A woman abducted from her home and found dead in a burnt-out car is believed to have been an innocent victim, targeted and killed by a gang seeking revenge after their drugs were stolen.

Investigators believe the murder bears the hallmarks of a sophisticated organised crime group.

Police say the 45-year-old woman, Thi Kim Tran, was at her Bankstown home in south-west Sydney with a young child and teenager when masked men burst in on Thursday night.

The intruders bashed an eight-year-old boy in the head with a baseball bat and forced Tran at gunpoint into a black SUV waiting outside.

The SUV and a white sedan sped away from the home, leaving the injured boy with a 15-year-old who had witnessed the abduction.

An hour later, just before midnight, police were told a car was alight in neighbouring Beverly Hills.

Inside the car was the body of Tran, who police believe had been killed by her kidnappers.

A manhunt is under way to find the men who abducted and killed Tran and those higher up the chain who ordered the crime.