Ransom twist emerges after a mother was dragged out of her home by five masked men and found dead in a burnt out car – as detectives probe interstate organised crime links

By NICK WILSON FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 10:59 BST, 22 April 2025 | Updated: 11:05 BST, 22 April 2025

Kidnappers who abducted a Sydney mother tried to extract a ransom for her release before she was found dead in a burnt-out car, according to new reports. 

Thi Kim Tran, 45, spent last Thursday working at a nail salon before returning to her Bankstown home in Sydney’s south-west to enjoy the Easter long weekend with her children. 

Hours later, the mother-of-two was abducted at gunpoint and forced to strip naked in her driveway before a group of masked intruders dragged her into a SUV and drove away .

Her body was found in the burning vehicle in nearby Beverly Hills an hour later.

The Daily Telegraph reported that kidnappers attempted to extract ransom from a number of her associates by sending chilling threats detailing what would happen to Mr Tran if their demands were not met.

It’s not yet known by police whether the ransom requests were received by the intended recipients. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Police for comment. 

Police are also investigating whether Ms Tran was attacked due to her husband’s alleged links to a large-scale Victorian organised crime group.

Thi Kim Tran, 45, died after she was abducted at gunpoint from her Bankstown home 

CCTV footage (pictured) showed the terrifying moment a group of five dragged Ms Tran from her home

The couple’s eight-year-old son was bashed with a baseball bat and left for dead in the attack while their eldest son, 15, was left traumatised by the incident. 

NSW Police homicide squad commander Joe Doueihi told reporters on Tuesday that Ms Tran’s husband may have been ‘in conflict’ with his superiors before his family was targeted. 

He confirmed Ms Tran’s husband was known to police for minor drug-related offences and alleged he had been working for the organised crime group for ‘several months’ before the deadly attack.

He hasn’t been charged with any wrongdoing in relation to his wife’s death.

‘I can indicate that the organised crime group, their workforce consists of mainly Vietnamese males,’ Supt Doueihi said.

‘However, there is no information or evidence to suggest that the upper echelons of these organised crime groups are linked to southeast Asian organised crime groups.’

The couple’s eight-year-old remains an induced coma and is expected to suffer long-lasting complications. 

His 15-year-old brother also remains in hospital receiving trauma treatment. 

Pictured is the burnt-out car in which Ms Tran’s body is believed to have been found 

Superintendent Douiehi said the two children ‘had no knowledge’ of their father’s alleged involvement with the group. 

There is also no suggestion Ms Tran was involved in any criminality – or that her husband was in any way involved in her abduction or execution. 

Ms Tran had planned to spend the Easter long weekend with her two sons before she was abducted and murdered. 

She appeared ‘happy and normal as she headed home after a shift at a nail salon in inner-city Rozelle, according to colleagues. 

‘We (were) not open Good Friday, so she (was) planning to go with her kids to Easter Show,’ a co-worker told The Daily Telegraph. 

A sign has since gone up in the inner-west store claiming a ‘beloved team member’ had ‘passed away unexpectedly’. 

The colleague added her youngest son was ‘very sick… he’s in a coma still’.

They added Ms Tran was private when it came to her personal life but confirmed she would often mind her children alone given her husband worked in Melbourne. 

Ms Trans’s killers remain on the run. 

Police urge anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers at 1800 333 000.

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Ransom twist emerges after a mother was dragged out of her home by five masked men and found dead in a burnt out car – as detectives probe interstate organised crime links

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