🔗 Share this article

The bodies of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezers in an apartment in western Austria.

The victims, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were uncovered on the end of last week. The cooling units were hidden behind a plasterboard wall in the dwelling, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

Two men, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in June. The elder brother, a work associate of the Syrian woman, told law enforcement last week that there had been an accident—but disputed homicide.

Speaking to the media previously, a representative for the public prosecutor's office said the brothers were being kept in custody on "high likelihood of intentional killing".

The names of those involved have not been disclosed by law enforcement, in following local legislation.

The vanishing of the mother and child was first reported by the cousin of the mother, who lives in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Investigators said the male associate told them at the time she had taken an prolonged visit with her child to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

Her bank card was then discovered to be utilized in foreign locations on multiple occasions.

But when officers examined the mother's apartment, her smartphone was located.

Someone also reported hearing a disturbing sound in the flat, and cries of "mama" on the day the two were thought to have disappeared.

An expanded official inquiry was launched, with officers discovering various messages sent from the mother's device—including a job termination message to her employer and communications to the male associate.

Law enforcement confirmed a amount in the thousands was also transferred to the individual.

A senior police official informed the press on that day that a rented space had been leased before the vanishing and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.

The brothers extracted the freezer from the storage space on the date the victims went missing, the official said. And a week later, they obtained another freezer.

Authorities state they believe this suggests the demise were intentionally orchestrated.

"The cause of death could not be determined due to the advanced decay of the remains," the official said.

Mayr—of the public prosecutor's office—stated the specific order of occurrences is yet to be determined, but the remains were carefully placed and were not found during a previous house search.

Although the brothers were arrested in the summer, it was not until 12 November that the 55-year-old acknowledged an incident and to hiding the bodies. He denies any intent to kill, investigators stated.

Meanwhile, his younger brother confessed to a attempt to hide evidence but denied involvement in a murder.

The two suspects are at this time in pre-trial detention in jails in Innsbruck and Salzburg, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

Via a shared communication, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister stated the "reported homicide of mother and child... symbolizes the abrupt and violent termination of two individuals and uncovers a heartless setup".

"Women and girls are being killed due to the mere fact that they are of the female gender," they went on to say.

"Murders of women are a profoundly embedded and widespread concern that we must combat firmly."