LOS ANGELES (AP) – Investigators suspect the father of a 5-year-old California boy who has been missing for two months killed the child after a family outing at Disneyland in a plot to get back at his estranged wife during a bitter separation, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said Monday.
The body of Aramazd Andressian Jr. has not been found and investigators would not release specific details of what led to the filing of the murder charge, but said there is strong circumstantial evidence in the case to prove the boy was killed by his father, Aramazd Andressian Sr.
“I am confident the evidence proves Mr. Andressian committed this horrible crime,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said.
Investigators have been searching for the missing boy since his father was found passed out in a large park in South Pasadena on April 22. Sheriff’s officials say the father had taken prescription pills and was found in a car doused in gasoline in what they say was an attempt to take his own life.
The boy was last seen leaving Disneyland with his father around 1 a.m. on April 21. Investigators believe Andressian killed his son a short time later and then drove about 145 miles (230 kilometers) later that morning to Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County. Sheriff’s homicide detectives have searched the lake twice in the past few months, using dogs and a dive team to help in the search.