A body found in a burnt-out car is believed to be that of a 45-year-old mother who was viciously assaulted and kidnapped in front of her two young sons.
The woman's neighbour has described her horror at the incident and says she's been left 'scared' after the attack took place just metres from her flat.
Police were called to a home in Bankstown, western Sydney, about 10:30pm on Thursday after a group of five men wearing balaclavas forced their way into the woman's home.
They allegedly attacked the woman and her eight-year-old son with a baseball bat before forcing the mother-of-two into a dark-coloured SUV and driving away.
The eight-year-old boy was treated byparamedics for serious head injuries at the home before he was rushed to hospital for further treatment.
He underwent surgery on Friday morning and remains fighting for life in the ICU.
A 15-year-old boy was also in the home and was taken to hospital for assessment.
An hour later, firefighters were called to a car fire just 10 minutes from the Bankstown home on Welfare Avenue in Beverley Hills.
Fire crews discovered a body inside a burnt out car in Sydney's south-west on Thursday night
Firefighters are seen hosing down the burnt-out car in Beverley Hills
The aftermath of the car fire in Beverley Hills is seen on Friday morning
Police are seen at the house where the woman was kidnapped in Bankstown
After the blaze was extinguished, a body was discovered on the backseat of the car.
The body is yet to be formally identified but police 'strongly believe' it is that of the 45-year-old Bankstown woman.
At the scene of the kidnapping, fingerprint dust was smeared over the front screen door, outside walls and stair rail on Friday afternoon.
A Holden Astra and a Honda CRV were parked in the paved driveway of the weatherboard home and shoes sat on the verandah.
A neighbour who lives with her family in a granny flat behind the dead woman’s house arrived about 4pm not knowing what had occurred.
She had been home during the kidnapping but heard nothing unusual.
‘When I go out this morning there was police here,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I asked the police but they didn’t tell me anything.’
Investigations are continuing into the incident
The neighbour said she had lived at her place for about two years and the dead woman and her family had been in their house when she moved in.
She last saw the woman a few days ago but had not seen her husband for about a month.
‘Sometimes I just say hi,’ she said.
‘They have two boys. Her kids are always inside. They do not play with my girls.
‘I’m a bit scared because I live in the backyard of her house. I feel sad for her and for her children.’
Superintendent Rodney Hart, Commander of Bankstown Area Command, said police believe the incident is a targeted attack.
'We don't know if it's organised crime, we don't know if it's gang related,' he told a press conference on Friday.
'This crime is horrendous. The level of violence is unheard of but I want to reassure the community that we strongly believe that this is a targeted incident and that this is not been a random kidnapping.
Shoes are seen at the doorstep of the family home in Bankstown
'The two children are our main focus. Their welfare and their security isparamount to us.We have been able to make contact with their father and the victim's husband who at the time of this offence was interstate.
'He has spoken to police and he is on his way back to Sydney now to support his two children and to assist police with their inquiries.'
Another neighbour said the 'sweet' woman was friendly and mostly kept to herself.
'I'm in shock that this could have happened – she is just a sweet woman who keeps to herself,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
A neighbour who lives opposite from where the car was torched said he had been staying up late ahead of the public holiday.
'I heard a loud noise,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Friday. 'There was a loud bang and there was the sound of a car speeding past at the same time'.
When the man looked through his bedroom window he saw the vehicle 'engulfed in flames'.
'My son saw it also. He was the one who called Triple Zero. He was on the phone for quite some time telling them what happened.
Detectives are pictured outside the house in Bankstown on Friday
Police and detectives are seen at the scene of the car fire on Friday
One resident saw the vehicle 'engulfed in flames' through his bedroom window
'Then the police turned up and the fire brigade came. I was too scared to come out. I was real scared.'
The man's son was also awake when he heard a noise and then saw a car on fire.
'I assumed there was another vehicle leaving but I didn't see it,' he said.
'I didn't think much of it at the time. I thought it might have just been an insurance job or something. I had no idea at the time until I heard the news this morning and found out it was something very sinister.'
Another neighbour was upstairs when he heard two explosions.
'There was a bang,' he said. 'It sounded like a tree falling.
'Then there was another bang so I thought something might be happening.'
That man also called Triple Zero and went downstairs to investigate.
Multiple residents called Triple Zero after spotting the flames from their windows
'By the time I got down the whole thing was ablaze' he said.
'A car sped off up the street. I couldn't sleep for about three hours. When I woke up and heard the news of what happened I thought, "That's terrible".
'Normally this is a quiet place.'
Crime scenes have been established in Bankstown and Beverley Hills.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
