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The bodies of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been discovered inside freezing appliances 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 Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a false wall in the flat, located in the Innsbruck area.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in June. The older man, a colleague of the Syrian woman, told authorities last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but denied homicide.

Addressing journalists recently, a representative for the public prosecutor's office announced the pair were being kept in custody on "strong suspicion of murder".

The names of those implicated have not been disclosed by law enforcement, in accordance with national regulations.

Their going missing was first reported by the female victim's relative, who resides in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Police revealed the male associate informed them at the time she had taken an long journey with her child to visit her parents in the nation of Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then noted as being active in foreign locations several times.

Yet when investigators entered the victim's residence, her smartphone was located.

Someone also claimed hearing a disturbing sound in the apartment, and shouts of "mama" on the day the pair were believed to have vanished.

A wider criminal probe was launched, with officers finding various messages originating from the mother's device—among them a notice of quitting to her employer and communications to the male associate.

Law enforcement said a four-figure sum was also sent to the man.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office stated to reporters on that day that a rented space had been rented out before the vanishing and a freezing appliance had been placed there.

The male siblings extracted the freezer from the facility on the day the victims went missing, Tersch revealed. And a seven days after, they purchased a second unit.

Authorities believe they think this suggests the demise were premeditated.

"The reason for their demise remains unclear due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," she stated.

Mayr—of the public prosecutor's office—stated the precise timeline is yet to be determined, but the victims were professionally hidden and not discovered during a prior examination.

While the brothers were arrested in June, it was not until November 12 that the suspect acknowledged an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He denies any plan to cause death, investigators confirmed.

Meanwhile, his 53-year-old sibling confessed to a attempt to hide evidence but denied involvement in a homicide.

The pair are currently in detention before court proceedings in detention centers in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.

Via a shared communication, Austria's Minister for Women and the top legal representative stated the "reported homicide of mother and child... represents the abrupt and violent termination of a mother and child and uncovers a cruel system".

"Females of all ages are being killed due to the sole reason that they are women and girls," they added.

"Gender-based killings are a profoundly embedded and widespread concern that we must address decisively."