SAN DIEGO -- Search efforts led by the grandmother of missing South Park toddler Jahi Turner were expected to be suspended in favor of prayer Sunday, 10News reported.

MISSING JAHI TURNER Light-skinned African-American 30 pounds, 30 inches tall Black hair Wearing blue "Winnie the Pooh" T-shirt, blue pants, and gray tennis shoes INFORMATION SDPD Juvenile Hotline: (619) 744-9521 Tip Hotline: (619) 235-8477 Friends of Jahi Recovery Centre: (619) 266-3677 Download A Missing Flyer SOUND OFF Share Your Thoughts

"We're asking people everywhere in the state of California to please pray," family liaison Susan Nixon said.

Penny Thompson, the child's grandmother, was expected to spend Mother's Day attending several area churches.

Saturday's search included detectives and volunteer horseback patrols combing a sprawling midtown open-space area.

The mounted officers from Chula Vista joined San Diego police in sweeps through Florida Canyon, a short distance from the neighborhood playground where the 2-year-old's stepfather reported him missing 17 days ago.

The operations stemmed from no specific tip, but were merely a means of ensuring the brushy arroyo has been thoroughly scoured for any evidence in the presumed-kidnapping case, SDPD information officer Dave Cohen said earlier.

Saturday, more than 100 people working out of a makeshift headquarters at the Jackie Robinson YMCA building in the Mountain View area spent another day searching for any sign of the boy.

To assist in the search, the SDPD assigned a detective from the robbery division to work as a liaison.

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Earlier this week, investigators wrapped up a week of nonstop digging at a Miramar-area landfill for clues into Jahi's disappearance.

The exhaustive operation turned up "several items that have caught (detectives') interest" from a 5,000-ton mountain of refuse that originated in the area where the boy's family lives, 10News reported Tuesday.

Officials have declined to disclose what was found and refused to say what prompted the search involving scores of detectives and hundreds of military volunteers.

Jahi's stepfather, Tieray Jones, 23, reported the boy missing from the southeastern reaches of Balboa Park the afternoon of April 25.

Jones told police he left Jahi in a children's recreation area with a woman and two other toddlers as he walked a few hundred yards to buy a soda from a vending machine.

When he returned, his stepson was gone, along with the others, the man reported.

Jahi's disappearance, which investigators soon deemed an abduction, prompted an all-out law enforcement probe and volunteer searches involving hundreds of citizens.

Police have declined to address news reports that Jahi apparently was not where his stepfather said he was the day he went missing, or that Jones failed a lie detector test.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that police did not find the boy's fingerprints on recreation equipment in the playground off 28th and Beech streets where Jones said they had been that day.

The missing boy's mother, Tameka Jones, 18, is in the Navy and was at sea when her son disappeared. Her commanders allowed her to return to shore immediately to help in the search.

Police urged anyone with information concerning Jahi's whereabouts to call the SDPD's Central Division "juvenile hotline" at (619) 744-9521, or San Diego County Crime Stoppers' anonymous tip service at (619) 235-8477.

The number for the Jahi Recovery Centre is: (619) 266-3677.