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

The victims, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been missing for several months, were found on Friday. The cooling units were hidden behind a false wall in the flat, situated in the Innsbruck area.

Two men, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were arrested in the month of June. The 55-year-old, a work associate of the female victim, stated to police last week that there had been an incident—but disputed murder.

Addressing journalists previously, a representative for the legal authorities stated the two suspects were being kept in custody on "strong suspicion of intentional killing".

Personal details of those implicated have been withheld by authorities, in accordance 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.

Police revealed the 55-year-old suspect claimed at the time she had gone on an extended trip with her child to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then discovered to be utilized in foreign locations several times.

But when investigators entered the victim's residence, her cellphone was discovered.

A witness also reported hearing a loud noise in the apartment, and shouts of "mum" on the day the mother and child were presumed to have gone missing.

A broader police investigation was started, with officers finding several texts sent from the mother's device—such as a job termination message to her employer and communications to the male associate.

Law enforcement said a four-figure sum was also transferred to the suspect.

Katja Tersch told media representatives on Tuesday that a storage unit had been rented out before the mother and child went missing and a freezing appliance had been installed within.

The brothers took out the appliance from the unit on the very day the mother and daughter went missing, Tersch stated. And a shortly afterward, they acquired another freezer.

Investigators state they believe this suggests the deaths were intentionally orchestrated.

"The cause of death remains unclear due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," the official stated.

The prosecutor's spokesman—from the legal authorities—said the exact sequence of events is not yet known, but the bodies were professionally hidden and not discovered during a earlier inspection.

Although the men were arrested in the summer, it was not until the 12th of November that the suspect admitted to an incident and to storing the victims. He disputes any murderous intent, authorities confirmed.

At the same time, his brother admitted to a cover-up but rejected involvement in a homicide.

The brothers are currently in pre-trial detention in prisons in Innsbruck and Salzburg, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

Through a combined announcement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative declared the "alleged double murder... represents the abrupt and violent termination of a mother and child and uncovers a brutal scheme".

"Female individuals are being killed due to the sole reason that they are of the female gender," they added.

"Femicides are a strongly established and issue affecting all of society that we must fight resolutely."