Shocking Find: Remains of Vanished Mum and Daughter Found in Freezers in the Alpine Nation

The remains of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been located inside freezing appliances in an apartment in western Austria.

The victims, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been missing for a number of months, were detected on the end of last week. The freezers were placed behind a drywall partition in the flat, located in the Innsbruck area.

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

Informing the media earlier, a official for the legal authorities announced the two suspects were being kept in custody on "high likelihood of homicide".

The names of those involved have been withheld by police, in accordance with national regulations.

The family's disappearance was first reported by the woman's cousin, who is based in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Authorities said the 55-year-old suspect informed them at the time she had taken an long journey with her daughter to visit her parents in the nation of Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then found to have been used abroad repeatedly.

However when police searched the mother's apartment, her smartphone was located.

A witness also reported overhearing a commotion in the flat, and screams of "mum" on the date the pair were thought to have disappeared.

A broader criminal probe was started, with investigators discovering multiple communications transmitted via the mother's device—among them a resignation letter to her employer and messages to the male associate.

Officials stated a amount in the thousands was also transferred to the suspect.

A senior police official stated to reporters on that day that a storage facility had been rented out before the vanishing and a freezer had been installed within.

The two suspects removed the cooling unit from the unit on the very day the mother and daughter disappeared, the official revealed. And a seven days after, they obtained an additional appliance.

Officials believe they think this indicates the fatalities were premeditated.

"The cause of death could not be determined due to the state of decomposition of the victims," Tersch commented.

Mayr—representing the state—said the exact sequence of events is not yet known, but the bodies were carefully placed and were not found during a earlier inspection.

Although the men were arrested in the summer, it was not until November 12 that the suspect acknowledged an event and to hiding the bodies. He denies any intent to kill, investigators confirmed.

In a related development, his younger brother admitted to a attempt to hide evidence but rejected involvement in a homicide.

The pair are at this time in custody awaiting trial in jails in Innsbruck and Salzburg, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

Through a combined announcement, Austria's Minister for Women and the top legal representative declared the "suspected killing of two... represents the sudden and brutal end of two human lives and exposes a brutal scheme".

"Women and girls are being killed due to the simple reality that they are women and girls," they went on to say.

"Femicides are a profoundly embedded and widespread concern that we must combat firmly."