UPDATE: 7:52 P.M. EST, 11/10/13:

Bethany Arceneaux has been released from Lafayette General Medical Center and is now in the care of her family, reports ABC News.

At the time that she was admitted to the hospital Friday afternoon, Arceneaux told investigators that she had not eaten or had anything to drink since she was abducted by her ex-boyfriend — and father of her child — on Wednesday.

The abandoned house where Arceneaux was being held hostage was hidden behind sugarcane as tall as “eight feet,” said Judice, and the field was a ” brutal search area.”

Only the house’s roof was visible from the road, and the police failed to find Arceneaux on Wednesday and Thursday, even though they searched the same area as her family who refused to give up the search.

See rescue footage below:

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UPDATE: 3:45 P.M. EST, 11/10/13:

Scott Thomas, Bethany Arceneaux’s ex-boyfriend who abducted her and attempted to kill her, was killed by her cousin. Though the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s department has not released his name, reports identify him as Marcelus Arceneaux.

According to CNN, “Police and bloodhounds had searched the area without success on Thursday. On Friday morning, police were met by about 20 relatives — including uncles, brothers and cousins — who had organized their own search party,” Sheriff’s Capt. Kip Judice said.

The sheriff’s department determined that the cousin acted within a state law that allows deadly force to be used to prevent great bodily harm or death, Judice said. He is not expected to face charges, but the case will be reviewed by the district attorney.

The victim’s brother, Ryan Arceneaux, says his sister is recovering: “‘She’s shook up, she’s sliced up, but she’s alright, Ryan said.

“We went and got her in that house. We kicked doors down. It was like a movie unfolding,” he continued. “If we wouldn’t have done what we did, she would have been dead.”

In a restraining order earlier this year, Bethany Arceneaux detailed her fear of Thomas:

“After we called cops on him he grabbed our son from me and shoved him into the car,” Arceneaux wrote. “He then got on his knees in front of the cops and said “I swear to God on all my children I will kill you.” “Since then Scott has been riding around my mom’s house and my work looking for me,’ she added. ‘I am afraid for me and my son’s life.”

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Bethany Arceneaux, 29, who was taken hostage by her ex-boyfriend Scott Thomas on Wednesday, was rescued from an abandoned Louisiana house Friday afternoon by family and friends who were searching for her.

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By the time that the SWAT Team arrived, Thomas, who is also the father of her child, was found shot dead inside of the house.

Thomas abducted Arceneaux as she picked her child up from daycare, forcing her into a car that was later found abandoned with the child still inside.

On Friday afternoon, family and friends were searching for her in a sugar cane pasture behind the abandoned house, which was barely visible, when they heard her scream.

Read more from the Mail Online:

According to Captain Kip Judice, of Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s office, the victim’s family had shot Thomas as they tried to free her from his clutches. ‘Those family members entered the home and confronted Mr Scott Thomas … who began to harm the victim. At that point, a confrontation ensued between the family member and Mr Thomas.’ He added that when a swat team later entered the house they found the body of the kidnapper.

Marcus Arceneaux, the victim’s uncle who is pictured above carrying his niece to safety, thanked everyone who helped with the search: “We found my niece Bethany, she’s OK. I’d like to thank everybody who came out and helped us search.’

Thomas and Arceneaux have a violent past. She had filed several domestic violence reports against him, and was recently issued a restraining order.

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