Disturbing Discovery: Bodies of Vanished Mum and Daughter Located in Freezing Units in Austria
The deceased of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been discovered inside freezing appliances in an flat in western Austria.
The deceased, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were found on the end of last week. The cooling units were placed behind a false wall in the apartment, located in the city of Innsbruck.
Two individuals, 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, informed authorities last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but denied homicide.
Informing the media recently, a representative for the public prosecutor's office announced the pair were being kept in custody on "strong suspicion of murder".
The identities of those involved have not been released by authorities, in compliance with Austrian law.
Their going missing was originally brought to light by the woman's cousin, who resides in Germany, on July 25, 2024.
Authorities stated the male associate informed them at the time she had gone on an long journey with her daughter to see her family in Turkey.
The mother's debit card was then found to have been used overseas repeatedly.
But when police entered the woman's home, her mobile phone was discovered.
Someone also reported listening to a commotion in the dwelling, and screams of "mama" on the date the pair were presumed to have gone missing.
An expanded criminal probe was launched, with officers finding various messages originating from the victim's mobile—including a job termination message to her employer and messages to the 55-year-old suspect.
Authorities stated a four-figure sum was also sent to the suspect.
The head of the State Criminal Police Office informed reporters on that day that a storage unit had been rented out before the victims' disappearance and a freezing appliance had been installed within.
The male siblings took out the appliance from the storage space on the date the woman and her child went missing, Tersch stated. And a week later, they obtained a second unit.
Investigators state they believe this suggests the deaths were planned in advance.
"The reason for their demise was not identifiable due to the state of decomposition of the remains," she commented.
A legal representative—representing the state—stated the exact sequence of events is not yet known, but the victims were expertly concealed and not discovered during a earlier inspection.
Although the brothers were taken into custody in the summer, it was not until the 12th of November that the 55-year-old acknowledged an event and to concealing the remains. He denies any plan to cause death, officials stated.
Meanwhile, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a concealment but rejected knowledge of a murder.
The pair are at this time in detention before court proceedings in jails in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.
In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative declared the "suspected killing of two... symbolizes the abrupt and violent termination of two individuals and reveals a heartless setup".
"Women and girls are being killed due to the mere fact that they are female," they added.
"Femicides are a deeply rooted and society-wide problem that we must address decisively."