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The remains of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezing appliances in an apartment in western Austria.

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were detected on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, located in the Innsbruck area.

Two men, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were arrested in June. The older man, a colleague of the Syrian woman, stated to law enforcement last week that there had been an incident—but rejected intentional killing.

Speaking to the media earlier, a spokesman for the state prosecutor announced the two suspects were being kept in custody on "strong suspicion of homicide".

The identities of those implicated have not been disclosed by police, in compliance with local legislation.

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

Authorities said the woman's colleague claimed at the time she had gone on an long journey with her daughter to see her family in the nation of Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then noted as being active overseas repeatedly.

However when investigators examined the mother's apartment, her smartphone was located.

Someone also claimed hearing a disturbing sound in the dwelling, and cries of "mum" on the occasion the pair were presumed to have gone missing.

A wider police investigation was initiated, with officers uncovering various messages transmitted via the mother's device—including a job termination message to her employer and messages to the male colleague.

Authorities said a amount in the thousands was also transferred to the man.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office stated to media representatives on recently that a storage facility had been leased before the mother and child went missing and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.

The brothers extracted the freezer from the unit on the day the woman and her child went missing, Tersch stated. And a shortly afterward, they acquired a second unit.

Investigators state they think this suggests the fatalities were premeditated.

"The reason for their demise remains unclear due to the state of decomposition of the remains," Tersch stated.

The prosecutor's spokesman—from the legal authorities—said the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the bodies were professionally hidden and not discovered during a earlier inspection.

While the brothers were detained in the summer, it was not until the 12th of November that the suspect acknowledged an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He disputes any plan to cause death, officials said.

At the same time, his younger brother acknowledged a concealment but denied knowledge of a murder.

The two suspects are at this time in detention before court proceedings in prisons in two Austrian cities, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative declared the "alleged double murder... represents the abrupt and violent termination of two individuals and uncovers a heartless setup".

"Female individuals are being killed due to the mere fact that they are of the female gender," they added.

"Murders of women are a strongly established and widespread concern that we must fight resolutely."