Tragic Discovery: Remains of Missing Mum and Daughter Located in Freezing Units in the Alpine Nation
The bodies of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezers in an residence in western Austria.
The deceased, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were uncovered on the end of last week. The cooling units were hidden behind a drywall partition in the flat, located in the city of Innsbruck.
Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in the month of June. The older man, a work associate of the female victim, informed law enforcement last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but disputed homicide.
Informing the media previously, a official for the public prosecutor's office stated the brothers were being held on "high likelihood of homicide".
The identities of those involved have not been released by police, in compliance with Austrian law.
Their going missing was originally brought to light by the cousin of the mother, who resides in Germany, on 25 July 2024.
Authorities revealed the male associate told them at the time she had taken an extended trip with her daughter to see her family in Turkey.
The victim's bank card was then found to have been used in foreign locations repeatedly.
But when officers examined the woman's home, her smartphone was found.
An individual also stated listening to a disturbing sound in the dwelling, and cries of "mama" on the occasion the mother and child were presumed to have gone missing.
A wider criminal probe was initiated, with investigators discovering multiple communications sent from the woman's phone—such as a job termination message to her employer and messages to the male colleague.
Authorities stated a significant cash transfer was also sent to the suspect.
The head of the State Criminal Police Office told reporters on recently that a rented space had been secured before the vanishing and a freezer had been positioned inside.
The male siblings extracted the cooling unit from the facility on the day the mother and daughter disappeared, she revealed. And a shortly afterward, they acquired a second unit.
Authorities state they consider this points to the fatalities were intentionally orchestrated.
"How they died was not identifiable due to the advanced decay of the remains," she stated.
Mayr—from the legal authorities—said the exact sequence of events is still unclear, but the victims were professionally hidden and were not found during a earlier inspection.
While the men were taken into custody in June, it was only on the 12th of November that the 55-year-old confessed to an event and to hiding the bodies. He denies any intent to kill, officials confirmed.
At the same time, his 53-year-old sibling confessed to a concealment but denied awareness of a killing.
The two suspects are presently in pre-trial detention in detention centers in two Austrian cities, around 117 miles (189km) apart.
Through a combined announcement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister declared the "suspected killing of two... symbolizes the abrupt and violent termination of two individuals and reveals a brutal scheme".
"Women and girls are falling victim to homicide due to the sole reason that they are women and girls," they continued.
"Gender-based killings are a profoundly embedded and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."