Forensic evidence linked to Sydney grandfather Chris Baghsarian has been found in a burnt-out car, with police searching bushland for any further clues 11 days after he was kidnapped in a suspected case of mistaken identity.
Acting Det Supt Andrew Marks on Monday urged the public to share any footage they may have of the grey Toyota Corolla, which was found burnt out in Westmead last Tuesday.
Marks said officers also discovered evidence inside the car that had been linked to an abandoned and derelict property in Dural, where it was believed Baghsarian, 85, was held at some point after his kidnapping.
Marks would not confirm what forensic evidence was found in the car that had links to Baghsarian and the Dural property.
“That vehicle was not burnt out totally, and we were able to establish some forensic links from items inside that car that we can link back to the property in Dural and also to Mr Baghsarian,” he said.
“This case is not our normal kind of investigation in relation to a kidnapping and a hostage. I suspect that those that are involved were planning to burn that vehicle and everything inside it.”
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Marks said the car was also sighted in Glenorie on Saturday 14 February, the day after Baghsarian was kidnapped. Police have expanded their search in the area and have been combing through surrounding bushland.
“There’s a large amount of police and other resources that we’re using to conduct the search,” he said.
Baghsarian has been missing since three men bundled him into a dark-coloured SUV outside his Sydney home just before dawn on 13 February, and police believe he was the victim of a case of mistaken identity.
Police said on Friday that “hope is fading” to find Baghsarian alive, but they would not give up trying to locate him.
Detectives had previously said they believed the widower was alive, after videos of him restrained in an unknown location emerged.
Asked about Baghsarian’s fate on Monday, Marks said it was “very hard to speculate about … where we’re at this stage”.
“We are putting every effort into finding Mr Baghsarian, every effort that we can,” Marks said.
“Every day, as I said last time, the concerns grow.”
Marks said that the Corolla was reported stolen from Victoria on 13 February, and was bearing “cloned” number plates that displayed the registration DVT 077.
He urged people who were around Good Street, Westmead – and have “any footage or any dashcam footage of the grey Corolla, in that area, and any other persons attached to a car or anything suspicious around that vehicle” – to come forward.
Police have said Baghsarian’s lack of personal links to any criminal or underworld activity was making the case difficult for investigators. No ransom had been demanded, leaving police to appeal directly to the kidnappers to return the grandfather to a safe location.
Baghsarian’s family spoke publicly for the first time last week, describing the 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.
