A father’s obsession with revenge turned a dream trip to Disneyland into a nightmare, ending with the suffocation of his 5-year-old son and a cold confession that shocked even veteran detectives. Aramas Andresian Jr. , known as Pey, was a bright, beautiful ray of sunshine to his mother, Anna Estz, but to his father, he was a weapon in a bitter divorce.
The little boy who loved nature, planting gardens, and the song “You Are My Sunshine” never returned from a weeklong visit with his father in spring 2023.
Anna Estz had fought for years to become a mother, enduring five miscarriages and thousands of dollars in in vitro fertilization before Pey was born. The marriage soured after his birth, leading to a contentious divorce and joint custody. Under the visitation agreement, exchanges were to occur on neutral ground, often at police stations or public places.
Anna, wary of her ex-husband, installed a dash cam in her car to record every handoff. But no camera could capture what Aramas Andresian Sr. planned next.
On a spring morning, the couple agreed to meet in San Marino so Andresian could pick up Pey for a trip to Disneyland. The child was to be returned in seven days at 8 a. m.
Anna arrived at the designated spot, waiting anxiously for hours. Father and son never showed. No phone call, no message.
Anna immediately reported her son missing to police. Just a few miles west in South Pasadena, a passerby found a man lying in the road—Aramas Andresian Sr. , semic‑conscious, his hands scratched, fingernails caked with dirt, bruises on his ribs.
Little Pey was nowhere to be seen.
Detectives rushed to the scene. Andresian was transported to a hospital, where his initial statement was vague: “I don’t know what happened.” He claimed he fell asleep and woke up with detectives talking to him.
Court documents later revealed he had ingested opiates and prescription medications. But his behavior raised immediate red flags. When police questioned him, he never asked about his son’s condition.
Instead, he turned the focus on his ex‑wife, saying he believed he had been set up. “Look at Anna,” he repeated, citing the divorce and claims of being followed.
Police held Andresian on suspicion of child endangerment and child abduction, but lacking evidence, they released him. He was “very happy to be out of custody” to focus on finding his son, his lawyer said. But investigators soon realized Andresian had no intention of cooperating.
A massive 24/7 search launched across Southern California, with authorities treating Pey as a missing person. Anna Estz pleaded publicly: “Be brave, honey. Know that mama and a lot of people are working very hard to bring you home.”
But behind the scenes, detectives were building a case piece by piece.
Andresian’s actions after his son’s disappearance were telling. While Anna worked day and night, Andresian partied in Las Vegas—going to boxing matches, skydiving, and hiring prostitutes. Cell phone records showed he turned off his phone just before the Disneyland trip, indicating premeditation.
Days before the visit, he had created a will. His car, an older BMW, was found dowsed in gasoline inside and out, with two gas containers and a rag sticking out of the gas cap. Knives and an LED lantern were inside, suggesting he planned to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 himself under cover of darkness.
A child’s sweatshirt with a white film that appeared to be vomit was recovered. And on the dashboard, an ultrasound picture of Pey—the first image of his son in the world.
Investigators worked under the theory that Andresian murdered his child and planned to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 himself but botched it. They found internet searches on his computers for wilderness areas in Santa Barbara County—remote, heavily wooded places. Detectives believed he was searching for a site to bury or leave Pey’s body.
Search teams scoured 30 miles of terrain near Lake Cachuma, a two‑hour drive north of Los Angeles. Surveillance images at the lake showed Andresian alone. They developed a timeline: He left Disneyland with his son at 1 a.
m. , arrived at the lake area five hours later, murdered Pey, and disposed of the body, then reappeared alone on camera at 8 a. m.
He drove to South Pasadena, where he was found unconscious the next morning.
Two months after Pey vanished, police arrested Andresian in Las Vegas on a no‑body murder charge. He was hostile, calling detectives “animals” and taunting them for spending millions without finding his son. He had bleached his hair and applied for a passport, raising fears he might flee to Iran or Russia.
But his defiance evaporated in jail. Without any plea deal or promises of leniency, Andresian stunned investigators by confessing. “The manner in which he killed him was particularly cruel,” one detective later said.
According to the confession, Pey was asleep in his car seat when his father stopped the car. Andresian used Pey’s own sweatshirt to smother him. When he let go, the child’s body was still twitching, so Andresian smothered him again.
He then drove to a remote observation point for Bradbury Dam, called Vista Point, and laid Pey’s body under a tree with some shrubbery on top. The child had been changed into pajamas and “rested” there against a tree. No burial, no dignity.
Andresian told detectives he committed the murder out of revenge against his ex‑wife. “His hatred for Anna was so strong he was willing to do anything to hurt her,” a detective said.
The confession led to Pey’s remains being recovered after two months in the cold elements. Anna Estz, who had clung to hope, was devastated. At sentencing, family members flooded the courtroom with raw emotion.
“You are a failure as a father, a failure as a man, a failure as a human being,” one relative said. “I hope you relive the image of you murdering my baby every day.” Andresian was given the maximum sentence for first‑degree murder: 25 years to life.
He attempted to make a statement but backed out, his lawyer citing a quick guilty plea. But detectives noted Andresian’s selfishness—he pleaded guilty to avoid a public trial that would expose his behavior.
Anna Estz, however, did not let her son’s legacy fade. She planted a tree and placed a stone in his memory, describing Pey as a “bright, beautiful ray of sunshine.” She also delivered a scathing rebuke to child welfare officials and the courts, saying they failed to protect her son despite repeated concerns about Andresian’s behavior.
“Every person needs to protect children,” she said. “The decisions in my court case gave my ex‑husband the tools to murder my son.” Her fight for sole custody had been denied; social workers had dismissed allegations that Andresian kicked Pey, pinched his cheeks, and yelled in his face, calling it “bad parenting.”
The case 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓭 a fractured system that could not see the warning signs. Andresian’s actions were deliberate, cruel, and calculated. He planned to destroy his son to hurt his ex‑wife, and he nearly succeeded in a suicide that would have taken all the answers to the grave.
Instead, he sits in prison, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for 25 years. Pey’s mother continues to advocate for child safety, ensuring her son’s story is not forgotten. “He may have been robbed of his life,” she said, “but not of his legacy.
It will live on forever.”
The investigation involved 27 police agencies, but it was the relentless work of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide detectives Lou Aguilera and Mark Boyceford that brought closure. They refused to sleep until justice was done, and Anna Estz called them heroes. Yet the tragedy leaves a haunting question: Could Pey’s death have been prevented?
The father’s hatred was absolute, and the system’s blind spot proved fatal. For now, a small tree and a stone stand as a memorial—a silent reminder of a child whose sunshine was extinguished by the one person meant to protect him.