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

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been missing for a number of months, were found on Friday. The cooling units were hidden behind a false wall in the apartment, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in June. The elder brother, a work associate of the Syrian woman, told authorities last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but denied homicide.

Informing journalists recently, a official for the state prosecutor stated the brothers were being held on "high likelihood of intentional killing".

The identities of those implicated have been withheld by police, in accordance with Austrian law.

The vanishing of the mother and child was initially flagged by the woman's cousin, who is based in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Police revealed the 55-year-old suspect told them at the time she had taken an prolonged visit with her child to visit her parents in Turkey.

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

However when police entered the woman's home, her mobile phone was located.

Someone also claimed listening to a disturbing sound in the dwelling, and screams of "mother" on the date the two were presumed to have gone missing.

An expanded official inquiry was started, with investigators finding various messages originating from the victim's mobile—among them a notice of quitting to her workplace and messages to the male associate.

Law enforcement confirmed a amount in the thousands was also moved to the man.

Katja Tersch stated to media representatives on that day that a storage facility had been rented out before the vanishing and a freezer had been positioned inside.

The two suspects removed the cooling unit from the unit on the day the woman and her child disappeared, she stated. And a week later, they obtained another freezer.

Officials say they consider this points to the deaths were intentionally orchestrated.

"How they died could not be determined due to the state of decomposition of the remains," Tersch stated.

The prosecutor's spokesman—from the legal authorities—stated the exact sequence of events is still unclear, but the remains were expertly concealed and went unnoticed during a earlier inspection.

Although the suspects were arrested in the summer, it was only on 12 November that the elder brother confessed to an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He denies any intent to kill, officials said.

In a related development, his younger brother confessed to a attempt to hide evidence but disputed knowledge of a homicide.

The two suspects are presently in pre-trial detention in prisons in separate locations, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

In a joint statement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister said the "alleged double murder... represents the swift and cruel conclusion of two individuals and reveals a heartless setup".

"Female individuals are being murdered due to the sole reason that they are women and girls," they added.

"Femicides are a strongly established and society-wide problem that we must address decisively."