Shocking Discovery: Remains of Vanished Mum and Daughter Located in Freezers in Austria
The remains of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been located inside freezing appliances in an apartment in the western part of Austria.
The victims, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were found on Friday. The cooling units were concealed behind a plasterboard wall in the flat, located in the Innsbruck area.
Two men, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in the month of June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the Syrian woman, told police last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but disputed murder.
Informing journalists previously, a official for the state prosecutor said the brothers were being detained on "high likelihood of murder".
The names of those implicated have not been released by law enforcement, in following Austrian law.
The vanishing of the mother and child was first reported by the female victim's relative, who lives in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Authorities said the 55-year-old suspect told them at the time she had gone on an long journey with her daughter to visit her parents in Turkey.
Her bank card was then discovered to be utilized abroad repeatedly.
Yet when investigators examined the mother's apartment, her smartphone was discovered.
An individual also claimed overhearing a commotion in the flat, and cries of "mum" on the day the pair were thought to have disappeared.
A broader police investigation was started, with officers uncovering multiple communications originating from the woman's phone—among them a resignation letter to her workplace and messages to the male associate.
Authorities said a amount in the thousands was also sent to the suspect.
A senior police official informed reporters on that day that a rented space had been rented out before the mother and child went missing and a cooling unit had been installed within.
The male siblings took out the cooling unit from the unit on the very day the woman and her child disappeared, the official stated. And a week later, they purchased an additional appliance.
Officials say they consider this indicates the fatalities were intentionally orchestrated.
"The cause of death was not identifiable due to the condition of the bodies," the official stated.
The prosecutor's spokesman—representing the state—noted the exact sequence of events is still unclear, but the remains were carefully placed and went unnoticed during a prior examination.
While the suspects were arrested in June, it was not until 12 November that the elder brother acknowledged an occurrence and to hiding the bodies. He disputes any murderous intent, investigators confirmed.
In a related development, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a attempt to hide evidence but disputed awareness of a killing.
The brothers are presently in pre-trial detention in jails in Innsbruck and Salzburg, around 117 miles (189km) apart.
Via a shared communication, Austria's Minister for Women and the top legal representative declared the "alleged double murder... represents the abrupt and violent termination of a mother and child and uncovers a cruel system".
"Female individuals are being murdered due to the mere fact that they are female," they added.
"Gender-based killings are a profoundly embedded and issue affecting all of society that we must address decisively."
