Disturbing Find: Remains of Missing Mum and Daughter Found in Freezing Units in Austria
The remains of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been located inside freezing appliances in an residence in western Austria.
The deceased, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were found on the end of last week. The cooling units were concealed behind a drywall partition in the apartment, situated in the Innsbruck area.
Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were arrested in the month of June. The 55-year-old, a work associate of the Syrian woman, informed authorities last week that there had been an incident—but rejected murder.
Informing reporters earlier, a official for the state prosecutor announced the two suspects were being detained on "high likelihood of murder".
The names of those implicated have not been released by authorities, in following Austrian law.
The vanishing of the mother and child was initially flagged by the cousin of the mother, who lives in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Police revealed the male associate claimed at the time she had embarked on an extended trip with her child to travel to her relatives in Turkey.
The victim's bank card was then noted as being active abroad repeatedly.
But when police examined the victim's residence, her cellphone was found.
An individual also reported hearing a commotion in the apartment, and cries of "mum" on the date the pair were believed to have vanished.
An expanded criminal probe was started, with authorities discovering various messages originating from the mother's device—including a job termination message to her company and texts to the male colleague.
Officials confirmed a four-figure sum was also moved to the man.
The head of the State Criminal Police Office told media representatives on that day that a rented space had been leased before the victims' disappearance and a freezer had been placed there.
The two suspects extracted the appliance from the facility on the date the woman and her child disappeared, the official revealed. And a shortly afterward, they obtained a second unit.
Investigators believe they think this indicates the demise were intentionally orchestrated.
"How they died remains unclear due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," the official stated.
The prosecutor's spokesman—from the legal authorities—noted the specific order of occurrences is yet to be determined, but the victims were expertly concealed and were not found during a prior examination.
While the brothers were taken into custody in the summer, it was only on 12 November that the 55-year-old admitted to an incident and to hiding the bodies. He disputes any intent to kill, authorities confirmed.
Meanwhile, his younger brother confessed to a concealment but disputed knowledge of a homicide.
The brothers are currently in pre-trial detention in detention centers in Innsbruck and Salzburg, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.
Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative declared the "suspected killing of two... symbolizes the abrupt and violent termination of two individuals and reveals a heartless setup".
"Females of all ages 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 society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."