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The deceased of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been found inside freezing appliances in an apartment in western Austria.

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been missing for a number of months, were detected on Friday. The cooling units were placed behind a plasterboard wall in the dwelling, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

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, informed authorities last week that there had been an accident—but disputed homicide.

Addressing reporters earlier, a representative for the state prosecutor announced the pair were being kept in custody on "high likelihood of homicide".

The identities of those implicated have not been released by authorities, in accordance with local legislation.

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

Police revealed the woman's colleague claimed at the time she had taken an prolonged visit with her daughter to visit her parents in Turkey.

Her bank card was then noted as being active abroad several times.

Yet when officers searched the victim's residence, her cellphone was located.

A witness also reported hearing a commotion in the flat, and shouts of "mama" on the date the two were believed to have vanished.

A broader official inquiry was started, with officers finding several texts transmitted via the mother's device—including a job termination message to her workplace and texts to the male associate.

Authorities stated a significant cash transfer was also sent to the suspect.

A senior police official told media representatives on recently that a storage facility had been rented out before the victims' disappearance and a freezer had been positioned inside.

The brothers extracted the appliance from the unit on the day the woman and her child vanished, Tersch said. And a shortly afterward, they acquired an additional appliance.

Investigators believe they think this indicates the fatalities were premeditated.

"The reason for their demise was not identifiable due to the advanced decay of the remains," she stated.

A legal representative—representing the state—said the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the remains were professionally hidden and were not found during a previous house search.

While the brothers were taken into custody in June, it was only on 12 November that the suspect confessed to an event and to storing the victims. He disputes any murderous intent, officials confirmed.

In a related development, his 53-year-old sibling admitted to a attempt to hide evidence but disputed knowledge of a murder.

The two suspects are presently in pre-trial detention in detention centers in two Austrian cities, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister stated the "suspected killing of two... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion 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 of the female gender," they continued.

"Gender-based killings are a strongly established and society-wide problem that we must combat firmly."