{"id":491033,"date":"2026-02-19T22:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T22:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/491033\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T22:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T22:09:11","slug":"police-set-up-crime-scene-in-dural-as-hunt-for-mistakenly-kidnapped-man-chris-baghsarian-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/491033\/","title":{"rendered":"Police set up crime scene in Dural as hunt for mistakenly kidnapped man Chris Baghsarian continues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Police have zeroed in on a semi-rural property on Sydney&#8217;s fringe in the hunt for mistakenly kidnapped grandfather Chris Baghsarian.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">On Thursday night, officers located a crime scene in Dural, which detectives believe Mr Baghsarian&#8217;s captors have been using as a base.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">The 85-year-old has now been missing for a week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;As part of ongoing efforts to locate Mr Baghsarian, a property in Dural was identified as a location believed to have been used as a makeshift stronghold by the kidnappers,&#8221; NSW Police said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;About 7pm yesterday (Thursday 19 February 2026), strike force detectives executed a search warrant at the property on Wildthorn Avenue.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Mr Baghsarian, 85, was snatched from his home in North Ryde about 5am last Friday in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Police sources have previously told the ABC the kidnappers may have been intending to target someone with links to the Alameddine crime family who lived nearby.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A smiling, older man sitting in a garden.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771538949_579_29dd18e36364de9f4a385c55b271d71c.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Chris Baghsarian, 85, has now been missing for a week as police focus on a &#8220;makeshift stronghold&#8221; in Dural. (Supplied: NSW Police)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">It comes as disturbing footage began circulating showing Mr Baghsarian tied up and being assaulted by his captors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Baghsarian&#8217;s family said they were &#8220;struggling&#8221; as they awaited &#8220;some form of closure or resolution&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Baghsarian crime scene Dural (4)\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/3b85e4acdb5d360c681a9a7f4ad2327c.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Forensic officers have spent overnight searching the property in Dural. (ABC News: Timothy Ailwood)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;We are struggling to make sense of the fact that he has been taken and that our family has been caught up in something that has nothing to do with us,&#8221; the family said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;Chris is a devoted father, brother, uncle, and grandfather.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;He is deeply loved, gentle, and the kindest person we know \u2014 someone who would never hurt a fly.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police have zeroed in on a semi-rural property on Sydney&#8217;s fringe in the hunt for mistakenly kidnapped grandfather&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,243538,44,243536,4277],"class_list":{"0":"post-491033","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-chris-baghsarian","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-north-ryde","13":"tag-nsw-police"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}