Shocking Unearthing: Bodies of Missing Mother and Child Located in Freezing Units in Austria
The deceased of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been located inside freezers in an flat in the western part of Austria.
The deceased, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were detected on the end of last week. The freezers were concealed behind a plasterboard wall in the apartment, located in the city of Innsbruck.
Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were arrested in the month of June. The elder brother, a colleague of the Syrian woman, stated to police last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but rejected homicide.
Speaking to journalists previously, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office stated the brothers were being detained on "strong suspicion of homicide".
The names of those involved have not been released by authorities, in following national regulations.
The vanishing of the mother and child was initially flagged by the cousin of the mother, who resides in Germany, on July 25, 2024.
Police stated the woman's colleague told them at the time she had embarked on an long journey with her daughter to visit her parents in the nation of Turkey.
The victim's bank card was then discovered to be utilized in foreign locations on multiple occasions.
However when investigators entered the mother's apartment, her smartphone was found.
A witness also stated hearing a commotion in the flat, and screams of "mum" on the occasion the pair were believed to have vanished.
A wider official inquiry was started, with investigators discovering multiple communications transmitted via the woman's phone—including a job termination message to her company and texts to the male colleague.
Officials said a significant cash transfer was also transferred to the suspect.
Katja Tersch informed reporters on recently 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 cooling unit from the unit on the day the woman and her child went missing, Tersch stated. And a seven days after, they obtained another freezer.
Authorities state they believe this indicates the fatalities were premeditated.
"The reason for their demise remains unclear due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," she stated.
A legal representative—from the legal authorities—said the specific order of occurrences is yet to be determined, but the victims were carefully placed and were not found during a previous house search.
Although the brothers were taken into custody in June, it was not until the 12th of November that the 55-year-old confessed to an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He rejects any murderous intent, officials confirmed.
In a related development, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a attempt to hide evidence but rejected involvement in a homicide.
The two suspects are presently in custody awaiting trial in jails in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.
Through a combined announcement, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister stated the "alleged double murder... represents the sudden and brutal end of two individuals and exposes a cruel system".
"Females of all ages are falling victim to homicide due to the mere fact that they are female," they continued.
"Gender-based killings are a profoundly embedded and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."