Tragic Discovery: Bodies of Vanished Mother and Child Located in Freezers in Austria
The bodies of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezers in an apartment in the western part of Austria.
The deceased, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were detected on the end of last week. The cooling units were hidden behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, located in the city of Innsbruck.
Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in the month of June. The older man, a work associate of the Syrian woman, stated to authorities last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but disputed intentional killing.
Informing journalists earlier, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office announced the two suspects were being detained on "serious suspicion of intentional killing".
Personal details of those concerned have been withheld by law enforcement, in compliance with local legislation.
Their going missing was first reported by the woman's cousin, who is based in Germany, on 25 July 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 Turkey.
The mother's debit card was then discovered to be utilized overseas repeatedly.
Yet when police searched the woman's home, her cellphone was discovered.
Someone also claimed hearing a commotion in the apartment, and shouts of "mama" on the date the pair were thought to have disappeared.
A wider police investigation was initiated, with officers uncovering multiple communications sent from the woman's phone—such as a resignation letter to her company and messages to the male associate.
Authorities confirmed a amount in the thousands was also sent to the suspect.
A senior police official stated to the press on recently that a storage facility had been secured before the vanishing and a freezer had been positioned inside.
The male siblings extracted the cooling unit from the storage space on the very day the woman and her child disappeared, Tersch stated. And a seven days after, they acquired a second unit.
Investigators say they consider this suggests the demise were intentionally orchestrated.
"The cause of death remains unclear due to the advanced decay of the victims," Tersch commented.
Mayr—from the legal authorities—stated the specific order of occurrences is not yet known, but the bodies were professionally hidden and went unnoticed during a previous house search.
While the brothers were detained in June, it was only on November 12 that the suspect acknowledged an incident and to storing the victims. He denies any plan to cause death, authorities stated.
Meanwhile, his 53-year-old sibling confessed to a attempt to hide evidence but denied knowledge of a homicide.
The two suspects are at this time in detention before court proceedings in jails in Innsbruck and Salzburg, around 117 miles (189km) apart.
Through a combined announcement, 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 a mother and child and exposes a brutal scheme".
"Women and girls are falling victim to homicide due to the simple reality that they are of the female gender," they went on to say.
"Murders of women are a strongly established and issue affecting all of society that we must combat firmly."
