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The deceased of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been located inside freezers in an apartment in the western part of Austria.

The victims, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been missing for a number of months, were uncovered on Friday. The cooling units were concealed behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, situated in the Innsbruck area.

A pair of males, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in the month of June. The elder brother, a work associate of the female victim, stated to law enforcement last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but disputed murder.

Informing the media previously, a official for the public prosecutor's office announced the two suspects were being detained on "high likelihood of intentional killing".

The names of those concerned have been withheld by police, in accordance with national regulations.

The vanishing of the mother and child was originally brought to light by the woman's cousin, who lives in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Authorities revealed the male associate informed them at the time she had embarked on an long journey with her child to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then noted as being active overseas repeatedly.

Yet when investigators examined the mother's apartment, her cellphone was discovered.

A witness also claimed hearing a commotion in the flat, and shouts of "mama" on the date the mother and child were thought to have disappeared.

A wider official inquiry was started, with officers uncovering several texts sent from the woman's phone—among them a resignation letter to her workplace and messages to the 55-year-old suspect.

Officials stated a amount in the thousands was also moved to the individual.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office stated to media representatives on that day that a storage facility had been secured before the vanishing and a freezer had been placed there.

The brothers removed the freezer from the facility on the date the mother and daughter went missing, Tersch revealed. And a shortly afterward, they obtained another freezer.

Authorities state they think this suggests the demise were premeditated.

"How they died was not identifiable due to the condition of the remains," she commented.

Mayr—of the public prosecutor's office—stated the specific order of occurrences is not yet known, but the remains were expertly concealed and not discovered during a previous house search.

Although the men were detained in June, it was not until 12 November that the suspect confessed to an incident and to concealing the remains. He denies any murderous intent, officials said.

Meanwhile, his 53-year-old sibling confessed to a concealment but disputed involvement in a homicide.

The brothers are at this time in pre-trial detention in jails in two Austrian cities, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative declared the "alleged double murder... represents the sudden and brutal end of a mother and child and exposes a brutal scheme".

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

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