Two young children have been found safe and well after being abducted in Melbourne's east following a home invasion in which their mother was bound, gagged and assaulted.
Police on Monday evening said a three-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl were found in Mitcham about 7.20pm and two men and a woman were in police custody.
The children were taken from their Blackburn North home while wearing pyjamas by a man who fled in the family's Mercedes Benz, police said.
Armed Crime Squad Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said the man was armed with a weapon as he entered the home between 8am and 8:30am on Monday.
The children's 32-year-old mother was assaulted, bound and gagged. Her 34-year-old husband, the children's father, was at work.
Det Insp Thomas said there were "certain conversations had" between the woman and the offender, but declined to say what they discussed.
The man took the children and was last seen driving away in the family's car.
Det Insp Thomas said the mother was being treated for serious injuries in hospital.
"She's very upset, as is the father. Both are cooperating fully with us," he told reporters.
Asked whether the man was related to the family or a stranger, he said "our mind is open to everything because we don't know at this point".
"We're speaking to a number of different people to try and piece this all together," he said.
He said he was "not aware of" any custody issues and the parents were not known to police.
