ground and by helicopter.
NBC Los Angeles informed that his mother left him with his stepmother playing video games, and he was gone by the time she returned home from playing pool on Saturday.
“Those are very rugged foothills up there. There are a lot of rocks and areas not accessible by vehicle. There are a lot of areas where you might not see somebody unless you were right on top of them,” Lt. Charlie Wilhite states.
A team of volunteers is currently scouring the area for the young boy, as temperatures rise.
“It's going to be in the hundred-degree range today, and we need to get the boy found,” Wilhite says.
“The concern is how easy it is to dehydrate,” Martinez said.
The Press Enterprise mentions that there is no proof of the boy being kidnapped. The boy's father is estranged from the family, living in a different state.
“To our knowledge there’s no contact between him and the child,” Martinez notes.
The young boy has been described as blonde-haired, blue-eyed, 4 feet 8 inches (142 cm) tall and weighing 76 pounds (34.5 kg). He is high-functioning and also answers to the name “JuJu.”
“He is approachable, somewhat,” mother Shawna Smith explains.
He also displays a hyper-sensitivity to water and he gets easily startled when he feels it on his head.
“He’s probably not going to answer back,” says volunteer Bill Gillette.