Public’s help sought over missing boy

A $10,000 reward is offered in search for 5-year-old who disappeared April 22.

A $10,000 reward has been offered for any information leading to the whereabouts of a 5-year-old boy whose mysterious disappearance triggered searches in at least three counties.

Aramazd Andressian Jr. was reported missing April 22 after his father was found unconscious and alone outside his car in South Pasadena’s Arroyo Park. Authorities scoured the park and surrounding area for the boy but did not find him.

In the following week, investigators searched for clues in Orange County, where they believed the boy had gone to Disneyland with his father, Aramazd Andressian Sr.

Detectives also explored Cachuma Lake Recreation Area in Santa Barbara County. Authorities suspected the boy’s father visited the lake on April 21. Investigators and scent-detecting dogs then searched Andressian’s home in South Pasadena on Friday.

Again, detectives were unable to find any evidence leading them to the boy.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said homicide detectives and the boy’s family are now asking for “the public’s assistance in obtaining any information” to help them find Aramazd.

The investigation into Aramazd’s whereabouts began April 22 when Andressian was supposed to drop off his son with the child’s mother in San Marino. But Andressian never showed, South Pasadena Police Chief Art Miller said.

Police later discovered that Andressian had been hospitalized earlier that morning when he was found in Arroyo Park. Miller said there’s no evidence suggesting the boy’s father was attacked, and investigators don’t know why he was unconscious.

Authorities arrested Andressian, 35, in connection with his son’s disappearance, but he was released from jail April 25. His attorney said the case was dismissed because of insufficient evidence.

Andressian later released a statement to KABC-TV.

“I was told that a good Samaritan found me unconscious on the ground near my car, with young Aramazd nowhere in sight,” he said. “I can only speculate that I must have been attacked in the park, given my unresponsive state and subsequent physical condition. My family and I are heartbroken and grief-stricken that Aramazd Jr. is missing and may be in harm’s way.”

The mother told investigators she had handed her son off to his father about 8 a.m. April 15 in Baldwin Park, authorities said. She last saw her son April 20 during a Skype video conversation, the Sheriff’s Department said.

The couple are in the process of getting a divorce but share custody of their child, Miller said.

Aramazd is 3 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs about 55 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes, as well as a small mole on his right shoulder, authorities said.