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The deceased of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been discovered inside freezing appliances in an apartment in the western part of Austria.

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been missing for a number of months, were detected on Friday. The cooling units were hidden behind a false wall in the flat, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in the month of June. The elder brother, a colleague of the female victim, stated to police last week that there had been an incident—but denied intentional killing.

Addressing journalists earlier, a spokesman for the legal authorities announced the pair were being detained on "strong suspicion of murder".

The identities of those involved have been withheld by authorities, in following Austrian law.

The family's disappearance was originally brought to light by the woman's cousin, who resides in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Authorities revealed the 55-year-old suspect informed them at the time she had taken an extended trip with her child to visit her parents in Turkey.

Her bank card was then found to have been used abroad repeatedly.

However when officers entered the victim's residence, her mobile phone was found.

Someone also reported overhearing a disturbing sound in the flat, and screams of "mama" on the occasion the two were believed to have vanished.

A wider police investigation was started, with investigators uncovering various messages transmitted via the mother's device—such as a job termination message to her employer and texts to the male associate.

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

A senior police official stated to reporters on recently that a storage unit had been rented out before the vanishing and a freezer had been positioned inside.

The brothers removed the appliance from the storage space on the date the mother and daughter vanished, the official said. And a week later, they acquired another freezer.

Officials say they believe this suggests the deaths were intentionally orchestrated.

"The reason for their demise was not identifiable due to the condition of the victims," the official stated.

The prosecutor's spokesman—representing the state—stated the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the bodies were professionally hidden and went unnoticed during a prior examination.

Although the brothers were detained in June, it was not until the 12th of November that the suspect confessed to an occurrence and to hiding the bodies. He rejects any intent to kill, authorities confirmed.

Meanwhile, his brother admitted to a concealment but rejected knowledge of a homicide.

The pair are at this time in detention before court proceedings in detention centers in two Austrian cities, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister stated the "suspected killing of two... represents the abrupt and violent termination of two human lives and exposes a brutal scheme".

"Women and girls are being murdered due to the mere fact that they are of the female gender," they continued.

"Femicides are a deeply rooted and widespread concern that we must combat firmly."