By Paulina Vidal, ABC
Fire and Rescue NSW says it was very rare for crews to find a person in a vehicle. Photo: ABC News
A body found in a burnt-out car is believed to be a mother-of-two kidnapped by five armed men from a home in Sydney's south-west overnight.
At 10.30pm on Thursday (12.30am Friday NZT) police responding to reports of a kidnapping went to the family home in Bankstown.
The incident described as "horrendous" with an "unheard of level of violence" was witnessed by the 45-year-old woman's two sons, aged eight and 15, with the young boy also subjected to violence.
Officers found him laying on the driveway with severe head injuries after being allegedly hit on the head with a baseball bat.
Police believe the attack was targeted.
Superintendent Rodney Hart said the older brother had provided an account of how the incident unfolded after a number of cars, including a "white sedan" and "a dark coloured, possibly black, SUV" pulled up to the house.
"A group of up to five men, all dressed in black with their faces covered had arrived at the location," Superintendent Hart said.
"These five males forced entry into the home where they seriously assaulted a 45-year-old woman … A firearm was also produced."
The mother was then taken from the house and "forced into the back seat of the dark coloured SUV and driven away."
Paramedics treated the brothers at the scene before they were taken to hospital.
The eight-year-old is in an induced coma, in a serious but stable condition after undergoing surgery earlier on Friday.
Superintendent Hart said they had made contact with the father of the boys, and the woman's husband, who had been intestate on business and was now on his way back to Sydney.
"The two children are our main focus. Their welfare and their security is paramount to us," he said.
Family 'not known to police'
About an hour later in the nearby suburb of Beverly Hills, firefighters found the woman's body in a car that had been set alight on Welfare Avenue.
Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Adam Dewberry said the fire in the residential area was "pretty rapid and fully developed" when crews arrived.
"We attend thousands of car fires each year in Fire and Rescue NSW, it's very rare for us to find a person in a vehicle," he said.
The body was extremely burnt with police awaiting for the autopsy results to provide some answers.
Crime scenes were set up at both locations, and investigations are ongoing under Strike Force Bushfield.
Superintendent Hart said they knew very little about the family, and it was too early to speculate on a motive, or whether it was related to gangs or organised crime.
"They are not known to police that we would consider them a high target in the organised crime network.
"We need to do a very extensive canvas. We've spoken to a number of witnesses already.
"It's approximately six kilometres between both crime scenes, so detectives will be working night and day to make sure that we have every available evidence."
He urged anyone with information, no matter how small" to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
"I can only imagine what they [the brothers] went through seeing their mother dragged out of the home, forced into the back of the car.
"[It's] an extremely serious, violent, horrendous crime that we are throwing everything at it to ensure that we bring these people to justice."
- ABC
