Bethany Arceneaux was grabbed on Wednesday as she collected her child from a day care center

Dramatic moment family rescued kidnapped and stabbed girl in shoot-out at abandoned house where she'd been held for 3 days

• Victim's family claim they shot dead Scott Thomas during rescue attempt
• Bethany Arceneaux was grabbed on Wednesday as she collected her child from a day care center
• 29-year-old mother allegedly had restraining order against 
• The dramatic moment an uncle carried his terrified and bloodied niece to safety after she was kidnapped and held hostage in an abandoned Louisiana house was caught on camera today.
  Bethany Arceneaux was taken hostage on Wednesday evening by Scott Thomas, her ex-boyfriend and father of her child.
  A few hours after Marcus Arceneaux was pictured carrying his niece from a vacant house in Duson, a police swat team entered the building and Thomas was found shot dead. 
  
  

  Rescued: Marcus Arceneaux carries his niece, Bethany, to safety after she was kidnapped and stabbed in an abandoned house
  
  
  

  

  Hostage: Scott Thomas grabbed Bethany Arceneaux, the mother of his child, on Wednesday evening
  
  The 29-year-old mother had been stabbed and slashed but is expected to survive, her family told KLFY.
  She has been taken to hospital and is in a stable condition.
  She was rescued on Friday afternoon when a search party of family and friends confronted Thomas and managed to grab his victim.
  Police who were also searching nearby rushed to the scene and quickly surrounded the house in a tense stand off that lasted a couple of hours.
  
  
  Lafayette Police Corporal Paul Mouton told MailOnline the swat team entered the house, 'shots were fired and the suspect was deceased' at about 3pm (CST) on Friday.
  Thomas died of injuries he sustained during the confrontation with Miss Arceneaux's relatives, according to reports.
  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.
  
  
  'Family members are walking through a pasture with an abandoned home ... and heard a yell from inside the home,' he said.
  

NBC's Chris Matthews mocks New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's weight

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie continues to be the target of fat jokes hurled his way by members of the media.
Chris Matthews, the host of MSNBC's hardball is the latest to shame the governor's weight.
At an event for Philadelphia magazine last night, he interrupted the moderator's question to insert a joke about Christie's figure, even dragging the governor's wife into the politically incorrect commentary.

Chris versus Chris: MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews (right) joked about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's (left) weight at an event for Philadelphia magazine last night

'Two days after Election Day, Chris Christie has crushed his opponent. Is he gonna be the Republican...' Philadelphia magazine editor Tom McGrath began to ask.
'The one I feel for is his wife,' Matthews interjected.
'Why's that?' McGrath asked, after a few chuckled at the innuendo.
'Did you just say, "crush?"' Matthews said. 'I mean, use your imagination.'

Low: Matthews insinuated that Christie crushes his wife, Mary Pat. The first couple of New Jersey are pictured above after the governor was re-elected this week

This isn't the first time that Matthews has criticized the governor and presidential hopeful's weight.

Double pun: Time Magazine's latest cover featuring Chris Christie's silhouette with the title 'The Elephant in the Room' sparked widespread outrage online

'I saw him the other day and I was amazed by him,' he said at a Q&A event. 'He must be 300-plus, and that's something he'd just gotta deal with, because you're not going to say, "I'm going to cut the budget," well, how about starting with supper?'
Matthews is far from the only person drawing attention to Christie's weight struggles, despite the governor's slimming transformation after receiving lap-band surgery last February and recently being deemed 'fit to serve' by doctors.
The cover of Time Magazine this week featured a silhouette of Christie's face with the headline 'The Elephant in the Room'.

U.S. senators hint at possible fiscal deal on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A month of combat in the U.S. Congress over government spending showed signs on Monday of giving way to a Senate deal to reopen shuttered federal agencies and prevent an economically damaging default on federal debt.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell, ended a day of constant talks with optimistic proclamations, as details leaked out of the pact they were negotiating.

"We've made tremendous progress," Reid said at the end of a Senate session during a federal holiday, underscoring the urgency of settling a fiscal crisis that was nearing a Thursday deadline. The U.S. Treasury Department estimates it will reach a $16.7 trillion borrowing limit on October 17.