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The remains of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been located inside freezers in an residence in the western part of Austria.

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were detected on the end of last week. The cooling units were concealed behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, situated in the Innsbruck area.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were arrested in June. The older man, a work associate of the female victim, informed authorities last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but disputed homicide.

Speaking to journalists previously, a spokesman for the legal authorities said the brothers were being kept in custody on "strong suspicion of murder".

The identities of those concerned have been withheld by police, in accordance with Austrian law.

Their going missing was originally brought to light by the female victim's relative, who is based in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Authorities stated the woman's colleague told them at the time she had embarked on an prolonged visit with her daughter to visit her parents in the nation of Turkey.

Her bank card was then discovered to be utilized in foreign locations repeatedly.

But when police examined the woman's home, her smartphone was discovered.

Someone also claimed listening to a disturbing sound in the apartment, and shouts of "mum" on the occasion the mother and child were presumed to have gone missing.

A broader criminal probe was launched, with investigators discovering various messages transmitted via the victim's mobile—including a resignation letter to her workplace and texts to the male associate.

Authorities said a four-figure sum was also transferred to the man.

Katja Tersch told reporters on Tuesday that a storage unit had been leased before the vanishing and a freezer had been positioned inside.

The brothers took out the appliance from the storage space on the day the victims vanished, she said. And a seven days after, they purchased a second unit.

Investigators state they believe this indicates the demise were planned in advance.

"The cause of death was not identifiable due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," the official stated.

Mayr—of the public prosecutor's office—stated the specific order of occurrences is not yet known, but the bodies were carefully placed and not discovered during a earlier inspection.

While the suspects were taken into custody in June, it was only on the 12th of November that the suspect confessed to an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He disputes any plan to cause death, officials stated.

In a related development, his brother acknowledged a cover-up but denied awareness of a homicide.

The pair are currently in custody awaiting trial in prisons in Innsbruck and Salzburg, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

In a joint statement, Austria's Minister for Women and the top legal representative stated the "reported homicide of mother and child... symbolizes the sudden and brutal end of two individuals and reveals a brutal scheme".

"Females of all ages are falling victim to homicide due to the mere fact that they are women and girls," they added.

"Femicides are a deeply rooted and society-wide problem that we must address decisively."