Disturbing Discovery: Bodies of Vanished Mum and Daughter Found in Freezing Units in the Alpine Nation
The deceased of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezing appliances in an residence in the western part of Austria.
The victims, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were found on Friday. The freezers were concealed behind a plasterboard wall in the dwelling, located in the city of Innsbruck.
A pair of males, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in the month of June. The older man, a colleague of the Syrian woman, told authorities last week that there had been an incident—but disputed homicide.
Addressing the media recently, a spokesman for the state prosecutor stated the two suspects were being detained on "high likelihood of homicide".
The names of those implicated have not been released by police, in accordance with local legislation.
Their going missing was initially flagged by the woman's cousin, who lives in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Investigators revealed the woman's colleague informed them at the time she had taken 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 overseas repeatedly.
Yet when officers searched the mother's apartment, her cellphone was found.
Someone also claimed overhearing a commotion in the apartment, and screams of "mother" on the date the two were believed to have vanished.
An expanded official inquiry was started, with authorities finding various messages sent from the mother's device—including a job termination message to her workplace and messages to the male colleague.
Law enforcement confirmed a four-figure sum was also moved to the suspect.
A senior police official told the press on Tuesday that a storage unit had been rented out before the victims' disappearance and a freezing appliance had been installed within.
The two suspects took out the freezer from the unit on the date the victims vanished, she said. And a seven days after, they obtained another freezer.
Investigators believe they think this suggests the fatalities were planned in advance.
"The cause of death could not be determined due to the condition of the victims," she commented.
The prosecutor's spokesman—of the public prosecutor's office—said the precise timeline is yet to be determined, but the remains were expertly concealed and not discovered during a previous house search.
Although the men were taken into custody in June, it was not until November 12 that the elder brother admitted to an incident and to hiding the bodies. He disputes any plan to cause death, officials confirmed.
At the same time, his younger brother confessed to a attempt to hide evidence but denied knowledge of a killing.
The brothers are presently in custody awaiting trial in detention centers in separate locations, situated at a distance.
In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative said the "reported homicide of mother and child... constitutes the sudden and brutal end of a mother and child and uncovers a heartless setup".
"Females of all ages are falling victim to homicide due to the sole reason that they are female," they continued.
"Murders of women are a strongly established and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."