California Dad Arrested in Disappearance of 5-Year-Old Son After 'Contradictory' Answers to Police
California authorities are searching for a 5-year-old boy who has been missing for more than a week - and have arrested the boy’s father on suspicion of one count of child endangerment and one count of child abduction.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is asking for anyone with information about the disappearance of Aramazd Andressian Jr. to come forward.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the boy was last seen by his mother on Saturday, April 15, when she handed him to his father during a custody transition. Three days later, she had a Skype conversation with the boy.
Although another Skype conversation was scheduled for April 20, police say that it did not occur.
The boy’s father, Aramazd Andressian Sr., was supposed to give the child back to his mother on Saturday, April 22. Instead, police say that the 35-year-old father was found passed out near his car in a nearby park. The boy was nowhere to be found.
In a press conference, Police Chief Art Miller said that they don’t know why Aramazd Sr. was unconscious and there was no indication that he had been attacked.
More than 125 searchers combed the area near where the father’s car was found, but they found no trace of the missing boy.
“He’s not with his mother and he’s not with his father,” Sheriff’s Homicide Captain Chris Bergner told reporters during a Sunday afternoon press conference. “He’s with somebody and we’re pleading to that somebody to let us bring him home.”
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Bergner added that authorities were following every lead, but “it’s not enough.”
After Aramazd Sr. gave police information that Bergner said was “contradictory,” he was arrested on suspicion of one count of child endangerment and one count of child abduction. He remains in custody on $10 million bond. He has not yet hired an attorney and has yet to enter a plea.
Multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating the disappearance. “We don’t know if [the boy] crawled out of the car himself, if he walked away, if he was abducted,” Chief Miller told ABC7. “We have no idea.”
Aramazd Jr. is approximately 3 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 55 lbs. Police say he was last seen wearing a turquoise shirt and plaid shorts or a gray-and-white-striped shirt with gray sweatpants. He has a mole on the bottom of his right shoulder.
Anyone with tips on the ongoing case can call the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department at 323-890-5500 or South Pasadena police at 626-403-7297.