Police are scouring dense bushland in the search for abducted grandfather Chris Baghsarian, 10 days after he was mistakenly kidnapped.
Officers have been seen near a national park and bushland in Glenorie on the fringes of north-west Sydney, following a police operation late on Sunday evening at a property along Vesperman Road in the same suburb.
The 85-year-old was taken from his bedroom at his North Ryde home and bundled into an SUV about 5am on February 13.
From the outset police have said the abduction of Mr Baghsarian was a case of mistaken identity, with law enforcement sources telling the ABC the intended target was a figure with links to the Alameddine crime family.
Chris Baghsarian, 85, was abducted from his North Ryde home on Friday, February 13. (Supplied: NSW Police)
Detective Acting Superintendent Andrew Marks would not be drawn on whether the investigation had now become a recovery operation.
“We are searching for Mr Baghsarian,” he said.
“At this stage, he’s been taken days ago, and every day … the concerns grow.
“Every day, it’s not a great feeling we have in relation to his health and his survival.”
Police repeatedly appealed directly to the kidnappers for his safe return, saying Mr Baghsarian required daily medication.
The rural suburb of Glenorie is about 12 kilometres from Dural, where police had set up a crime scene after discovering a makeshift “stronghold” on Thursday night.
Detectives believed Mr Baghsarian’s captors had used a vacated and derelict house in Dural as a base.
Images and video that circulated of Mr Baghsarian tied up and being assaulted by his captors showed the property as being consistent with where Mr Baghsarian was kept, police said.
During Sunday’s police operation at a property in Glenorie, PolAir and the dog squad patrolled the area.
On Sunday, police searched a property along Vesperman Road in Glenorie. (ABC News)
Earlier that day police had appealed for public information in relation to the kidnapping after suspicious vehicle fires in Westmead days prior.
Emergency services were called to Good Street at Westmead about 11:30pm on Tuesday, February 17, after reports that two cars were alight.
One of the vehicles was a 2022 model Toyota Corolla, bearing Victorian registration 1UZ2BU, reported stolen from a Victorian address on January 13 — police believing the car is linked to the crime scene in Dural.
Superintendent Marks said investigators believed the vehicle was displaying cloned numberplates bearing the registration DVT 077.
He said items had been collected from the vehicle for forensic examination.
“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.
The vehicle was also sighted in the Glenorie area on February 14 after 9pm.
Superintendent Marks said officers believed the intended abduction target was safe and “not in danger”.
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1h agoMon 23 Feb 2026 at 1:19am
Police press conference finishes
That is all from Superintendent Andrew Marks.
For more information on this case, visit the ABC News website.
1h agoMon 23 Feb 2026 at 1:17am
Intended target ‘safe’
On the “intended target” of the kidnapping, Superintendent Marks does not reveal much.
“I’m led to believe that they’re safe and they’re not in danger,” he said.
1h agoMon 23 Feb 2026 at 1:15am
Why are police searching Glenorie
So what led police to the new search area in Glenorie?
Superintendent Marks said tips from locals reporting suspicious behaviour led them to the site in Glenorie.
He did not want to elaborate further.
“In relation to that, I’m not going to go into specifics of what we were told other than to say that it was, of high interest to us,” he said.
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