🔗 Share this article

The remains of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezing appliances in an apartment in the western part of Austria.

The victims, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were found on Friday. The cooling units were hidden behind a false wall in the apartment, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

Two men, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were detained in June. The elder brother, a work associate of the female victim, stated to police last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but rejected murder.

Speaking to journalists earlier, a representative for the state prosecutor stated the two suspects were being held on "high likelihood of homicide".

Personal details of those involved have not been released by law enforcement, in following national regulations.

Their going missing was originally brought to light by the female victim's relative, who resides in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Police said the 55-year-old suspect told them at the time she had taken an extended trip with her child to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then noted as being active abroad on multiple occasions.

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

A witness also stated hearing a loud noise in the flat, and screams of "mum" on the date the two were presumed to have gone missing.

A wider criminal probe was launched, with authorities uncovering various messages originating from the mother's device—among them a job termination message to her workplace and communications to the male associate.

Officials stated a significant cash transfer was also sent to the man.

A senior police official informed the press on Tuesday that a storage facility had been leased before the victims' disappearance and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.

The brothers removed the freezer from the unit on the date the victims went missing, she revealed. And a week later, they acquired another freezer.

Investigators state they consider this suggests the demise were planned in advance.

"The reason for their demise was not identifiable due to the advanced decay of the remains," she commented.

Mayr—representing the state—said 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 detained in June, it was not until November 12 that the 55-year-old admitted to an event and to hiding the bodies. He rejects any intent to kill, authorities confirmed.

At the same time, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a concealment but disputed involvement in a homicide.

The brothers are presently in custody awaiting trial in detention centers in separate locations, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative said the "reported homicide of mother and child... represents the sudden and brutal end of two individuals and exposes a brutal scheme".

"Female individuals are being killed due to the simple reality that they are women and girls," they continued.

"Femicides are a profoundly embedded and society-wide problem that we must address decisively."