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The bodies of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been discovered inside freezers in an flat in western Austria.

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been missing for several months, were uncovered on Friday. The cooling units were concealed behind a plasterboard wall in the flat, located in the city of Innsbruck.

A pair of males, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in June. The older man, a colleague of the Syrian woman, informed law enforcement last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but rejected intentional killing.

Speaking to reporters earlier, a spokesman for the legal authorities announced the two suspects were being kept in custody on "strong suspicion of intentional killing".

The identities of those concerned have been withheld by authorities, in accordance with local legislation.

The vanishing of the mother and child was first reported by the cousin of the mother, who resides in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Investigators revealed the 55-year-old suspect claimed at the time she had embarked on an extended trip with her daughter to see her family in Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then noted as being active overseas repeatedly.

But when police entered the woman's home, her mobile phone was found.

An individual also claimed listening to a commotion in the flat, and screams of "mother" on the occasion the mother and child were presumed to have gone missing.

A broader official inquiry was launched, with authorities finding multiple communications transmitted via the victim's mobile—among them a job termination message to her workplace and communications to the male associate.

Law enforcement stated a four-figure sum was also sent to the individual.

Katja Tersch informed reporters on that day that a storage unit had been secured before the vanishing and a freezer had been installed within.

The two suspects took out the appliance from the storage space on the day the woman and her child disappeared, she said. And a seven days after, they purchased a second unit.

Investigators say they think this indicates the deaths were planned in advance.

"How they died was not identifiable due to the advanced decay of the remains," she commented.

Mayr—of the public prosecutor's office—said the exact sequence of events is still unclear, but the victims were carefully placed and not discovered during a previous house search.

Although the men were taken into custody in the summer, it was not until November 12 that the elder brother admitted to an incident and to storing the victims. He rejects any plan to cause death, authorities confirmed.

At the same time, his brother acknowledged a cover-up but disputed involvement in a homicide.

The two suspects are at this time in custody awaiting trial in prisons in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.

Through a combined announcement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister said the "suspected killing of two... represents the abrupt and violent termination of two individuals and uncovers a cruel system".

"Women and girls are being murdered due to the simple reality that they are female," they continued.

"Femicides are a strongly established and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."