A family determined to save their kidnapped relative tracked her down to an abandoned Louisiana house, saving her life and killing her captor after she went missing for almost three full days, according to multiple sources.

Bethany Arceneaux, 29, was allegedly abducted Wednesday afternoon in Lafayette by her ex-boyfriend Scott Thomas, also 29, and the father to her 2-year-old son, The Daily Advertiser first reports.

A witness to the abduction, Derrimetrie Robinson, said she saw Arceneaux honking her car horn for help in parking lot as Thomas forced his way into her car and attacked her. When Robinson rushed to the scene, Arceneaux begged the woman to take her son, according to the Advertiser.

Robinson managed to grab the 2-year-old boy during the struggle, as Thomas shoved Arceneaux into his car and sped away, she said.

Later Wednesday evening, police found Thomas' white Buick near a field.

On Thursday morning, the Lafayette Police Department had little new information about the kidnapping.

Family members began posting fliers of the missing mother and searched surrounding areas, according to the New York Daily News.


“Based off the information officers received at the day care about the way the victim was confronted by Thomas, we believe she may be in a situation where she could be harmed,” spokesman Cpl. Paul Mouton said Thursday as police continued to search.

By dark, the rescue search was called off for the day.

On Friday, as police and family members alike searched near Thomas' abandoned car, along with areas near his hometown, witnesses gave the family members a tip about a vacant house in a nearby field where the car was located.

Daily Advertiser photographer Leslie Westbrook, who spent much of the day with the family as they searched, was there to capture the intense scenes that soon played out.

A neighborhood resident and another man, along with almost half a dozen members of Arceneaux's family, took off on four-wheelers towards the house.

As they got closer, family members said they heard the screams of their missing relative begging for help.

The family converged on the house, kicking down the door as Thomas allegedly began stabbing Arceneaux multiple times, according to KLFY, a local news station.