Shocking Find: Bodies of Vanished Mum and Daughter Located in Freezers in Austria
The remains of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been discovered inside freezers in an apartment in the western part of Austria.
The deceased, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were detected on the end of last week. The cooling units were hidden behind a plasterboard wall in the flat, situated in the Innsbruck area.
Two individuals, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were detained in June. The elder brother, a colleague of the female victim, told authorities last week that there had been an accident—but disputed murder.
Speaking to the media earlier, a spokesman for the state prosecutor stated the brothers were being detained on "serious suspicion of homicide".
The names of those concerned have not been disclosed by police, in accordance with Austrian law.
The vanishing of the mother and child was first reported by the female victim's relative, who is based in Germany, on July 25, 2024.
Investigators said the 55-year-old suspect claimed at the time she had gone on an prolonged visit with her daughter to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.
Her bank card was then discovered to be utilized in foreign locations several times.
But when investigators entered the mother's apartment, her cellphone was discovered.
Someone also stated overhearing a disturbing sound in the flat, and screams of "mother" on the occasion the two were presumed to have gone missing.
A broader official inquiry was initiated, with officers finding various messages transmitted via the mother's device—such as a notice of quitting to her employer and texts to the 55-year-old suspect.
Officials stated a amount in the thousands was also transferred to the individual.
A senior police official informed the press on Tuesday that a storage unit had been rented out before the victims' disappearance and a cooling unit had been installed within.
The male siblings removed the cooling unit from the unit on the very day the victims went missing, the official stated. And a week later, they acquired a second unit.
Investigators believe they think this indicates the fatalities were intentionally orchestrated.
"The reason for their demise remains unclear due to the state of decomposition of the victims," the official stated.
The prosecutor's spokesman—of the public prosecutor's office—noted the precise timeline is yet to be determined, but the bodies were professionally hidden and were not found during a earlier inspection.
While the suspects were taken into custody in June, it was only on November 12 that the suspect admitted to an event and to concealing the remains. He rejects any plan to cause death, investigators said.
Meanwhile, his brother acknowledged a attempt to hide evidence but denied involvement in a killing.
The two suspects are currently in custody awaiting trial in prisons in two Austrian cities, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.
Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister said the "suspected killing of two... represents the sudden and brutal end of two human lives and exposes a cruel system".
"Female individuals are being murdered due to the sole reason that they are female," they continued.
"Gender-based killings are a deeply rooted and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."
