Disturbing Discovery: Bodies of Vanished Mother and Child Located in Freezers in the Alpine Nation
The remains of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been discovered inside freezing appliances in an residence in western Austria.
The victims, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were found on the end of last week. The freezers were hidden behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, situated in the Innsbruck area.
A pair of males, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were detained in the month of June. The elder brother, a work associate of the Syrian woman, stated to authorities last week that there had been an incident—but rejected intentional killing.
Informing reporters earlier, a representative for the state prosecutor said the brothers were being detained on "strong suspicion of intentional killing".
The names of those implicated have not been disclosed by authorities, in compliance with Austrian law.
Their going missing was initially flagged by the woman's cousin, who is based in Germany, on 25 July 2024.
Investigators stated the male associate claimed at the time she had taken an long journey with her daughter to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.
Her bank card was then found to have been used in foreign locations on multiple occasions.
But when officers entered the mother's apartment, her cellphone was located.
Someone also claimed hearing a loud noise in the flat, and shouts of "mama" on the date the two were thought to have disappeared.
A wider criminal probe was started, with authorities uncovering multiple communications sent from the victim's mobile—such as a job termination message to her employer and messages to the 55-year-old suspect.
Authorities confirmed a amount in the thousands was also sent to the suspect.
Katja Tersch stated to media representatives on recently that a storage facility had been leased before the vanishing and a cooling unit had been placed there.
The two suspects extracted the freezer from the unit on the very day the mother and daughter went missing, the official revealed. And a seven days after, they obtained another freezer.
Officials say they think this indicates the demise were intentionally orchestrated.
"The cause of death remains unclear due to the advanced decay of the remains," she commented.
A legal representative—representing the state—stated the precise timeline is yet to be determined, but the remains were carefully placed and went unnoticed during a previous house search.
While the men were arrested in the summer, it was only on November 12 that the suspect acknowledged an incident and to hiding the bodies. He disputes any intent to kill, authorities stated.
In a related development, his 53-year-old sibling confessed to a cover-up but disputed awareness of a killing.
The two suspects are currently in custody awaiting trial in detention centers in separate locations, around 117 miles (189km) apart.
Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister declared the "reported homicide of mother and child... symbolizes the sudden and brutal end of two human lives and exposes a brutal scheme".
"Female individuals are being murdered due to the mere fact that they are of the female gender," they continued.
"Gender-based killings are a deeply rooted and issue affecting all of society that we must fight resolutely."