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The remains of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been discovered inside freezing appliances in an flat in the western part of Austria.

The victims, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were detected on Friday. The freezers were concealed behind a drywall partition in the flat, located in the Innsbruck area.

Two individuals, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in June. The older man, a work associate of the female victim, stated to authorities last week that there had been an incident—but denied intentional killing.

Addressing journalists recently, a representative for the legal authorities said the brothers were being kept in custody on "strong suspicion of homicide".

The names of those involved have not been disclosed by authorities, in following Austrian law.

Their going missing was first reported by the cousin of the mother, who lives in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Authorities revealed the 55-year-old suspect claimed at the time she had taken an extended trip with her child to see her family in the nation of Turkey.

Her bank card was then discovered to be utilized in foreign locations several times.

However when police entered the victim's residence, her mobile phone was discovered.

An individual also reported overhearing a disturbing sound in the dwelling, and shouts of "mother" on the occasion the two were presumed to have gone missing.

An expanded official inquiry was launched, with authorities uncovering various messages originating from the victim's mobile—among them a resignation letter to her company and communications to the 55-year-old suspect.

Law enforcement said a four-figure sum was also transferred to the man.

Katja Tersch told the press on recently that a rented space had been leased before the victims' disappearance and a freezing appliance had been installed within.

The male siblings took out the freezer from the facility on the date the mother and daughter disappeared, she revealed. And a week later, they purchased a second unit.

Authorities say they consider this suggests the deaths were intentionally orchestrated.

"How they died could not be determined due to the advanced decay of the victims," the official said.

The prosecutor's spokesman—of the public prosecutor's office—said the precise timeline is still unclear, but the victims were professionally hidden and not discovered during a earlier inspection.

Although the brothers were taken into custody in the summer, it was only on the 12th of November that the elder brother confessed to an event and to storing the victims. He disputes any intent to kill, investigators stated.

In a related development, his brother admitted to a attempt to hide evidence but rejected awareness of a murder.

The two suspects are presently in custody awaiting trial in prisons in Innsbruck and Salzburg, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative said the "suspected killing of two... constitutes the sudden and brutal end of two individuals and exposes a heartless setup".

"Females of all ages are being murdered due to the mere fact that they are female," they continued.

"Gender-based killings are a strongly established and issue affecting all of society that we must address decisively."