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The bodies of a mother aged 34 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 a number of months, were found on the end of last week. The freezers were concealed behind a false wall in the apartment, located in the city of Innsbruck.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in the month of June. The elder brother, a colleague of the Syrian woman, stated to law enforcement last week that there had been an accident—but rejected homicide.

Informing reporters earlier, a official for the public prosecutor's office stated the pair were being held on "high likelihood of intentional killing".

Personal details of those concerned have not been released by law enforcement, in following local legislation.

Their going missing was initially flagged by the female victim's relative, who is based in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Investigators said the woman's colleague claimed at the time she had taken an long journey with her child to see her family in Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then discovered to be utilized abroad on multiple occasions.

Yet when investigators examined the victim's residence, her mobile phone was found.

A witness also reported overhearing a commotion in the flat, and shouts of "mama" on the day the two were believed to have vanished.

An expanded official inquiry was launched, with authorities discovering several texts sent from the victim's mobile—including a job termination message to her company and texts to the male associate.

Authorities stated a four-figure sum was also transferred to the individual.

A senior police official told the press on that day that a storage unit had been rented out before the victims' disappearance and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.

The two suspects extracted the freezer from the unit on the date the woman and her child vanished, the official stated. And a shortly afterward, they acquired a second unit.

Officials believe they think this indicates the demise were premeditated.

"The cause of death remains unclear due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," she said.

A legal representative—from the legal authorities—said the precise timeline is not yet known, but the remains were professionally hidden and were not found during a previous house search.

While the men were arrested in June, it was only on the 12th of November that the suspect admitted to an event and to storing the victims. He disputes any plan to cause death, authorities confirmed.

Meanwhile, his brother acknowledged a concealment but rejected awareness of a killing.

The brothers are at this time in pre-trial detention in jails in Innsbruck and Salzburg, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

Through a combined announcement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative said the "suspected killing of two... constitutes the sudden and brutal end of two human lives and reveals a brutal scheme".

"Female individuals are falling victim to homicide due to the mere fact that they are of the female gender," they went on to say.

"Murders of women are a deeply rooted and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."