Australian police find human remains in search for grandfather kidnapped by mistake

Australian police have found human remains in their search for a Sydney grandfather who they believe was kidnapped by mistake almost two weeks ago.

Widower Chris Baghsarian, 85, was forcibly taken from his home in North Ryde just before dawn on 13 February, with CCTV showing a group of masked men bundling him into an SUV.

Police say the incident was most likely a case of mistaken identity, and local media have reported the intended target was a relative of a man with links to a well-known organised crime family.

On Tuesday, police confirmed they had found human remains near a golf course on the outskirts of Sydney, after an earlier search located a burnt out car.

Police had found a blood-stained carpet in the boot of the car, which was linked to the alleged kidnappers and an abandoned property where it is believed Baghsarian was held hostage.

In the days after the kidnapping, video circulating in Sydney's underworld purported to show the elderly man had been seriously injured.

Police repeatedly appealed to the kidnappers for the man's safe return, saying he suffered from health issues and needed daily medication.

"They were intending to take somebody, but have taken the wrong person," Det Acting Supt Andrew Marks told reporters a few days after the kidnapping.

"The family are in distress. All they want is their father to be returned, their grandfather to be returned."

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns had suggested the kidnappers could "drop Mr Baghsarian off at a shopping centre or an emergency department or even a nursing home".

Cases of mistaken identity have become more common in Sydney's underworld, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, as large organised crime networks increasingly subcontract crimes.

Last year, a 23-year-old plumber was shot dead in his driveway in Condell Park in what police believe was also a case of mistaken identity.

"The fact that these offenders – these kidnappers – have got it so wrong is concerning," Marks said.