Police investigating the suspected mistaken kidnapping of an elderly grandfather are appealing for information about suspicious car fires that could be related to the case.
Hopes are fading that investigators will find 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian alive more than a week after he was taken captive from his northwest Sydney home.
Mr Baghsarian was reported kidnapped from the North Ryde property early on February 13 when three men stormed the property and bundled him into an SUV.
Detectives on Sunday urged the public to come forward with any information about two suspicious vehicle fires on Good St, Westmead, 15km from the kidnap scene, about 11.30pm on Tuesday.
Police said the two vehicles were partially destroyed.
Detectives believe the targeted vehicle was a 2022 Toyota Corolla bearing Victorian registration "1UZ2BU" that was reported stolen from a Victorian address a month before Mr Baghsarian disappeared.
Officers searched a derelict property in the semi-rural suburb of Dural on Sydney's northwest 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.
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 property.
Mr Baghsarian's family spoke publicly for the first time earlier in the 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.
