Tragic Unearthing: Remains of Vanished Mum and Daughter Located in Freezing Units in Austria
The remains of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been located inside freezers in an apartment in western Austria.
The deceased, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been missing for a number of months, were detected on the end of last week. The freezers were concealed behind a plasterboard wall in the flat, located in the city of Innsbruck.
Two individuals, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in the month of June. The 55-year-old, a work associate of the female victim, informed law enforcement last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but disputed murder.
Speaking to the media recently, a representative for the public prosecutor's office said the brothers were being kept in custody on "serious suspicion of murder".
Personal details of those concerned have been withheld by police, in following Austrian law.
The family's disappearance was first reported by the female victim's relative, who resides in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Investigators said the 55-year-old suspect informed them at the time she had gone on an prolonged visit with her child to travel to her relatives in Turkey.
The mother's debit card was then found to have been used overseas several times.
However when investigators examined the mother's apartment, her mobile phone was found.
An individual also claimed hearing a disturbing sound in the apartment, and screams of "mama" on the date the pair were thought to have disappeared.
An expanded criminal probe was initiated, with investigators uncovering various messages sent from the mother's device—among them a notice of quitting to her employer and communications to the male colleague.
Authorities confirmed a amount in the thousands was also moved to the suspect.
Katja Tersch informed reporters on Tuesday that a storage facility had been leased before the vanishing and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.
The brothers removed the cooling unit from the unit on the day the victims went missing, she said. And a shortly afterward, they purchased a second unit.
Officials say they think this points to the deaths were intentionally orchestrated.
"How they died was not identifiable due to the condition of the victims," she commented.
The prosecutor's spokesman—representing the state—said the specific order of occurrences is yet to be determined, but the remains were expertly concealed and went unnoticed during a prior examination.
While the suspects were taken into custody in June, it was only on 12 November that the elder brother admitted to an incident and to concealing the remains. He disputes any murderous intent, investigators confirmed.
Meanwhile, his brother admitted to a cover-up but rejected awareness of a murder.
The two suspects are at this time in detention before court proceedings in prisons in separate locations, around 117 miles (189km) apart.
Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative said the "suspected killing of two... constitutes the sudden and brutal end of two human lives and reveals a cruel system".
"Female individuals are being killed due to the sole reason that they are of the female gender," they went on to say.
"Femicides are a profoundly embedded and widespread concern that we must fight resolutely."