Shocking Unearthing: Bodies of Missing Mother and Child Located in Freezers in the Alpine Nation
The bodies of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezing appliances in an apartment in western Austria.
The deceased, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been missing for a number of months, were found on the end of last week. The cooling units were placed behind a false wall in the apartment, situated in the city of Innsbruck.
A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, 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 incident—but denied murder.
Informing the media previously, a official for the public prosecutor's office stated the brothers were being detained on "high likelihood of intentional killing".
The identities of those implicated have not been disclosed by law enforcement, in following national regulations.
The family's disappearance was originally brought to light by the woman's cousin, who lives in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.
Investigators revealed the male associate claimed at the time she had taken an prolonged visit with her daughter to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.
Her bank card was then discovered to be utilized in foreign locations several times.
But when investigators examined the woman's home, her cellphone was found.
An individual also stated overhearing a disturbing sound in the apartment, and shouts of "mama" on the day the mother and child were thought to have disappeared.
An expanded police investigation was launched, with officers discovering various messages sent from the woman's phone—including a job termination message to her workplace and texts to the 55-year-old suspect.
Law enforcement said a significant cash transfer was also moved to the individual.
Katja Tersch stated to reporters on that day that a storage facility had been secured before the victims' disappearance and a freezing appliance had been installed within.
The male siblings removed the appliance from the facility on the date the mother and daughter went missing, she said. And a shortly afterward, they acquired another freezer.
Officials believe they believe this indicates the deaths were intentionally orchestrated.
"The reason for their demise could not be determined due to the state of decomposition of the victims," the official commented.
Mayr—representing the state—stated the specific order of occurrences is yet to be determined, but the victims were carefully placed and went unnoticed during a earlier inspection.
Although the men were taken into custody in the summer, it was only on the 12th of November that the 55-year-old acknowledged an occurrence and to storing the victims. He disputes any plan to cause death, authorities stated.
At the same time, his younger brother confessed to a cover-up but disputed involvement in a killing.
The two suspects are at this time in custody awaiting trial in detention centers in two Austrian cities, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.
In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister said the "suspected killing of two... constitutes the sudden and brutal end of a mother and child and reveals a cruel system".
"Female individuals are being murdered due to the sole reason that they are women and girls," they went on to say.
"Femicides are a strongly established and society-wide problem that we must address decisively."