Tragic Unearthing: Remains of Vanished Mother and Child Found in Freezing Units in the Alpine Nation
The deceased of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been discovered inside freezing appliances in an flat in the western part of Austria.
The deceased, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were found on Friday. The cooling units were concealed behind a drywall partition in the apartment, situated in the Innsbruck area.
A pair of males, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in June. The older man, a colleague of the Syrian woman, told authorities last week that there had been an incident—but rejected homicide.
Addressing the media previously, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office announced the brothers were being detained on "strong suspicion of intentional killing".
The names of those concerned have been withheld by law enforcement, in compliance with national regulations.
Their going missing was first reported by the female victim's relative, who lives in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Authorities revealed the 55-year-old suspect informed them at the time she had embarked on an long journey with her child to see her family in the nation of Turkey.
The victim's bank card was then discovered to be utilized in foreign locations repeatedly.
Yet when officers examined the mother's apartment, her smartphone was found.
A witness also stated hearing a loud noise in the apartment, and shouts of "mama" on the occasion the pair were believed to have vanished.
A wider official inquiry was launched, with investigators discovering multiple communications transmitted via the victim's mobile—including a notice of quitting to her workplace and messages to the male colleague.
Law enforcement said a significant cash transfer was also transferred to the individual.
The head of the State Criminal Police Office stated to the press on that day that a rented space had been rented out before the vanishing and a cooling unit had been positioned inside.
The two suspects extracted the appliance from the facility on the date the victims went missing, she stated. And a seven days after, they acquired a second unit.
Officials state they consider this suggests the deaths were premeditated.
"How they died was not identifiable due to the state of decomposition of the victims," she stated.
Mayr—from the legal authorities—noted the specific order of occurrences is yet to be determined, but the bodies were expertly concealed and not discovered during a prior examination.
While the brothers were taken into custody in the summer, it was only on 12 November that the 55-year-old admitted to an event and to storing the victims. He disputes any murderous intent, officials confirmed.
At the same time, his younger brother acknowledged a attempt to hide evidence but denied awareness of a murder.
The pair are currently in detention before court proceedings in jails in two Austrian cities, around 117 miles (189km) apart.
In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative said the "alleged double murder... constitutes the sudden and brutal end of a mother and child and uncovers a cruel system".
"Women and girls are being murdered due to the mere fact that they are female," they went on to say.
"Murders of women are a strongly established and issue affecting all of society that we must fight resolutely."