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

The victims, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were detected on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a plasterboard wall in the dwelling, situated in the Innsbruck area.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in June. The older man, a work associate of the Syrian woman, stated to authorities last week that there had been an accident—but denied murder.

Informing journalists earlier, a spokesman for the state prosecutor stated the two suspects were being kept in custody on "serious suspicion of homicide".

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

The vanishing of the mother and child was first reported by the cousin of the mother, who lives in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Investigators stated the 55-year-old suspect told them at the time she had taken an extended trip with her child to see her family in Turkey.

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

Yet when officers examined the mother's apartment, her smartphone was found.

A witness also reported hearing a loud noise in the dwelling, and shouts of "mother" on the occasion the mother and child were believed to have vanished.

A wider official inquiry was launched, with investigators uncovering various messages sent from the mother's device—including a job termination message to her workplace and messages to the 55-year-old suspect.

Law enforcement stated a significant cash transfer was also transferred to the man.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office told media representatives on recently that a rented space had been rented out before the victims' disappearance and a freezer had been installed within.

The two suspects took out the appliance from the storage space on the date the mother and daughter vanished, she said. And a week later, they obtained another freezer.

Investigators say they believe this indicates the demise were premeditated.

"How they died remains unclear due to the condition of the remains," she stated.

Mayr—from the legal authorities—stated the exact sequence of events is still unclear, but the remains were expertly concealed and went unnoticed during a prior examination.

Although the men were arrested in June, it was only on 12 November that the 55-year-old acknowledged an event and to storing the victims. He disputes any plan to cause death, investigators stated.

Meanwhile, his 53-year-old sibling confessed to a cover-up but denied awareness of a homicide.

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

Via a shared communication, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister stated the "reported homicide of mother and child... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of two human lives and exposes a brutal scheme".

"Female individuals are falling victim to homicide due to the sole reason that they are female," they continued.

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