Disturbing Discovery: Bodies of Vanished Mother and Child Located in Freezers in Austria
The remains of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been found inside freezing appliances in an flat in western Austria.
The victims, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been missing for a number of months, were detected on the end of last week. The freezers were hidden behind a false wall in the flat, situated in the Innsbruck area.
Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were detained in June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the Syrian woman, told authorities last week that there had been an incident—but denied homicide.
Addressing reporters recently, a spokesman for the legal authorities said the brothers were being kept in custody on "high likelihood of intentional killing".
The names of those implicated have been withheld by law enforcement, in compliance with national regulations.
The family's disappearance was originally brought to light by the female victim's relative, who lives in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Police stated the woman's colleague told them at the time she had taken an prolonged visit with her daughter to visit her parents in Turkey.
The mother's debit card was then found to have been used abroad repeatedly.
However when investigators entered the mother's apartment, her cellphone was found.
An individual also claimed overhearing a commotion in the dwelling, and cries of "mama" on the day the pair were presumed to have gone missing.
A broader police investigation was initiated, with officers uncovering several texts sent from the woman's phone—including a job termination message to her employer and communications to the male colleague.
Authorities stated a four-figure sum was also moved to the man.
A senior police official stated to reporters on that day that a storage facility had been leased before the mother and child went missing and a cooling unit had been placed there.
The male siblings removed the freezer from the unit on the very day the woman and her child went missing, she stated. And a week later, they purchased another freezer.
Investigators say they consider this indicates the fatalities were premeditated.
"The cause of death could not be determined due to the condition of the remains," the official said.
The prosecutor's spokesman—representing the state—stated the specific order of occurrences is not yet known, but the victims were professionally hidden and went unnoticed during a prior examination.
Although the brothers were arrested in the summer, it was only on the 12th of November that the suspect admitted to an incident and to hiding the bodies. He disputes any plan to cause death, investigators stated.
Meanwhile, his brother confessed to a concealment but denied involvement in a killing.
The two suspects are currently in detention before court proceedings in jails in two Austrian cities, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.
In a joint statement, Austria's Minister for Women and the top legal representative declared the "suspected killing of two... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of two individuals and uncovers a brutal scheme".
"Females of all ages are being murdered due to the mere fact that they are female," they added.
"Gender-based killings are a deeply rooted and widespread concern that we must fight resolutely."
