Detectives have found what they believe are human remains on Sydney’s outskirts as they search for the missing 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian.

New South Wales police said on Tuesday that detectives investigating the mistaken kidnapping of Baghsarian had discovered remains near a golf club in Pitt Town about 8am on Tuesday. They said investigations into the man’s disappearance continued.

Baghsarian, a widowed grandfather, was kidnapped from his North Ryde home just after 5am on Friday 13 February.

Early inquiries established that he was not the intended target and had been taken in a case of mistaken identity.

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Police on Monday said forensic evidence linked to Baghsarian had been found in a burnt-out car, with police searching bushland for any further clues.

Acting Det Supt Andrew Marks urged the public to share any footage they may have of the grey Toyota Corolla, which was found in Westmead last Tuesday.

Timeline of the disappearance of Chris Baghsarian

Marks said officers had discovered evidence inside the car that had been linked to an abandoned and derelict property in Dural, where it was believed Baghsarian was held at some point after his kidnapping.

Police raided the Dural property on Thursday evening, later saying it had been used as “a makeshift stronghold by the kidnappers”.

Baghsarian’s family last week said they were “living through a nightmare” and the 85-year-old’s abduction “feels surreal”.

“Our family is living through a nightmare we never thought possible,” his relatives said last Tuesday. “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.”

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has reported that the intended target may have been a relative of a man linked to a well-known Sydney crime family.

Chris Baghsarian was kidnapped from his North Ryde home. Photograph: NSW police/AAP