Tragic Find: Bodies of Vanished Mum and Daughter Located in Freezers in the Alpine Nation
The bodies of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been found inside freezing appliances in an residence in western Austria.
The victims, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were uncovered on Friday. The freezers were concealed behind a plasterboard wall in the flat, situated in the Innsbruck area.
A pair of males, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were arrested in the month of June. The older man, a work associate of the female victim, told police last week that there had been an incident—but rejected murder.
Speaking to the media earlier, a representative for the legal authorities announced the two suspects were being held on "strong suspicion of intentional killing".
Personal details of those involved have not been released by law enforcement, in compliance with Austrian law.
Their going missing was initially flagged by the woman's cousin, who resides in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Authorities stated the male associate informed them at the time she had embarked on an prolonged visit with her daughter to see her family in Turkey.
The victim's bank card was then noted as being active in foreign locations on multiple occasions.
Yet when investigators entered the victim's residence, her smartphone was located.
An individual also stated overhearing a loud noise in the dwelling, and shouts of "mother" on the day the two were believed to have vanished.
An expanded criminal probe was started, with authorities discovering various messages transmitted via the mother's device—among them a resignation letter to her company and messages to the male associate.
Authorities confirmed a significant cash transfer was also transferred to the suspect.
A senior police official told reporters on that day that a storage unit had been leased before the vanishing and a freezer had been positioned inside.
The two suspects removed the freezer from the unit on the very day the woman and her child vanished, the official stated. And a seven days after, they purchased an additional appliance.
Investigators say they consider this indicates the deaths were intentionally orchestrated.
"The cause of death remains unclear due to the advanced decay of the victims," Tersch said.
The prosecutor's spokesman—of the public prosecutor's office—noted the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the bodies were expertly concealed and went unnoticed during a previous house search.
While the men were arrested in June, it was not until 12 November that the 55-year-old confessed to an event and to hiding the bodies. He disputes any plan to cause death, investigators stated.
At the same time, his brother acknowledged a cover-up but rejected knowledge of a homicide.
The brothers are presently in detention before court proceedings in jails in separate locations, situated at a distance.
In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister declared the "reported homicide of mother and child... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of two individuals and uncovers a brutal scheme".
"Women and girls are falling victim to homicide due to the mere fact that they are women and girls," they went on to say.
"Femicides are a profoundly embedded and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."