Shocking Unearthing: Bodies of Vanished Mother and Child Found in Freezers in Austria
The remains of a mother aged 34 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 detected on Friday. The cooling units were hidden behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, located in the Innsbruck area.
Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were detained in the month of June. The elder brother, a work associate of the Syrian woman, informed authorities last week that there had been an incident—but disputed intentional killing.
Informing the media previously, a official for the state prosecutor said the two suspects were being detained on "serious suspicion of intentional killing".
The names of those involved have been withheld by authorities, in compliance with national regulations.
The vanishing of the mother and child was originally brought to light by the cousin of the mother, who is based in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Authorities stated the woman's colleague informed them at the time she had gone on an extended trip with her daughter to visit her parents in Turkey.
The victim's bank card was then discovered to be utilized abroad several times.
Yet when investigators entered the victim's residence, her smartphone was discovered.
A witness also claimed hearing a loud noise in the flat, and screams of "mama" on the day the two were presumed to have gone missing.
An expanded official inquiry was launched, with authorities discovering several texts transmitted via the woman's phone—among them a notice of quitting to her workplace and texts to the male colleague.
Law enforcement confirmed a four-figure sum was also transferred to the suspect.
The head of the State Criminal Police Office stated to the press on Tuesday that a rented space had been rented out before the vanishing and a freezer had been placed there.
The two suspects removed the appliance from the storage space on the very day the woman and her child disappeared, Tersch revealed. And a week later, they purchased a second unit.
Investigators state they consider this points to the demise were planned in advance.
"The reason for their demise could not be determined due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," she stated.
A legal representative—representing the state—said the precise timeline is yet to be determined, but the remains were professionally hidden and not discovered during a previous house search.
Although the men were taken into custody in June, it was only on the 12th of November that the 55-year-old admitted to an event and to storing the victims. He disputes any plan to cause death, authorities said.
In a related development, his 53-year-old sibling admitted to a concealment but denied involvement in a murder.
The two suspects are currently in detention before court proceedings in detention centers in Innsbruck and Salzburg, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.
In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative stated the "suspected killing of two... symbolizes the abrupt and violent termination of a mother and child and uncovers a heartless setup".
"Female individuals are being murdered due to the mere fact that they are female," they continued.
"Femicides are a strongly established and widespread concern that we must combat firmly."