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

The victims, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were detected on the end of last week. The cooling units were hidden behind a plasterboard wall in the dwelling, located in the city of Innsbruck.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were arrested in the month of June. The older man, a work associate of the Syrian woman, stated to police last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but rejected intentional killing.

Addressing the media earlier, a official for the state prosecutor stated the brothers were being kept in custody on "strong suspicion of murder".

The identities of those involved have not been disclosed by authorities, in compliance with Austrian law.

The vanishing of the mother and child was initially flagged by the female victim's relative, who is based in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Authorities revealed the woman's colleague told them at the time she had embarked on an long journey with her daughter to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then discovered to be utilized abroad repeatedly.

But when police searched the victim's residence, her mobile phone was found.

An individual also stated hearing a disturbing sound in the flat, and cries of "mother" on the occasion the two were thought to have disappeared.

A wider police investigation was initiated, with authorities discovering various messages transmitted via the mother's device—including a resignation letter to her workplace and texts to the 55-year-old suspect.

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

Katja Tersch told reporters on Tuesday that a rented space had been secured before the mother and child went missing and a freezing appliance had been placed there.

The brothers extracted the appliance from the facility on the very day the victims went missing, she said. And a seven days after, they purchased another freezer.

Investigators say they think this points to the deaths were premeditated.

"The reason for their demise could not be determined due to the condition of the bodies," the official said.

The prosecutor's spokesman—from the legal authorities—noted the precise timeline is still unclear, but the victims were professionally hidden and were not found during a previous house search.

While the men were taken into custody in the summer, it was not until 12 November that the suspect confessed to an event and to storing the victims. He rejects any intent to kill, officials said.

Meanwhile, his 53-year-old sibling confessed to a concealment but denied knowledge of a killing.

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

In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative stated the "alleged double murder... symbolizes the swift and cruel conclusion of two human lives and reveals a brutal scheme".

"Women and girls are being killed due to the mere fact that they are female," they went on to say.

"Gender-based killings are a deeply rooted and widespread concern that we must combat firmly."