ABC News
Police in Australia believe that a body found inside a burned-out car is that of a 45-year-old woman kidnapped at gunpoint by a group of masked home invaders in front of her children.
An Australian mother was kidnapped in front of her two children during a terrifying home invasion -- and now police believe her burned body was discovered in a car fire less than an hour later.
According to authorities, the brutal incident went down late Thursday night in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown. Around 10:30 p.m. local time, police were called to the scene after, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, up to five masked men stormed a family home, violently dragged a 45-year-old woman outside, and forced her into one of two waiting vehicles -- a white sedan and a black SUV -- while her 15-year-old and 8-year-old sons watched in horror.
The youngest child was reportedly beaten with a baseball bat during the abduction, suffering severe head injuries, per local police. He was rushed to the hospital and reportedly remains in an induced coma after undergoing surgery. His older brother was also injured and treated at the hospital.
According to an April 18 police release, roughly an hour after the abduction, emergency responders were called to the nearby suburb of Beverly Hills following reports of a car fire. Fire crews arrived to find the vehicle fully engulfed in flames. Once the intense blaze was extinguished, a body was discovered inside the scorched wreckage.
While formal identification is still pending, police believe the remains are that of the kidnapped woman.
"This level of violence is horrendous," NSW Police Superintendent Rodney Hart told the ABC. "I can only imagine what those children went through, seeing their mother dragged out of the home and forced into the back of the car."
Hart confirmed the attack appears to have been targeted, but added that the woman and her family are not known to police and don’t appear to have ties to any criminal networks.
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View Story"It's an extremely serious, violent, horrendous crime," he said, adding that authorities are "throwing everything we have at it."
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the woman's husband was reportedly away at the time of the abduction and is now returning to Sydney.
Neighbors who witnessed the aftermath are still shaken.
"I'm in shock that this could have happened -- she is just a sweet woman who keeps to herself," one told The Herald. Another local, who lives near where the torched car was found, said the normally quiet cul-de-sac has been rattled.
"It's very scary," they added.
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View StoryFire crews say the blaze was especially intense and took around 20 minutes to extinguish.
"Once the fire was out and the steam and smoke cleared, it was a pretty grisly sight for our firefighters," said Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Adam Dewberry. "These kinds of incidents stay with you."
Police are continuing to investigate and urge anyone with information to come forward.
