Police investigating the mistaken kidnapping of grandfather Chris Baghsarian are appealling for information about suspicious car fires that could be related to the case.
Hopes are fading of finding the 85-year-old alive, who was taken captive more than a week ago when three men stormed his Sydney home and bundled him into an SUV.
NSW detectives are urging the public to come forward with information about two suspicious vehicle fires on Good Street, Westmead, at 11.30 pm on Tuesday that may be connected to the case.
Police said the vehicles were partially destroyed.
Detectives say the targeted vehicle was a 2022 Toyota Corolla bearing Victorian registration '1UZ2BU', reported stolen from a Victorian address on January 13.
Officers searched a derelict property in the semi-rural suburb of Dural on Sydney's north-west outskirts on Thursday night after identifying it as a makeshift stronghold for the kidnappers.
Investigators believe the Toyota Corolla is linked to the crime scene at the Dural address, which may be linked to the kidnapping.
The mysterious case has stumped police, who, in the absence of a ransom demand, have used media to directly appeal to the kidnappers to return the grandfather to a safe location.
Officers are unclear how long the grandfather spent at the Dural derelict and vacant property.
Mr Baghsarian’s family spoke publicly for the first time earlier this week, describing the February 13 kidnapping as a surreal and harrowing ordeal.
"Our family is living through a nightmare we never thought possible," they said in a brief statement released via police.
