🔗 Share this article

The bodies of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been discovered inside freezers in an residence in the western part of Austria.

The victims, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were found on the end of last week. The freezers were hidden behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, located in the Innsbruck area.

Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in June. The 55-year-old, a work associate of the Syrian woman, informed police last week that there had been an incident—but disputed intentional killing.

Addressing journalists recently, a representative for the legal authorities announced the two suspects were being kept in custody on "high likelihood of intentional killing".

The names of those concerned have not been released by law enforcement, in accordance with local legislation.

The vanishing of the mother and child was initially flagged by the female victim's relative, who lives in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Police stated the woman's colleague informed them at the time she had gone on an long journey with her child to visit her parents in the nation of Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then noted as being active abroad repeatedly.

Yet when police entered the woman's home, her smartphone was found.

Someone also claimed overhearing a commotion in the dwelling, and shouts of "mama" on the date the mother and child were presumed to have gone missing.

A broader criminal probe was initiated, with authorities uncovering several texts transmitted via the victim's mobile—such as a resignation letter to her company and texts to the 55-year-old suspect.

Authorities confirmed a amount in the thousands was also moved to the man.

Katja Tersch told media representatives on recently that a rented space had been secured before the vanishing and a freezer had been placed there.

The two suspects extracted the freezer from the storage space on the day the woman and her child vanished, she revealed. And a shortly afterward, they obtained a second unit.

Authorities state they believe this suggests the deaths were premeditated.

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

A legal representative—of the public prosecutor's office—stated the exact sequence of events is yet to be determined, but the victims were professionally hidden and went unnoticed during a earlier inspection.

While the brothers were detained in June, it was only on November 12 that the suspect acknowledged an incident and to concealing the remains. He disputes any intent to kill, officials confirmed.

At the same time, his brother acknowledged a concealment but denied awareness of a killing.

The two suspects are currently in pre-trial detention in detention centers in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.

Through a combined announcement, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister said the "suspected killing of two... represents the abrupt and violent termination of two human lives and exposes a heartless setup".

"Females of all ages are being murdered due to the sole reason that they are women and girls," they went on to say.

"Gender-based killings are a strongly established and issue affecting all of society that we must combat firmly."