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

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been missing for several months, were found on the end of last week. The cooling units were concealed behind a false wall in the flat, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

Two men, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in the month of June. The older man, a colleague of the female victim, informed police last week that there had been an accident—but denied murder.

Informing journalists previously, a spokesman for the legal authorities announced the brothers were being held on "strong suspicion of homicide".

The identities of those implicated have not been released by police, in accordance with local legislation.

The family's disappearance was initially flagged by the woman's cousin, who is based in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Investigators revealed the male associate claimed at the time she had taken an extended trip with her daughter to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

Her bank card was then found to have been used in foreign locations repeatedly.

Yet when investigators searched the mother's apartment, her mobile phone was located.

An individual also reported hearing a commotion in the apartment, and shouts of "mama" on the date the two were presumed to have gone missing.

A wider official inquiry was started, with investigators finding multiple communications originating from the woman's phone—among them a notice of quitting to her company and texts to the male associate.

Officials said a four-figure sum was also transferred to the suspect.

Katja Tersch told the press on recently that a storage facility had been rented out before the vanishing and a freezer had been installed within.

The two suspects took out the appliance from the unit on the date the victims vanished, Tersch said. And a shortly afterward, they acquired an additional appliance.

Officials say they consider this points to the fatalities were intentionally orchestrated.

"How they died remains unclear due to the condition of the remains," the official stated.

A legal representative—representing the state—stated the specific order of occurrences is not yet known, but the bodies were professionally hidden and went unnoticed during a previous house search.

Although the suspects were arrested in the summer, it was only on the 12th of November that the 55-year-old acknowledged an incident and to hiding the bodies. He denies any murderous intent, authorities said.

In a related development, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a attempt to hide evidence but rejected knowledge of a homicide.

The brothers are at this time in pre-trial detention in jails in separate locations, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

Through a combined announcement, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister declared the "reported homicide of mother and child... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of two individuals and uncovers a brutal scheme".

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

"Gender-based killings are a profoundly embedded and issue affecting all of society that we must address decisively."