The body of a missing 5-year-old boy was found in Southern California by authorities, and his father was charged with murder.
Detectives found the remains of Aramazd Andressian Jr. in the area around Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told The Associated Press.
His father, Aramazd Andressian Sr., 35, of South Pasadena was arrested last week. He was detained on June 23 in Las Vegas in connection with the death, People magazine reported.
He denies harming the child.
The child was last seen with his father at Disneyland in April before they left the theme park around midnight.
The elder Andressian and his wife, Ana Estevez, were involved in a bitter divorce and were sharing custody of the boy.
His mother reported the boy missing in April, and that’s when police started searching for the missing boy.
On April 22, the elder Andressian was supposed to drop off his son in San Marino, California, but he failed to show up, according to People. He was instead found passed out near his car in a park. The inside of his car was doused with gasoline and matches were found inside in what police allege was a suicide attempt.
He told police that he was attacked---but had no memory of what happened. He also told cops that he took medication and fell unconscious.
“There has been a great deal of speculation regarding the timeline around his disappearance,” Andressian, Sr. wrote several weeks ago after his boy disappeared.
“The last time I saw my son was on Saturday morning, the 22nd, at Arroyo Park near my home in South Pasadena. After breakfast Aramazd Jr. wanted to go to the park before we were to meet his mother for a custody exchange at 9:00 a.m.”
According to police, while living in a Las Vegas hotel, Andressian changed his appearance and started socializing with others. They allege that his behavior was inconsistent with that of a grieving parent.
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