A major search has unfolded across Sydney for a man wanted for questioning over the death of a father in the city’s north-west last week.

Detectives, along with the dog squad, police helicopter, and tactical operations unit, conducted a search of bushland today in the hopes of finding French.

John Birch, 39, has been identified as the body found at a paddock in Sydney's north-west as police work on a new theory surrounding his death.
John Birch, 39, has been identified as the body found at a paddock in Sydney’s north-west as police work on a new theory surrounding his death. (Supplied)

It comes a day after officers surrounded a home on Wylds Road and shut down Old Northern Road in their search.

Police have so far failed to locate French, with officers returning to the same area today following a tip-off from neighbours who said they had seen a suspect jumping a nearby fence.

Resident Maddie Park said they had arrived home to police at their house this morning. 

“They told us he [had] been staying out the back of our house in the bobcat,” she said.

Police combed the area for hours. (Nine)
A major search is unfolding for a man wanted for questioning over the death of a father. (Nine)

Police combed the area for hours, the search extending to nearby streets and dams. At one point detectives uncovered abandoned clothes and shoes.

Firefighters were called out to Meriden Avenue in Glenorie following a grass fire, which could be linked.

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