Shocking Find: Remains of Vanished Mum and Daughter Found in Freezers in Austria
The remains of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezers in an flat in the western part of Austria.
The victims, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been missing for a number of months, were uncovered on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a plasterboard wall in the flat, situated in the city of Innsbruck.
Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in the month of June. The elder brother, a work associate of the Syrian woman, told authorities last week that there had been an incident—but denied homicide.
Speaking to the media previously, a official for the legal authorities announced the brothers were being held on "serious suspicion of homicide".
Personal details of those implicated have not been disclosed by law enforcement, in accordance with local legislation.
The family's disappearance was first reported by the woman's cousin, who resides in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Investigators revealed the woman's colleague told them at the time she had gone on an prolonged visit with her child to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.
The mother's debit card was then noted as being active in foreign locations repeatedly.
But when officers searched the woman's home, her mobile phone was found.
Someone also claimed hearing a loud noise in the apartment, and shouts of "mother" on the date the two were thought to have disappeared.
An expanded criminal probe was started, with authorities finding various messages transmitted via the woman's phone—including a job termination message to her employer and texts to the 55-year-old suspect.
Authorities said a significant cash transfer was also sent to the individual.
Katja Tersch stated to reporters on recently that a rented space had been secured before the vanishing and a freezing appliance had been installed within.
The two suspects extracted the cooling unit from the storage space on the very day the victims vanished, the official stated. And a seven days after, they obtained another freezer.
Officials state they consider this suggests the fatalities were intentionally orchestrated.
"How they died was not identifiable due to the advanced decay of the victims," she stated.
The prosecutor's spokesman—from the legal authorities—said the precise timeline is yet to be determined, but the bodies were expertly concealed and went unnoticed during a earlier inspection.
While the suspects were detained in the summer, it was only on the 12th of November that the 55-year-old confessed to an occurrence and to storing the victims. He rejects any intent to kill, authorities confirmed.
At the same time, his brother admitted to a attempt to hide evidence but denied knowledge of a homicide.
The pair are at this time in detention before court proceedings in prisons in separate locations, situated at a distance.
Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister said the "reported homicide of mother and child... constitutes the abrupt and violent termination of two human lives and exposes a brutal scheme".
"Females of all ages are being killed due to the mere fact that they are of the female gender," they continued.
"Gender-based killings are a strongly established and widespread concern that we must address decisively."