The attorney of the father of the boy who’s been missing for days maintains the entire case is a mystery. Robert Kovacik reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25, 2017.
The father of a missing South Pasadena 5-year-old was released following an arrest as the search for his child continued Wednesday.
The father of Aramazd Andressian, Jr., who was discovered unconscious in a park over the weekend with no clue where his boy was, was released at 4 p.m. Tuesday from central jail, according to South Pasadena police.
Police were still searching for witnesses, and said that the child's father could be re-arrested if more information emerges.
Andressian's attorney told NBC4 he was released due to insufficient evidence. Investigators searched his South Pasadena home, but found nothing.
The boy's mother told police she was devastated and waiting to get reunited with her son.
Law enforcement authorities scoured the area of Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County in the continuing search for the boy.
Search dogs and a dive team were at the scene. Sheriff's officials said the boy and his father were in the area on Friday.
The boy, whose parents are estranged, was last seen via a Skype video call from an unknown location, according to a South Pasadena Police Department post on Facebook. His father, Aramazd Andressian, Sr., 35, was found unconscious at Arroyo Seco Park at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, according to media reports. He was taken to a hospital, treated and released before he was arrested on suspicion of abduction and child endangerment.
After learning that the father had visited Lake Cachuma Recreation Area in Santa Barbara County on Friday, officials, using police dogs and and a dive team, searched the area near and around the lake.
They hope to find witnesses or evidence leading to the whereabouts of the missing child.
South Pasadena Police Chief Art Miller said the father's story kept changing.
"We don't know what he truly knows," he said.
Daniel Nardoni, Andressian's attorney, said the father has no knowledge of where his son could be and said that he had done everything he could to cooperate with the investigation.
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"This is a mystery that none of us know," Nardoni told NBC4. "At this point, everyone is scratching their head."
When asked if Andressian harmed his son, Nardoni replied, "Absolutely not."
The boy's mother contacted police at 9 a.m. Saturday to report her son missing. She said her husband had failed to drop him off at a pre-arranged meeting place.
Sheriff's department investigators said the father and son were at Disneyland in Anaheim on Thursday, but authorities said they were having trouble piecing together a timeline between then and Saturday.
Aramazd Jr. is described as 4 feet 1 inch tall, 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.
Bloodhounds combed Arroyo Seco Park at least twice. Sierra Madre Search and Rescue and the San Gabriel Police Department have also joined the search.
Anyone with information about the boy was asked to call South Pasadena police at (626) 403-7297.
NBC4's Robert Kovacik contributed to this report.
