Dad Thinks He Was Attacked Before Boy, 5, Vanished

The father of a 5-year-old California boy who has been missing for a week released his first public statement Friday, saying he believes he was attacked before the boy disappeared. Aramazd Andressian Sr. who was found unconscious near his vehicle in a South Pasadena park last Saturday, says the last thing he remembers before waking up in the hospital is being with Aramazd Andressian Jr. in the park, ABC7 reports. "I was told that a Good Samaritan found me unconscious on the ground near my car, with young Aramazd nowhere in sight," he said. "I can only speculate that I must have been attacked in the park."

Andressian Sr. shares custody with the boy's mother and police have accused him of making confusing and contradictory statements about his son's possible whereabouts. He was released from jail Tuesday after being held on suspicion of child endangerment. Earlier Friday, investigators with scent-detecting dogs executed a search warrant at his home but left empty-handed, the Los Angeles Times reports. Police say they still hope to find the boy alive. "We're operating on the assumption that we're going to find him alive, and that's why we're doing these types of searches," says Lt. Joe Mendoza of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. (More missing child stories.)