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The remains of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been discovered inside freezers in an apartment in the western part of Austria.

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were uncovered on the end of last week. The freezers were placed behind a drywall partition in the flat, located in the city of Innsbruck.

Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in June. The older man, a colleague of the Syrian woman, told police last week that there had been an accident—but disputed murder.

Speaking to the media recently, a representative for the public prosecutor's office announced the brothers were being detained on "serious suspicion of homicide".

The identities of those implicated have not been released by authorities, in compliance with national regulations.

The family's disappearance was initially flagged by the cousin of the mother, who lives in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Investigators stated the 55-year-old suspect told them at the time she had taken an prolonged visit with her child to see her family in the nation of Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then noted as being active abroad repeatedly.

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

A witness also claimed overhearing a loud noise in the apartment, and cries of "mum" on the occasion the pair were thought to have disappeared.

A broader official inquiry was launched, with officers finding multiple communications transmitted via the woman's phone—such as a job termination message to her workplace and communications to the 55-year-old suspect.

Officials said a significant cash transfer was also moved to the man.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office informed reporters on recently that a rented space had been secured before the vanishing and a freezer had been placed there.

The male siblings took out the freezer from the facility on the date the victims went missing, Tersch revealed. And a shortly afterward, they obtained a second unit.

Authorities state they consider this indicates the deaths were intentionally orchestrated.

"The reason for their demise was not identifiable due to the condition of the bodies," she commented.

Mayr—from the legal authorities—said the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the victims were professionally hidden and were not found during a earlier inspection.

Although the brothers were taken into custody in the summer, it was not until November 12 that the suspect confessed to an incident and to concealing the remains. He rejects any intent to kill, investigators confirmed.

At the same time, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a cover-up but rejected involvement in a killing.

The pair are presently in custody awaiting trial in detention centers in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.

Via a shared communication, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister stated the "suspected killing of two... symbolizes the sudden and brutal end of a mother and child and reveals a cruel system".

"Females of all ages are being murdered due to the simple reality that they are of the female gender," they added.

"Femicides are a profoundly embedded and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."