Shocking Discovery: Bodies of Vanished Mum and Daughter Located in Freezers in the Alpine Nation

The remains of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been found inside freezers in an apartment in the western part of Austria.

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were detected on Friday. The freezers were concealed behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, situated in the Innsbruck area.

Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in June. The elder brother, a work associate of the Syrian woman, stated to authorities last week that there had been an accident—but rejected homicide.

Speaking to reporters previously, a representative for the public prosecutor's office said the pair were being held on "serious suspicion of intentional killing".

The names of those concerned have not been disclosed by authorities, in accordance with national regulations.

The vanishing of the mother and child was originally brought to light by the cousin of the mother, who is based in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

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

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

But when investigators entered the mother's apartment, her cellphone was located.

Someone also claimed listening to a disturbing sound in the apartment, and screams of "mama" on the date the pair were presumed to have gone missing.

A wider police investigation was initiated, with officers discovering multiple communications transmitted via the woman's phone—such as a job termination message to her company and messages to the male associate.

Officials said a four-figure sum was also moved to the man.

Katja Tersch informed media representatives on Tuesday that a storage unit had been rented out before the vanishing and a cooling unit had been positioned inside.

The brothers extracted the cooling unit from the unit on the day the woman and her child vanished, she revealed. And a shortly afterward, they obtained another freezer.

Officials believe they believe this suggests the demise were planned in advance.

"How they died remains unclear due to the condition of the remains," Tersch said.

The prosecutor's spokesman—representing the state—noted the exact sequence of events is still unclear, but the remains were professionally hidden and went unnoticed during a prior examination.

Although the brothers were detained in June, it was not until November 12 that the suspect admitted to an event and to concealing the remains. He disputes any plan to cause death, investigators said.

In a related development, his brother confessed to a concealment but denied involvement in a killing.

The brothers are presently in detention before court proceedings in detention centers in separate locations, 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... constitutes the sudden and brutal end of a mother and child and exposes a heartless setup".

"Women and girls are being murdered due to the simple reality that they are of the female gender," they went on to say.

"Murders of women are a profoundly embedded and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."