Search For Missing Boy At Arroyo Seco Park Yields Nothing

SOUTH PASADENA, CA — Another search was conducted Thursday at Arroyo Seco Park in connection with the disappearance of a 5-year-old South Pasadena boy missing since April 22, but no new evidence was found.

About 80 members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and South Pasadena Police Department went to the park at 800 Stoney Drive this morning and searched through early afternoon for evidence related to the disappearance of Aramazd Andressian Jr.

Officials told reporters about 2 p.m. that no new evidence had been found.

The effort came a day after the boy's mother, Ana Estevez, made an emotional public plea for help in finding her son, calling his disappearance her "worst nightmare."

The boy's father, Aramazd Andressian Sr., was found unconscious at Arroyo Seco Park on April 22 and was unable to account for his son's whereabouts. He was jailed for three days in lieu of $10 million bail before being released.

He told investigators he had arrived at the park with his son and waited for the golf course to open, and admitted ingesting prescription medication that was not prescribed to him, sheriff's Lt. Joe Mendoza said.

But the father said he did not remember what happened to his child or any details that were useful in locating him, according to Mendoza, who said a prescription bottle was found inside Andressian's vehicle, which was doused with gasoline inside and out.

Matches and a gasoline container and were also found inside the car and a rag that had been doused with gasoline was found in the area near the vehicle's gas cap, Mendoza said, adding that it's unclear "how those items play into what occurred."

In a briefing at the park Thursday morning, Mendoza said the new search, which involved dogs, drones and search and rescue personnel, was ordered because investigators received a recent tip that was regarded as "credible," but he declined to be more specific.

"We're not going to reveal where that tip came from, just to protect the integrity of the investigation," Mendoza said.

The search was in the same general area that was searched by South Pasadena and San Marino police soon after the boy went missing, Mendoza said.

The search for the boy has spanned several Southern California counties, including Santa Barbara, where authorities scoured the Lake Cachuma Recreation Area, where he may have been with his father on April 21.

On April 28, the day a search warrant was served at his South Pasadena home, Andressian released a statement through his attorney about his son's disappearance.

"I hope and pray for the safe return of my only child, my namesake, who has been missing since last Saturday morning, April 22nd," he said.

Andressian said his son wanted to go to the park that morning before they met with his mother for a custody exchange.

"In one moment, I was at the park with my son, and then I found myself waking up in Huntington Memorial Hospital hours later. I was told that a good Samaritan found me unconscious on the ground near my car, with young Aramazd nowhere in sight. I can only speculate that I must have been attacked in the park, given my unresponsive state and subsequent physical condition," the statement said.

He said he and his family "are heartbroken and grief-stricken that Aramazd Jr. is missing and may be in harm's way. I am pleading with the public to come forward with any knowledge of Aramazd Jr.'s whereabouts or information regarding the circumstances leading up to his disappearance."

When Andressian was released from custody, the sheriff's department said it had decided "not to present the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office for filing consideration at this time. The matter remains under investigation."

The boy's mother contacted police at 9 a.m. April 22 to report her son missing. She said her estranged husband, with whom she shares custody of their son, had failed to drop off the child at a pre-arranged meeting place.

The boy was last seen by his mother on April 18, via a Skype video call from an unknown location, South Pasadena police said.

Bloodhounds combed Arroyo Seco Park at least twice before Thursday, and Sierra Madre's search-and-rescue team and the San Gabriel and San Marino police departments joined the search.

Authorities also previously searched in Orange County, where a gray 2004 four-door BMW owned by Andressian was seen on the morning of April 21 at Disneyland in Anaheim, where he and the boy apparently spent the day on April 20.

On Tuesday, a $20,000 reward was approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for information that helps authorities locate the child.

The boy is white, 4 feet 1 and 55 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a plaid shirt and plaid shorts and has a small mole on the bottom of his right shoulder.

South Pasadena police asked anyone with information about the boy to call them at (626) 403-7297. Sheriff's detectives can be reached at (323) 890- 5500. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Crime Stoppers by calling (800) 222-TIPS.

City News Service, photo courtesy of the LASD