🔗 Share this article

The deceased of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezers in an flat in the western part of Austria.

The victims, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were detected on Friday. The cooling units were placed behind a false wall in the dwelling, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were detained in June. The older man, a colleague of the female victim, stated to law enforcement last week that there had been an incident—but disputed homicide.

Informing reporters recently, a official for the legal authorities stated the two suspects were being held on "strong suspicion of murder".

The identities of those implicated have not been released by police, in compliance with local legislation.

The family's disappearance was originally brought to light by the woman's cousin, who resides in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.

Authorities said the male associate informed them at the time she had taken an long journey with her child to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then found to have been used in foreign locations on multiple occasions.

However when police examined the victim's residence, her smartphone was located.

A witness also stated overhearing a commotion in the flat, and cries of "mother" on the occasion the two were thought to have disappeared.

A wider police investigation was started, with investigators uncovering multiple communications originating from the woman's phone—such as a job termination message to her workplace and texts to the male colleague.

Officials stated a significant cash transfer was also moved to the suspect.

A senior police official informed reporters on Tuesday that a storage unit had been secured before the mother and child went missing and a freezer had been positioned inside.

The brothers took out the freezer from the unit on the date the woman and her child disappeared, the official revealed. And a seven days after, they obtained a second unit.

Authorities say they believe this points to the deaths were planned in advance.

"The cause of death remains unclear due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," Tersch said.

Mayr—from the legal authorities—noted the precise timeline is not yet known, but the remains were carefully placed and went unnoticed during a previous house search.

Although the men were detained in June, it was not until the 12th of November that the suspect confessed to an occurrence and to hiding the bodies. He denies any murderous intent, officials stated.

At the same time, his 53-year-old sibling confessed to a concealment but denied awareness of a killing.

The pair 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 Justice Minister stated the "reported homicide of mother and child... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of a mother and child and reveals a brutal scheme".

"Female individuals are being murdered due to the mere fact that they are female," they continued.

"Murders of women are a deeply rooted and widespread concern that we must combat firmly."