Sheriff's officials served a search warrant Friday morning at the South Pasadena home of a man whose 5-year-old son has been missing for about a week.
Investigators went to the home of 35-year-old Aramazd Andressian Sr. to look for possible forensic evidence linked to the child's disappearance, said Deputy Grace Medrano of the Sheriff's Information Bureau. A specially trained cadaver dog was being used in the search effort, she said.
NBC4 reached out to Andressian's attorney, Daniel Nordoni, who said he was not aware that investigators were at his client's home Friday morning. Andressian rents part of the home, which is owned by a Los Angeles Police Department officer.
Ever since Aramazd Andressian Jr. was reported missing, the search has spanned several Southern California counties, recently expanding to Santa Barbara, where authorities searched Tuesday in the Lake Cachuma Recreation Area where the boy may have been with his father on April 21.
Investigators were still working to build a case against Aramazd Andressian Sr., who was released from jail Tuesday after being held in lieu of $10 million since being arrested on Saturday, when he was found unconscious in a park in South Pasadena and could not account for his son's whereabouts.
Authorities have also searched in Orange County, where a gray 2004 four-door BMW owned by Andressian was seen on the morning of April 21 at Disneyland in Anaheim, where he and the boy apparently spent the day on April 20, officials said.
On Saturday morning, Andressian was found passed out next to his car in South Pasadena's Arroyo Seco Park. His son was nowhere to be found. Andressian was taken to a hospital, then arrested on suspicion of child endangerment and child abduction.
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Andressian was released from custody Tuesday, with the sheriff's department saying it had decided "not to present the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office for filing consideration at this time. The matter remains under investigation."
Sheriff's Capt. Chris Bergner said Andressian's statements "have been convoluted and not consistent."
The boy's mother contacted police at 9 a.m. Saturday to report her son missing. She said her estranged husband, with whom she shares custody of their son, had failed to drop off the child at a pre-arranged meeting place.
The boy was last seen by his mother Tuesday via a Skype video call from an unknown location, South Pasadena police said.
Police dogs from the South Pasadena Police Department and nearby agencies joined in the effort to locate the boy last weekend. Bloodhounds combed Arroyo Seco Park at least twice, and Sierra Madre's search-and-rescue team and the San Gabriel and San Marino police departments also joined the search.
Detectives have been in touch with relatives in Armenia and customs agents, though local police say they do not believe the boy has traveled there.
The child is white, 4 feet 1 inches tall, 55 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a plaid shirt and plaid shorts and has a small mole on the bottom of his right shoulder.
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.