🔗 Share this article

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

The victims, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been missing for a number of months, were uncovered on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a plasterboard wall in the dwelling, situated in the Innsbruck area.

Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were arrested in June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the female victim, told law enforcement last week that there had been an accident—but disputed intentional killing.

Informing journalists earlier, a official for the state prosecutor said the pair were being kept in custody on "strong suspicion of homicide".

The names of those concerned have not been disclosed by law enforcement, in following national regulations.

The family's disappearance was initially flagged by the female victim's relative, who is based in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.

Police said the male associate informed them at the time she had gone on an extended trip with her daughter to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then found to have been used abroad on multiple occasions.

However when police examined the woman's home, her cellphone was found.

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

A wider criminal probe was started, with investigators discovering multiple communications sent from the mother's device—among them a job termination message to her employer and communications to the 55-year-old suspect.

Officials confirmed a amount in the thousands was also moved to the suspect.

Katja Tersch told the press on that day that a storage unit had been secured before the mother and child went missing and a cooling unit had been installed within.

The male siblings removed the cooling unit from the storage space on the very day the woman and her child went missing, the official said. And a seven days after, they obtained another freezer.

Investigators state they think this points to the deaths were premeditated.

"The reason for their demise was not identifiable due to the condition of the victims," Tersch commented.

Mayr—from the legal authorities—stated the specific order of occurrences is not yet known, but the victims were carefully placed and went unnoticed during a prior examination.

Although the men were taken into custody in June, it was only on the 12th of November that the elder brother acknowledged an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He disputes any plan to cause death, officials confirmed.

At the same time, his brother acknowledged a concealment but denied awareness of a murder.

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

Via a shared communication, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister declared the "reported homicide of mother and child... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of two individuals and uncovers a heartless setup".

"Females of all ages are falling victim to homicide due to the simple reality that they are women and girls," they continued.

"Murders of women are a strongly established and widespread concern that we must combat firmly."