Tragic Discovery: Bodies of Missing Mother and Child Located in Freezing Units in Austria
The remains of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezers in an residence in western Austria.
The deceased, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been missing for several months, were found on the end of last week. The cooling units were placed behind a false wall in the dwelling, located in the city of Innsbruck.
Two men, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in June. The older man, a work associate of the female victim, stated to police last week that there had been an incident—but denied murder.
Informing the media recently, a spokesman for the legal authorities announced the pair were being kept in custody on "serious suspicion of murder".
The names of those concerned have been withheld by authorities, in compliance with Austrian law.
Their going missing was initially flagged by the female victim's relative, who resides in Germany, on July 25, 2024.
Investigators stated the woman's colleague claimed at the time she had embarked on an long journey with her child to visit her parents in Turkey.
Her bank card was then noted as being active in foreign locations on multiple occasions.
Yet when police searched the mother's apartment, her smartphone was located.
Someone also reported overhearing a disturbing sound in the flat, and shouts of "mama" on the occasion the two were presumed to have gone missing.
An expanded police investigation was started, with officers discovering various messages originating from the mother's device—including a resignation letter to her employer and texts to the male associate.
Law enforcement confirmed a significant cash transfer was also sent to the individual.
A senior police official told media representatives on Tuesday that a storage facility had been rented out before the mother and child went missing and a freezer had been placed there.
The male siblings extracted the cooling unit from the facility on the day the woman and her child vanished, she revealed. And a week later, they obtained another freezer.
Investigators state they think this indicates the fatalities were intentionally orchestrated.
"How they died could not be determined due to the advanced decay of the bodies," Tersch said.
The prosecutor's spokesman—from the legal authorities—noted the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the remains were expertly concealed and not discovered during a previous house search.
While the men were taken into custody in the summer, it was not until November 12 that the suspect confessed to an incident and to hiding the bodies. He rejects any murderous intent, authorities stated.
Meanwhile, his brother confessed to a cover-up but denied awareness of a murder.
The two suspects are currently in pre-trial detention in prisons in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.
Via a shared communication, Austria's Minister for Women and the top legal representative stated the "alleged double murder... represents the abrupt and violent termination of two individuals and reveals a cruel system".
"Female individuals are being murdered due to the sole reason that they are female," they added.
"Murders of women are a strongly established and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."
