Disturbing Discovery: Remains of Vanished Mum and Daughter Located in Freezing Units in the Alpine Nation
The deceased of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been found inside freezing appliances in an residence in the western part of Austria.
The victims, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were found on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a plasterboard wall in the dwelling, located in the city of Innsbruck.
Two men, 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 law enforcement last week that there had been an accident—but disputed intentional killing.
Speaking to journalists earlier, a spokesman for the legal authorities stated the two suspects were being detained on "strong suspicion of murder".
Personal details of those concerned have not been disclosed by police, in compliance with national regulations.
Their going missing was first reported by the cousin of the mother, who resides in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Investigators said the male associate informed them at the time she had gone on an extended trip with her child to see her family in the nation of Turkey.
Her bank card was then found to have been used in foreign locations on multiple occasions.
However when officers examined the mother's apartment, her smartphone was located.
An individual also stated listening to a loud noise in the dwelling, and shouts of "mum" on the date the two were believed to have vanished.
An expanded police investigation was launched, with authorities discovering various messages originating from the mother's device—among them a resignation letter to her workplace and communications to the 55-year-old suspect.
Authorities stated a four-figure sum was also moved to the suspect.
A senior police official informed reporters on Tuesday that a rented space had been secured before the mother and child went missing and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.
The brothers removed the freezer from the storage space on the very day the mother and daughter disappeared, Tersch said. And a week later, they acquired a second unit.
Authorities believe they think this indicates the deaths were planned in advance.
"How they died was not identifiable due to the advanced decay of the bodies," Tersch stated.
Mayr—from the legal authorities—noted the precise timeline is not yet known, but the bodies were professionally hidden and were not found during a earlier inspection.
While the brothers were detained in the summer, it was only on November 12 that the elder brother acknowledged an event and to concealing the remains. He disputes any intent to kill, authorities confirmed.
At the same time, his 53-year-old sibling confessed to a concealment but disputed knowledge of a killing.
The pair are at this time in pre-trial detention in detention centers in Innsbruck and Salzburg, around 117 miles (189km) apart.
Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative said the "suspected killing of two... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of two human lives and reveals a cruel system".
"Female individuals are falling victim to homicide due to the simple reality that they are women and girls," they added.
"Femicides are a deeply rooted and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."