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The remains of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been located inside freezing appliances in an flat in the western part of Austria.

The victims, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were uncovered on Friday. The freezers were concealed behind a false wall in the dwelling, located in the city of Innsbruck.

Two men, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the Syrian woman, informed police last week that there had been an accident—but denied homicide.

Informing reporters previously, a representative for the legal authorities announced the brothers were being held on "strong suspicion of murder".

The identities of those involved have not been disclosed by law enforcement, in accordance with national regulations.

The vanishing of the mother and child was first reported by the female victim's relative, who resides in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

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

Her bank card was then noted as being active in foreign locations on multiple occasions.

However when police entered the victim's residence, her smartphone was found.

Someone also stated overhearing a disturbing sound in the flat, and shouts of "mum" on the date the pair were thought to have disappeared.

A wider official inquiry was started, with authorities finding various messages originating from the victim's mobile—such as a notice of quitting to her workplace and texts to the male associate.

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

The head of the State Criminal Police Office told the press on that day that a storage unit had been leased before the mother and child went missing and a cooling unit had been placed there.

The brothers extracted the cooling unit from the unit on the very day the woman and her child vanished, she revealed. And a seven days after, they purchased another freezer.

Investigators say they consider this suggests the fatalities were planned in advance.

"How they died was not identifiable due to the state of decomposition of the victims," Tersch said.

Mayr—from the legal authorities—noted the precise timeline is not yet known, but the victims were professionally hidden and were not found during a previous house search.

While the suspects were detained in June, it was only on 12 November that the suspect confessed to an incident and to storing the victims. He denies any murderous intent, officials stated.

At the same time, his 53-year-old sibling confessed to a cover-up but rejected knowledge of a murder.

The brothers are currently in pre-trial detention in detention centers in two Austrian cities, situated at a distance.

In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister said the "alleged double murder... represents the sudden and brutal end of two individuals and exposes a heartless setup".

"Female individuals are being murdered due to the mere fact that they are women and girls," they continued.

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