Authorities search 30-mile area in Santa Barbara County for missing 5-year-old boy
More than 235 sheriff’s deputies, firefighters, police officers and others scoured areas along 30 miles of road in Santa Barbara County on Saturday but failed to locate a 5-year-old boy who has been missing for nearly two months.
Aramadz Andressian Jr. was last seen April 20 with his father, who was initially detained on suspicion of child endangerment and abduction but released for lack of evidence. Aramadz Andressian Sr. told investigators he took his son to the Lake Cachuma area in Santa Barbara County the day after the boy’s last sighting, but there have been no confirmed sightings of the child there.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that they identified “possible areas of interest” in Saturday’s search, which encompassed areas between Nojoqui Falls, Solvang and the Lake Cachuma area. They said the investigation was ongoing and authorities will resume the search later.
Andressian Sr., who detectives have said has given “inconsistent” and “misleading” statements, has hired an attorney and refused to cooperate with investigators. He was found unconscious in a South Pasadena Park on April 22, the day he was supposed to return the boy to his ex-wife.
The missing child is described as a 55-pound white male with brown hair and brown eyes. Authorities have offered a $20,000 reward for information about his disappearance. Police have also searched South Pasadena Park and served search warrants at the boy’s grandmother’s Montebello home.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500 or provide tips anonymously at (800) 222-TIPS (8477) or www.lacrimestoppers.org.
For more California news, follow me on Twitter @vicjkim
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