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

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been missing for a number of months, were uncovered on the end of last week. The freezers were placed behind a false wall in the dwelling, located in the Innsbruck area.

Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in June. The older man, a colleague of the female victim, informed police last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but rejected intentional killing.

Addressing reporters recently, a representative for the public prosecutor's office announced the pair were being detained on "serious suspicion of intentional killing".

Personal details of those implicated have not been released by law enforcement, in accordance with national regulations.

The vanishing of the mother and child was originally brought to light by the female victim's relative, who lives in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Police stated the woman's colleague told them at the time she had gone on an extended trip with her child to see her family in the nation of Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then discovered to be utilized overseas on multiple occasions.

Yet when police examined the victim's residence, her mobile phone was found.

An individual also stated hearing a commotion in the dwelling, and screams of "mother" on the day the two were presumed to have gone missing.

An expanded criminal probe was initiated, with officers finding several texts transmitted via the mother's device—among them a notice of quitting to her workplace and texts to the 55-year-old suspect.

Officials confirmed a significant cash transfer was also transferred to the man.

A senior police official stated to media representatives on recently that a storage facility had been secured before the vanishing and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.

The male siblings extracted the appliance from the facility on the day the woman and her child vanished, she said. And a shortly afterward, they acquired an additional appliance.

Investigators say they consider this suggests the deaths were premeditated.

"The reason for their demise could not be determined due to the advanced decay of the victims," the official said.

Mayr—from the legal authorities—said the precise timeline is not yet known, but the remains were carefully placed and were not found during a earlier inspection.

While the brothers were detained in June, it was not until 12 November that the suspect admitted to an incident and to hiding the bodies. He rejects any plan to cause death, authorities said.

Meanwhile, his brother admitted to a cover-up but disputed awareness of a murder.

The two suspects are presently in pre-trial detention in detention centers in two Austrian cities, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

Through a combined announcement, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister declared the "alleged double murder... represents the swift and cruel conclusion of two individuals and reveals a cruel system".

"Females of all ages are being murdered due to the sole reason that they are of the female gender," they went on to say.

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