Tragic Unearthing: Bodies of Vanished Mum and Daughter Found in Freezing Units in Austria
The deceased of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been discovered inside freezing appliances in an apartment in western Austria.
The deceased, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been missing for several months, were uncovered on the end of last week. The freezers were concealed behind a false wall in the apartment, situated in the Innsbruck area.
A pair of males, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the Syrian woman, informed law enforcement last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but denied murder.
Speaking to reporters earlier, a official for the public prosecutor's office announced the two suspects were being held on "strong suspicion of murder".
Personal details of those concerned have not been released by police, in following local legislation.
The vanishing of the mother and child was initially flagged by the cousin of the mother, who lives in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Investigators revealed the male associate claimed at the time she had taken an extended trip with her daughter to travel to her relatives in Turkey.
Her bank card was then found to have been used in foreign locations on multiple occasions.
Yet when officers entered the victim's residence, her cellphone was found.
An individual also stated overhearing a disturbing sound in the flat, and screams of "mum" on the occasion the pair were thought to have disappeared.
A broader official inquiry was launched, with investigators discovering several texts transmitted via the mother's device—such as a notice of quitting to her company and communications to the 55-year-old suspect.
Officials stated a amount in the thousands was also transferred to the individual.
Katja Tersch told reporters on recently that a storage unit had been rented out before the vanishing and a cooling unit had been placed there.
The male siblings extracted the cooling unit from the facility on the date the woman and her child disappeared, she stated. And a seven days after, they acquired an additional appliance.
Authorities say they think this points to the demise were planned in advance.
"How they died could not be determined due to the advanced decay of the remains," the official stated.
Mayr—from the legal authorities—noted the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the bodies were professionally hidden and went unnoticed during a prior examination.
While the men were arrested in the summer, it was only on the 12th of November that the suspect admitted to an event and to hiding the bodies. He rejects any intent to kill, investigators stated.
At the same time, his 53-year-old sibling admitted to a attempt to hide evidence but disputed knowledge of a homicide.
The two suspects are at this time in custody awaiting trial in detention centers in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.
In a joint statement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister stated the "suspected killing of two... represents the abrupt and violent termination of two individuals and exposes a cruel system".
"Females of all ages are falling victim to homicide due to the sole reason that they are women and girls," they added.
"Femicides are a profoundly embedded and society-wide problem that we must address decisively."