🔗 Share this article

The remains of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been located inside freezers in an flat in western Austria.

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were found on the end of last week. The cooling units were hidden behind a false wall in the flat, situated in the Innsbruck area.

Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in June. The elder brother, a work associate of the Syrian woman, informed police last week that there had been an accident—but rejected homicide.

Speaking to the media recently, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office said the brothers were being held on "high likelihood of intentional killing".

The identities of those concerned have been withheld by police, in following national regulations.

Their going missing was initially flagged by the female victim's relative, who is based in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Investigators stated the 55-year-old suspect told them at the time she had gone on an extended trip with her daughter to visit her parents in the nation of Turkey.

Her bank card was then found to have been used abroad on multiple occasions.

However when investigators entered the mother's apartment, her cellphone was located.

Someone also stated overhearing a disturbing sound in the flat, and cries of "mama" on the date the mother and child were believed to have vanished.

A wider police investigation was started, with investigators discovering various messages originating from the mother's device—such as a job termination message to her workplace and messages to the 55-year-old suspect.

Officials said a four-figure sum was also transferred to the individual.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office stated to reporters on Tuesday that a rented space had been secured before the victims' disappearance and a freezer had been installed within.

The brothers removed the appliance from the storage space on the very day the victims went missing, the official said. And a shortly afterward, they purchased a second unit.

Authorities believe they think this points to the fatalities were premeditated.

"How they died could not be determined due to the advanced decay of the remains," she stated.

The prosecutor's spokesman—from the legal authorities—said the precise timeline is not yet known, but the victims were carefully placed and went unnoticed during a previous house search.

While the suspects were detained in the summer, it was only on November 12 that the 55-year-old acknowledged an event and to concealing the remains. He rejects any intent to kill, investigators confirmed.

At the same time, his brother confessed to a cover-up but disputed knowledge of a killing.

The pair are at this time in custody awaiting trial in prisons in two Austrian cities, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

Through a combined announcement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister said the "suspected killing of two... represents the sudden and brutal end of two individuals and exposes a brutal scheme".

"Female individuals are being murdered due to the sole reason that they are female," they added.

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