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

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been missing for several months, were found on Friday. The cooling units were concealed behind a drywall partition in the apartment, situated in the Innsbruck area.

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

Informing reporters previously, a spokesman for the legal authorities announced the pair were being held on "serious suspicion of intentional killing".

Personal details of those implicated have been withheld by law enforcement, in compliance with Austrian law.

The family's disappearance was first reported by the female victim's relative, who is based in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Authorities stated the male associate claimed at the time she had taken an long journey with her daughter to visit her parents in Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then found to have been used overseas several times.

However when police examined the mother's apartment, her cellphone was found.

A witness also claimed overhearing a loud noise in the flat, and shouts of "mum" on the date the mother and child were presumed to have gone missing.

A wider police investigation was started, with investigators uncovering various messages transmitted via the mother's device—among them a notice of quitting to her employer and texts to the 55-year-old suspect.

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

The head of the State Criminal Police Office told the press on recently that a rented space had been secured before the mother and child went missing and a freezing appliance had been placed there.

The male siblings took out the appliance from the storage space on the day the victims went missing, Tersch stated. And a week later, they acquired another freezer.

Authorities believe they think this points to the deaths were planned in advance.

"The cause of death was not identifiable due to the condition of the remains," the official said.

Mayr—representing the state—said the exact sequence of events is still unclear, but the bodies were carefully placed and were not found during a previous house search.

While the men were arrested in June, it was only on November 12 that the elder brother confessed to an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He rejects any intent to kill, officials confirmed.

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

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

Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative stated the "alleged double murder... represents the sudden and brutal end of two human lives and reveals a brutal scheme".

"Women and girls are being killed due to the sole reason that they are women and girls," they went on to say.

"Femicides are a profoundly embedded and society-wide problem that we must combat firmly."