Reward offered as mom pleads for help finding 5-year-old son
Ana Estevez’s 5-year-old son recently asked whether the happiest day of her life was when he was born. She told him it was the “best day ever.”
Now she holds out hope that the next best day of her life will be when her boy returns home.
“It has been 32 days [and] almost three hours since I last hugged my son, kissed him or told him how much I love him,” she said Wednesday during a news conference where authorities asked for the public’s help for information regarding the child’s disappearance.
Estevez reported her son — Aramazd Andressian Jr., also known as “Piqui” — missing April 22 after her estranged husband missed a planned custody exchange in San Marino.
Since then, law enforcement agencies have scoured land from Santa Barbara County to South Pasadena in search of the child. Authorities are hoping a $20,000 reward for information will inspire someone to come forward with clues. There is also a GoFundMe account to supplement the reward.
The boy’s father, Aramazd Andressian Sr., 35, had been found unconscious April 22 about 6:30 a.m. in Arroyo Park in South Pasadena without the child and was briefly hospitalized. Authorities said he had taken prescription drugs that were not his.
The father has given “inconsistent” and “misleading” statements to authorities, said Lt. Joe Mendoza with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Andressian was briefly held on charges of child endangerment and child abduction, then released because of insufficient evidence. He has hired a lawyer and has refused to speak with investigators, giving only a written statement provided by his attorney, Mendoza said.
On Wednesday, Mendoza said that the father is a “person of interest” in the case. It is unknown if others are involved, but Mendoza said investigators are keeping an open mind.
Aramazd was last seen alive about 1 a.m. on April 21 after leaving Disneyland with his father and other relatives, authorities said. Investigators also believe Andressian visited the Cachuma Lake Recreation Area with Aramazd before the child was reported missing, but there were no confirmed sightings of the boy. Witnesses told authorities they saw the father there alone.
The next day, the father was found unconscious with injuries, including abrasions to his arms and a cut on his head. Investigators are looking into whether the injuries were self-inflicted. His car, a gray BMW, had been doused with gasoline.
“He’s been deceitful since the very beginning,” said Sheriff’s Det. Louie Aguilera, the lead investigator on the case. Aguilera said fire personnel who responded to the park that morning said Andressian was “deliberately unresponsive.”
On Wednesday, the child’s mother addressed the media for the first time since the disappearance. She said the last time she saw her son was via a Skype video call on April 18. She said she is “heartbroken.”
“My son’s disappearance is my worst nightmare,” she said, adding that she believes Aramazd is still alive. She told her son to be brave and that she loves him.
“I am counting the days when I will see you again, Honey,” she said. “And I will never stop looking for you.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff ’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.