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The deceased of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezing appliances in an flat in the western part of Austria.

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been missing for several months, were found on Friday. The cooling units were concealed behind a plasterboard wall in the dwelling, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were detained in June. The 55-year-old, a work associate of the Syrian woman, told police last week that there had been an incident—but rejected homicide.

Informing the media previously, a official for the legal authorities stated the pair were being held on "serious suspicion of murder".

Personal details of those implicated have been withheld by law enforcement, in accordance with national regulations.

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

Investigators said the 55-year-old suspect claimed at the time she had taken an long journey with her child to see her family in Turkey.

Her bank card was then found to have been used overseas several times.

However when officers searched the woman's home, her smartphone was found.

A witness also stated overhearing a commotion in the dwelling, and screams of "mum" on the occasion the pair were believed to have vanished.

A broader official inquiry was started, with officers discovering various messages originating from the woman's phone—including a notice of quitting to her company and texts to the 55-year-old suspect.

Law enforcement stated a significant cash transfer was also moved to the suspect.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office stated to reporters on Tuesday that a rented space had been secured before the vanishing and a freezing appliance had been placed there.

The male siblings extracted the appliance from the storage space on the very day the woman and her child disappeared, she said. And a week later, they purchased a second unit.

Authorities state they believe this points to the deaths were premeditated.

"The cause of death could not be determined due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," she said.

Mayr—of the public prosecutor's office—said the precise timeline is not yet known, but the victims were carefully placed and not discovered during a earlier inspection.

Although the brothers were detained in the summer, it was only on November 12 that the suspect admitted to an incident and to concealing the remains. He disputes any plan to cause death, authorities confirmed.

In a related development, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a attempt to hide evidence but rejected knowledge of a homicide.

The pair are presently in custody awaiting trial in jails in Innsbruck and Salzburg, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister declared the "suspected killing of two... represents the swift and cruel conclusion of a mother and child and exposes a cruel system".

"Female individuals are falling victim to homicide due to the simple reality that they are women and girls," they continued.

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