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The deceased of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been discovered inside freezers in an residence in the western part of Austria.

The victims, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been missing for several months, were found on the end of last week. The cooling units were placed behind a drywall partition in the flat, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

Two men, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in June. The older man, a colleague of the Syrian woman, informed law enforcement last week that there had been an incident—but disputed intentional killing.

Speaking to journalists earlier, a spokesman for the state prosecutor announced the two suspects were being kept in custody on "strong suspicion of murder".

The names of those concerned have not been released by police, in accordance with national regulations.

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

Police stated the 55-year-old suspect told them at the time she had embarked on an long journey with her daughter to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then discovered to be utilized overseas repeatedly.

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

A witness also reported hearing a commotion in the flat, and cries of "mama" on the date the mother and child were believed to have vanished.

An expanded official inquiry was initiated, with investigators uncovering several texts sent from the victim's mobile—including a resignation letter to her company and texts to the male colleague.

Officials said a amount in the thousands was also transferred to the suspect.

A senior police official stated to media representatives on that day that a storage unit had been rented out before the mother and child went missing and a freezing appliance had been installed within.

The male siblings extracted the freezer from the storage space on the very day the woman and her child vanished, Tersch said. And a seven days after, they acquired another freezer.

Officials believe they consider this indicates the fatalities were intentionally orchestrated.

"How they died could not be determined due to the state of decomposition of the remains," she said.

A legal representative—representing the state—said the precise timeline is yet to be determined, but the remains were professionally hidden and were not found during a earlier inspection.

While the men were taken into custody in June, it was not until the 12th of November that the elder brother admitted to an event and to concealing the remains. He rejects any intent to kill, officials said.

At the same time, his brother admitted to a attempt to hide evidence but disputed knowledge of a murder.

The pair are at this time in pre-trial detention in jails in separate locations, situated at a distance.

In a joint statement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister declared the "suspected killing of two... symbolizes the sudden and brutal end of two individuals and exposes a cruel system".

"Women and girls are falling victim to homicide due to the mere fact that they are female," they went on to say.

"Gender-based killings are a deeply rooted and issue affecting all of society that we must combat firmly."