They were discovered by their parents who became suspicious after the children were gone from home for a long time. Their father, Mehmet Üçer, 31, told the Anatolia news agency that he saw his children almost stuck together inside the freezer, which was unplugged and left empty inside the building. “Our children were everything to us. Our world came crashing down,” said Üçer, a shepherd who has had financial difficulties.
Üçer said that he and his wife were not legally married because they were only able to afford a religious ceremony when they started living together 12 years ago. He added that he had been working to support his children’s education and he had not bought himself shoes for the past eight years.
The children’s uncle, Mustafa Üçer, has been waiting in front of the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) in Ankara for the report to be completed, which should reveal the cause of death for Saime (4), Aynur (7), Ozan (10) and Ebru (11).
Answering questions from reporters, he said he could not believe that the children could have locked themselves in the freezer, seemingly implying that there may be another person involved in the tragedy. “They were there for three or four hours. I can’t understand it. It lacks logic. The freezer is so small and the children were in curled up in it,” he said according to Anatolia. Asked if he they’d had any trouble with anyone recently, Mustafa answered, “no.” “We didn’t have problems with anyone. And nobody else lives near my brother,” he said. The children are expected to be buried in the village of Gölyazı in Cihanbeyli, Konya.
