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

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were uncovered on the end of last week. The freezers were placed behind a drywall partition in the apartment, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in June. The 55-year-old, a work associate of the female victim, informed authorities last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but disputed murder.

Addressing the media recently, a official for the legal authorities stated the pair were being held on "high likelihood of murder".

Personal details of those implicated have not been released by authorities, in compliance with local legislation.

Their going missing was first reported by the woman's cousin, who is based in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Authorities revealed the woman's colleague informed them at the time she had embarked on an extended trip with her daughter to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then noted as being active abroad repeatedly.

Yet when investigators examined the woman's home, her mobile phone was discovered.

A witness also claimed overhearing a disturbing sound in the dwelling, and cries of "mother" on the day the two were believed to have vanished.

An expanded criminal probe was initiated, with authorities uncovering multiple communications transmitted via the mother's device—among them a notice of quitting to her company and texts to the male colleague.

Officials stated a significant cash transfer was also moved to the man.

A senior police official informed the press on Tuesday that a storage unit had been rented out before the vanishing and a freezer had been placed there.

The two suspects extracted the cooling unit from the facility on the day the mother and daughter disappeared, the official stated. And a shortly afterward, they obtained another freezer.

Officials say they think this suggests the fatalities were intentionally orchestrated.

"The cause of death was not identifiable due to the advanced decay of the victims," Tersch said.

The prosecutor's spokesman—of the public prosecutor's office—said the precise timeline is not yet known, but the victims were professionally hidden and were not found during a previous house search.

Although the brothers were taken into custody in June, it was not until November 12 that the suspect admitted to an occurrence and to hiding the bodies. He rejects any plan to cause death, investigators stated.

At the same time, his brother acknowledged a cover-up but rejected awareness of a killing.

The two suspects are presently in detention before court proceedings in jails in two Austrian cities, situated at a distance.

Via a shared communication, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister stated the "suspected killing of two... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of a mother and child and uncovers a brutal scheme".

"Females of all ages are being murdered due to the mere fact that they are female," they went on to say.

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