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The bodies of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been found inside freezers in an apartment in the western part of Austria.

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been missing for a number of months, were uncovered on Friday. The freezers were placed behind a false wall in the apartment, located in the city of Innsbruck.

Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in June. The elder brother, a work associate of the female victim, told police last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but denied homicide.

Speaking to the media recently, a official for the state prosecutor said the brothers were being detained on "high likelihood of murder".

The names of those implicated have been withheld by police, in following Austrian law.

Their going missing was originally brought to light by the cousin of the mother, who lives in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Police said the woman's colleague claimed at the time she had gone on an prolonged visit with her daughter to visit her parents in Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then discovered to be utilized abroad repeatedly.

Yet when police examined the mother's apartment, her mobile phone was located.

A witness also reported hearing a loud noise in the apartment, and shouts of "mum" on the day the pair were thought to have disappeared.

A wider criminal probe was initiated, with authorities discovering multiple communications sent from the woman's phone—such as a notice of quitting to her workplace and messages to the male associate.

Officials confirmed a amount in the thousands was also transferred to the man.

A senior police official stated to the press on Tuesday that a storage facility had been rented out before the mother and child went missing and a freezer had been positioned inside.

The brothers took out the freezer from the facility on the date the mother and daughter disappeared, the official said. And a week later, they purchased a second unit.

Investigators believe they believe this indicates the demise were intentionally orchestrated.

"How they died could not be determined due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," Tersch stated.

Mayr—of the public prosecutor's office—said the precise timeline is not yet known, but the victims were carefully placed and were not found during a previous house search.

Although the suspects were arrested in the summer, it was only on the 12th of November that the 55-year-old admitted to an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He denies any plan to cause death, officials said.

Meanwhile, his younger brother admitted to a concealment but denied knowledge of a killing.

The two suspects are at this time in pre-trial detention in jails in separate locations, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

Through a combined announcement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative declared the "suspected killing of two... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of two individuals and reveals a cruel system".

"Female individuals are falling victim to homicide due to the sole reason 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 address decisively."