An 87-year-old woman, her son and daughter have been held hostage in a "tiger kidnapping" at their home in Derry.
It is understood the pensioner and her 60-year-old son were held captive by an armed gang late yesterday while her daughter, aged in her forties, was forced to collect money from her workplace at the Ballymagroarty post office.
She was then forced to drive to the Donegal border where another raider took a substantial amount of cash from her.
It is believed the post office safe contained a large sum of cash at the time, including state benefit payments, which were doubled ahead of the coming Easter bank holiday.
The elderly woman is believed to have escaped injury when she was tied up at the Bantry Road home in the Foyle Springs area of the city but was suffering from shock.
Police said five armed and masked men had confronted the family. A spokesman said: "This was a frightening experience for this family, whose fortitude is in stark contrast to the cowardly actions of the individuals who forced them to endure such a terrible ordeal."