bethany arceneaux
Bethany Arceneaux was found alive after her family stormed the house where she was being held by her captor. KATC

The family of a kidnapped Louisiana woman staged a daring rescue that ended in her safe return and the death of her captor.

Bethany Arceneaux, 29, was kidnapped Wednesday from a child care center parking lot by Scott Thomas, 29, the father of her 2-year-old son, Opposing Views reported. The child was in the car but not harmed.

According to Opposing Views, Arceneaux’s family got a tip on Friday that she was being held in a vacant home about a dozen miles from where she was abducted. Frustrated that law enforcement had not yet taken action, a half dozen of Arceneaux’s family, including two of her brothers, descended on the house, 10 miles west of Lafayette and 65 miles west of Baton Rouge, and kicked the door down.

Arceneaux was found with multiple stab wounds, but alive. Her family also came face-to-face with her abductor. During the confrontation, Thomas was shot, Opposing Views said.

"We went and got her in that house. We kicked doors down. It was like a movie unfolding," Arceneaux's brother, Ryan Arceneaux, told USA Today. "If we wouldn't have done what we did, she would have been dead."

Thomas died from his wounds later Friday.

According to USA Today, Arceneaux had an order of protection issued on June 17 against Thomas. On Aug. 8, Thomas violated that order, and was charged with aggravated assault and aggravated flight from an officer.

It seems Thomas was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. "He keeps threatening to kill us," Arceneaux wrote in a complaint to police. "He put a knife to my neck countless times.”

"I can just imagine how chaotic that confrontation was,” Police Capt. Kip Judice told KATC, according to Opposing Views. “The person who acted in defense of Ms. Arceneaux is a relative, a close relative to her. So I can imagine his emotions were probably high, and everyone's levels were very escalated.”

Arceneaux is currently hospitalized in stable condition.

It remains to be seen if any of Arceneaux’s family will be charged in the death of Thomas. State law dictates that homicide is justified if a life is in danger, according to KATC.