Disturbing Find: Bodies of Missing Mum and Daughter Found in Freezers in the Alpine Nation
The bodies of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been located inside freezers in an residence in the western part of Austria.
The deceased, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were uncovered on the end of last week. The freezers were hidden behind a false wall in the flat, situated in the Innsbruck area.
Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in the month of June. The elder brother, a work associate of the Syrian woman, informed police last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but denied intentional killing.
Speaking to journalists previously, a official for the legal authorities announced the pair were being kept in custody on "high likelihood of murder".
The names of those implicated have not been disclosed by police, in following local legislation.
Their going missing was initially flagged by the cousin of the mother, who is based in Germany, on July 25, 2024.
Authorities said the woman's colleague told them at the time she had embarked on an long journey with her child to visit her parents in the nation of Turkey.
The mother's debit card was then discovered to be utilized overseas repeatedly.
Yet when investigators entered the victim's residence, her smartphone was located.
A witness also stated listening to a commotion in the flat, and cries of "mother" on the day the pair were thought to have disappeared.
An expanded official inquiry was started, with investigators uncovering multiple communications transmitted via the mother's device—including a job termination message to her workplace and messages to the male colleague.
Authorities confirmed a amount in the thousands was also moved to the man.
Katja Tersch informed the press on Tuesday that a storage facility had been rented out before the victims' disappearance and a freezer had been placed there.
The male siblings took out the cooling unit from the facility on the very day the victims went missing, the official said. And a seven days after, they obtained a second unit.
Authorities believe they believe this indicates the deaths were premeditated.
"The reason for their demise could not be determined due to the state of decomposition of the remains," the official stated.
A legal representative—of the public prosecutor's office—noted the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the remains were carefully placed and not discovered during a prior examination.
While the suspects were taken into custody in the summer, it was not until November 12 that the 55-year-old confessed to an event and to concealing the remains. He disputes any murderous intent, investigators confirmed.
Meanwhile, his brother admitted to a attempt to hide evidence but denied awareness of a killing.
The brothers are currently in detention before court proceedings in jails in separate locations, situated at a distance.
Through a combined announcement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative stated the "alleged double murder... constitutes the sudden and brutal end of two individuals and exposes a heartless setup".
"Women and girls are being killed due to the sole reason that they are women and girls," they went on to say.
"Femicides are a profoundly embedded and widespread concern that we must address decisively."