Shocking Find: Remains of Missing Mum and Daughter Located in Freezing Units in Austria

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

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been missing for several months, were uncovered on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a plasterboard wall in the apartment, located in the Innsbruck area.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the female victim, informed authorities last week that there had been an incident—but denied murder.

Speaking to the media recently, a spokesman for the legal authorities said the pair were being held on "serious suspicion of intentional killing".

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

The family's disappearance was first reported by the cousin of the mother, who lives in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.

Investigators revealed the 55-year-old suspect claimed at the time she had taken an long journey with her daughter to see her family in the nation of Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then noted as being active abroad several times.

But when investigators examined the victim's residence, her smartphone was located.

A witness also reported overhearing a disturbing sound in the apartment, and shouts of "mama" on the occasion the two were believed to have vanished.

A broader criminal probe was initiated, with officers finding multiple communications transmitted via the mother's device—including a notice of quitting to her company and messages to the male associate.

Authorities stated a significant cash transfer was also moved to the individual.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office stated to media representatives on Tuesday that a storage facility had been secured before the mother and child went missing and a cooling unit had been placed there.

The male siblings took out the cooling unit from the unit on the very day the victims disappeared, the official revealed. And a week later, they purchased another freezer.

Authorities state they believe this suggests the demise were planned in advance.

"The reason for their demise was not identifiable due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," she stated.

A legal representative—of the public prosecutor's office—stated the specific order of occurrences is yet to be determined, but the remains were expertly concealed and not discovered during a previous house search.

While the men were taken into custody in June, it was not until the 12th of November that the elder brother confessed to an incident and to hiding the bodies. He rejects any murderous intent, investigators stated.

In a related development, his brother admitted to a concealment but rejected knowledge of a homicide.

The brothers are at this time in detention before court proceedings in detention centers in two Austrian cities, situated at a distance.

In a joint statement, Austria's Minister for Women and the top legal representative declared the "reported homicide of mother and child... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of a mother and child and uncovers a cruel system".

"Female individuals are being murdered due to the simple reality that they are of the female gender," they continued.

"Murders of women are a deeply rooted and society-wide problem that we must combat firmly."