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

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been missing for several months, were detected on Friday. The cooling units were hidden behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the female victim, stated to authorities last week that there had been an accident—but denied intentional killing.

Addressing reporters previously, a official for the public prosecutor's office announced the pair were being kept in custody on "serious suspicion of homicide".

The names of those implicated have not been disclosed by authorities, in accordance with Austrian law.

Their going missing was first reported by the woman's cousin, who lives in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

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

Her bank card was then discovered to be utilized overseas repeatedly.

But when investigators examined the victim's residence, her cellphone was located.

An individual also claimed hearing a disturbing sound in the apartment, and cries of "mother" on the date the mother and child were believed to have vanished.

A broader police investigation was started, with officers finding several texts transmitted via the mother's device—including a resignation letter to her workplace and texts to the male associate.

Authorities said a amount in the thousands was also sent to the suspect.

A senior police official stated to reporters on that day that a storage facility had been leased before the mother and child went missing and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.

The brothers removed the freezer from the unit on the date the mother and daughter disappeared, Tersch revealed. And a seven days after, they acquired an additional appliance.

Investigators say they think this indicates the demise were premeditated.

"The cause of death was not identifiable due to the condition of the remains," the official stated.

The prosecutor's spokesman—representing the state—said the exact sequence of events is still unclear, but the bodies were professionally hidden and were not found during a earlier inspection.

While the suspects were arrested in June, it was not until November 12 that the suspect confessed to an event and to hiding the bodies. He rejects any plan to cause death, officials stated.

Meanwhile, his 53-year-old sibling admitted to a concealment but denied knowledge of a homicide.

The pair are at this time in detention before court proceedings in prisons in Innsbruck and Salzburg, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

Through a combined announcement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative stated the "suspected killing of two... symbolizes the swift and cruel conclusion of two individuals and reveals a brutal scheme".

"Women and girls are being murdered due to the sole reason that they are of the female gender," they continued.

"Femicides are a strongly established and issue affecting all of society that we must address decisively."