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The bodies of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been discovered inside freezers in an flat in western Austria.

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been missing for several months, were uncovered on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a false wall in the apartment, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were detained in the month of June. The elder brother, a work associate of the Syrian woman, told police last week that there had been an incident—but denied murder.

Speaking to journalists recently, a spokesman for the legal authorities stated the brothers were being detained on "high likelihood of murder".

Personal details of those implicated have not been released by police, in accordance with Austrian law.

The family's disappearance was initially flagged by the female victim's relative, who resides in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Authorities revealed the 55-year-old suspect claimed at the time she had embarked on an extended trip with her daughter to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.

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

Yet when police entered the mother's apartment, her mobile phone was discovered.

An individual also stated hearing a loud noise in the apartment, and shouts of "mum" on the occasion the mother and child were presumed to have gone missing.

An expanded criminal probe was initiated, with officers uncovering several texts originating from the woman's phone—such as a resignation letter to her employer and texts to the male associate.

Officials confirmed a significant cash transfer was also transferred to the individual.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office informed media representatives on Tuesday that a storage facility had been rented out before the vanishing and a freezer had been positioned inside.

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

Investigators state they believe this points to the fatalities were intentionally orchestrated.

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

The prosecutor's spokesman—representing the state—noted the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the remains were professionally hidden and went unnoticed during a previous house search.

While the suspects were arrested in the summer, it was only on the 12th of November that the suspect confessed to an event and to storing the victims. He denies any plan to cause death, investigators confirmed.

Meanwhile, his younger brother confessed to a cover-up but disputed knowledge of a murder.

The brothers are at this time in detention before court proceedings in detention centers in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.

Through a combined announcement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister said the "suspected killing of two... symbolizes the swift and cruel conclusion of a mother and child and uncovers a heartless setup".

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

"Femicides are a deeply rooted and issue affecting all of society that we must fight resolutely."