Shocking Unearthing: Bodies of Vanished Mother and Child Located in Freezers in the Alpine Nation
The deceased of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezers in an flat in the western part of Austria.
The victims, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been missing for a number of months, were uncovered on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a plasterboard wall in the dwelling, situated in the Innsbruck area.
A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in June. The elder brother, a work associate of the female victim, stated to authorities last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but disputed intentional killing.
Informing reporters earlier, a representative for the public prosecutor's office said the two suspects were being held on "strong suspicion of intentional killing".
The identities of those implicated have been withheld by police, in compliance with Austrian law.
Their going missing was initially flagged by the female victim's relative, who lives in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Investigators revealed the male associate informed them at the time she had taken an prolonged visit with her daughter to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.
Her bank card was then noted as being active abroad several times.
Yet when investigators searched the mother's apartment, her smartphone was located.
A witness also stated overhearing a disturbing sound in the flat, and shouts of "mama" on the day the pair were thought to have disappeared.
A wider police investigation was launched, with authorities uncovering multiple communications sent from the woman's phone—including a job termination message to her employer and texts to the 55-year-old suspect.
Officials confirmed a four-figure sum was also moved to the individual.
A senior police official told media representatives on that day that a rented space had been rented out before the mother and child went missing and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.
The male siblings extracted the cooling unit from the unit on the very day the mother and daughter vanished, she revealed. And a seven days after, they acquired another freezer.
Officials believe they believe this indicates the demise were premeditated.
"How they died could not be determined due to the advanced decay of the victims," Tersch commented.
Mayr—of the public prosecutor's office—noted the exact sequence of events is still unclear, but the victims were carefully placed and went unnoticed during a previous house search.
While the brothers were taken into custody in the summer, it was not until the 12th of November that the elder brother acknowledged an occurrence and to hiding the bodies. He denies any plan to cause death, officials said.
At the same time, his brother admitted to a concealment but denied awareness of a killing.
The two suspects are at this time in detention before court proceedings in detention centers in separate locations, situated at a distance.
In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister stated the "alleged double murder... represents the abrupt and violent termination of two human lives and exposes a heartless setup".
"Women and girls are falling victim to homicide due to the simple reality that they are of the female gender," they added.
"Femicides are a strongly established and society-wide problem that we must address decisively."