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

The victims, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were detected on Friday. The freezers were concealed behind a plasterboard wall in the apartment, situated in the Innsbruck area.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in the month of June. The older man, a colleague of the female victim, told police last week that there had been an accident—but disputed murder.

Informing journalists recently, a spokesman for the state prosecutor announced the two suspects were being kept in custody on "strong suspicion of murder".

Personal details of those involved have been withheld by law enforcement, 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 said the 55-year-old suspect claimed at the time she had taken an extended trip with her daughter to see her family in Turkey.

Her bank card was then found to have been used in foreign locations several times.

But when police examined the victim's residence, her cellphone was discovered.

A witness also reported overhearing a loud noise in the dwelling, and cries of "mother" on the occasion the mother and child were believed to have vanished.

An expanded police investigation was launched, with authorities uncovering various messages transmitted via the woman's phone—such as a job termination message to her employer and communications to the male colleague.

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

The head of the State Criminal Police Office informed the press on recently that a storage unit had been secured before the mother and child went missing and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.

The male siblings extracted the cooling unit from the storage space on the day the mother and daughter went missing, she stated. And a week later, they purchased another freezer.

Officials state they consider this indicates the demise were premeditated.

"The cause of death was not identifiable due to the condition of the victims," she said.

Mayr—representing the state—stated the exact sequence of events is not yet known, but the victims were carefully placed and were not found during a prior examination.

While the brothers were detained in June, it was not until November 12 that the suspect confessed to an incident and to concealing the remains. He denies any plan to cause death, authorities stated.

Meanwhile, his 53-year-old sibling admitted to a cover-up but rejected awareness of a killing.

The pair are currently in pre-trial detention in detention centers 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 said the "suspected killing of two... constitutes the sudden and brutal end of two human lives and exposes a heartless setup".

"Women and girls are falling victim to homicide due to the sole reason that they are women and girls," they went on to say.

"Femicides are a deeply rooted and widespread concern that we must combat firmly."