Disturbing Find: Remains of Vanished Mum and Daughter Located in Freezers in the Alpine Nation
The bodies of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been discovered inside freezers in an flat in western Austria.
The deceased, a woman from Syria 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 placed behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, situated in the city of Innsbruck.
A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were detained in June. The older man, a work associate of the Syrian woman, stated to law enforcement last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but rejected homicide.
Speaking to journalists recently, a official for the public prosecutor's office announced the brothers were being held on "serious suspicion of homicide".
The identities of those implicated have not been disclosed by authorities, 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 the 25th of July last year.
Police revealed the male associate told them at the time she had embarked on an prolonged visit with her daughter to visit her parents in Turkey.
Her bank card was then noted as being active abroad repeatedly.
Yet when officers searched the mother's apartment, her smartphone was found.
An individual also reported overhearing a disturbing sound in the apartment, and screams of "mama" on the day the two were believed to have vanished.
An expanded official inquiry was initiated, with officers uncovering multiple communications transmitted via the mother's device—such as a notice of quitting to her company and messages to the 55-year-old suspect.
Authorities said a four-figure sum was also moved to the suspect.
The head of the State Criminal Police Office told media representatives on recently that a storage unit had been secured before the victims' disappearance and a cooling unit had been placed there.
The male siblings removed the appliance from the facility on the very day the mother and daughter vanished, the official stated. And a seven days after, they obtained another freezer.
Officials believe they believe this indicates the deaths were planned in advance.
"How they died remains unclear due to the advanced decay of the victims," she commented.
Mayr—of the public prosecutor's office—stated the specific order of occurrences is not yet known, but the bodies were carefully placed and were not found during a earlier inspection.
While the men were taken into custody in June, it was not until 12 November that the 55-year-old acknowledged an incident and to storing the victims. He denies any plan to cause death, officials confirmed.
At the same time, his brother admitted to a concealment but rejected awareness of a murder.
The brothers are currently in pre-trial detention in jails in two Austrian cities, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.
Through a combined announcement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister said the "suspected killing of two... symbolizes the abrupt and violent termination of two individuals and uncovers a cruel system".
"Females of all ages are falling victim to homicide due to the sole reason that they are of the female gender," they went on to say.
"Femicides are a strongly established and widespread concern that we must address decisively."