🔗 Share this article

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

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were detected on Friday. The cooling units were placed behind a false wall in the flat, located in the city of Innsbruck.

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

Speaking to journalists earlier, a official for the legal authorities stated the two suspects were being held on "serious suspicion of murder".

The names of those involved have not been disclosed by police, in compliance with Austrian law.

The vanishing of the mother and child was first reported by the woman's cousin, who resides in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.

Investigators said the male associate claimed at the time she had embarked on an long journey with her daughter to see her family in the nation of Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then found to have been used overseas several times.

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

A witness also stated hearing a commotion in the flat, and shouts of "mother" on the date the pair were believed to have vanished.

An expanded criminal probe was initiated, with investigators finding various messages transmitted via the victim's mobile—including a job termination message to her company and texts to the 55-year-old suspect.

Officials stated a four-figure sum was also sent to the individual.

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

The brothers removed the freezer from the facility on the very day the mother and daughter went missing, the official stated. And a shortly afterward, they acquired another freezer.

Authorities believe they believe this points to the demise were intentionally orchestrated.

"The cause of death was not identifiable due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," the official said.

Mayr—from the legal authorities—noted the exact sequence of events is not yet known, but the remains were carefully placed and went unnoticed during a previous house search.

While the suspects were detained in the summer, it was not until 12 November that the suspect admitted to an event and to storing the victims. He denies any murderous intent, authorities stated.

In a related development, his brother acknowledged a cover-up but denied involvement in a homicide.

The brothers are currently in pre-trial detention in detention centers in separate locations, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

Through a combined announcement, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister declared the "suspected killing of two... symbolizes the abrupt and violent termination of a mother and child and uncovers a cruel system".

"Females of all ages are being murdered due to the simple reality that they are female," they continued.

"Murders of women are a profoundly embedded and issue affecting all of society that we must fight resolutely."