Disturbing 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 located inside freezing appliances in an residence in the western part of Austria.
The victims, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were found on the end of last week. The cooling units were placed behind a false wall in the apartment, located in the city of Innsbruck.
Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in June. The older man, a work associate of the female victim, told law enforcement last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but denied murder.
Speaking to journalists earlier, a spokesman for the legal authorities said the two suspects were being kept in custody on "high likelihood of intentional killing".
The identities of those implicated have been withheld by police, in following Austrian law.
The vanishing of the mother and child was first reported by the female victim's relative, who is based in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Police said the male associate informed them at the time she had gone on an extended trip with her daughter to see her family in the nation of Turkey.
The mother's debit card was then noted as being active overseas several times.
However when investigators examined the victim's residence, her mobile phone was discovered.
Someone also claimed listening to a commotion in the apartment, and shouts of "mother" on the occasion the two were thought to have disappeared.
A wider criminal probe was initiated, with authorities discovering several texts sent from the woman's phone—among them a notice of quitting to her workplace and communications to the male colleague.
Authorities stated a four-figure sum was also transferred to the man.
The head of the State Criminal Police Office informed reporters on that day that a rented space had been leased before the mother and child went missing and a freezing appliance had been installed within.
The male siblings extracted the freezer from the facility on the date the mother and daughter vanished, Tersch stated. And a shortly afterward, they acquired another freezer.
Authorities say they believe this suggests the demise were planned in advance.
"How they died was not identifiable due to the condition of the remains," Tersch said.
A legal representative—of the public prosecutor's office—stated the precise timeline is still unclear, but the victims were professionally hidden and not discovered during a prior examination.
While the men were taken into custody in the summer, it was only on November 12 that the suspect confessed to an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He rejects any plan to cause death, authorities said.
In a related development, his brother confessed to a attempt to hide evidence but denied knowledge of a murder.
The two suspects are currently in detention before court proceedings in prisons in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.
Via a shared communication, Austria's Minister for Women and the top legal representative declared the "alleged double murder... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of a mother and child and reveals a cruel system".
"Female individuals are falling victim to homicide due to the mere fact that they are female," they added.
"Murders of women are a deeply rooted and widespread concern that we must combat firmly."