SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. (CNS) - A search went into a third day Monday for a missing 5-year-old boy whose 35-year-old father -- now behind bars in lieu of $10 million bail -- was found unconscious at a South Pasadena park and arrested when he could not account for his son's disappearance.
The lead entity in the search is now the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau, which also searches for missing persons, said sheriff's Lt. Joe Mendoza.
South Pasadena police Chief Arthur Miller and sheriff's detectives pleaded Sunday for the public to provide information on the whereabouts of Aramazd Andressian Jr.
"There's got to be someone out there that knows the whereabouts of Aramazd Andressian," Miller said. There's got to be someone who knows where he's at. I'm asking you as a law enforcement official and a parent."
The gray 2004 four-door BMW owned by Aramazd Andressian Sr. -- California license number is 5FIL646 -- was seen in Orange County Friday morning, the day before the man was found passed out in South Pasadena's Arroyo Seco Park, officials said.
"At this point his statements have been convoluted and not consistent," sheriff's Capt. Chris Bergner said Sunday. "We're working to try to get to the truth. We're getting new information and following up on leads we have but it's not enough."
The senior Andressian remained jailed in lieu of $10 million bail on suspicion of child endangerment and child abduction, officials said.
South Pasadena police said the child's parents are going through a divorce, and the man had temporary custody when he was found passed out next to his car in the park early Saturday morning. The boy was nowhere to be found.
Police dogs from the South Pasadena Police Department and nearby agencies joined in the effort to locate the child, said South Pasadena police Sgt. Spencer Louie.
Andressian's parents are estranged, and he was last seen by his mother Tuesday via a Skype video call from an unknown location, South Pasadena police said.
Andressian, Sr. was found unconscious at Arroyo Seco Park at 6:30 a.m. Saturday. He was taken to a hospital, treated and released before he was arrested.
Bloodhounds have combed Arroyo Seco Park at least twice, and Sierra Madre Search and Rescue and the San Gabriel and San Marino police departments also joined the search.
The boy's mother contacted police at 9 a.m. Saturday to report her son missing. She said her husband, with whom she shares custody of the boy, had failed to drop him off at a pre-arranged meeting place.
Aramazd Jr. is described as white, 4 feet 1, 55 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a turquoise plaid shirt and plaid shorts and has a small mole on the bottom of his right shoulder, police said.
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.
The search for the little boy recalled another case of child disappearance in South Pasadena, although not one involving a parent. Seven-year-old Phoebe Ho was kidnapped on her way to school and murdered on Dec. 11, 1986. Warren James Bland was sentenced to death in 1993 for the strangulation slaying of the little girl, who had also been sexually tortured, and died in prison in August 2001.
