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The deceased of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been located inside freezing appliances in an residence in western Austria.

The victims, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been missing for several months, were uncovered on Friday. The freezers were placed behind a plasterboard wall in the apartment, located in the city of Innsbruck.

A pair of males, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were arrested in the month of June. The elder brother, a colleague of the female victim, told law enforcement last week that there had been an accident—but denied intentional killing.

Speaking to journalists previously, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office stated the two suspects were being kept in custody on "high likelihood of intentional killing".

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

The family's disappearance was originally brought to light by the cousin of the mother, who is based in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Police said the male associate told them at the time she had taken an extended trip with her child to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then found to have been used overseas on multiple occasions.

But when investigators searched the victim's residence, her cellphone was discovered.

An individual also claimed overhearing a commotion in the dwelling, and shouts of "mum" on the occasion the two were presumed to have gone missing.

An expanded criminal probe was launched, with officers uncovering various messages originating from the victim's mobile—such as a notice of quitting to her workplace and messages to the 55-year-old suspect.

Officials said a amount in the thousands was also moved to the individual.

Katja Tersch informed the press on Tuesday that a storage unit had been rented out before the mother and child went missing and a freezer had been installed within.

The two suspects took out the freezer from the facility on the date the mother and daughter went missing, she said. And a seven days after, they obtained another freezer.

Authorities believe they think this points to the demise were planned in advance.

"How they died was not identifiable due to the advanced decay of the bodies," Tersch commented.

Mayr—from the legal authorities—noted the precise timeline is not yet known, but the remains were professionally hidden and not discovered during a prior examination.

While the suspects were detained in June, it was only on 12 November that the suspect acknowledged an incident and to concealing the remains. He denies any plan to cause death, authorities said.

Meanwhile, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a cover-up but denied knowledge of a homicide.

The brothers are presently in custody awaiting trial in jails in separate locations, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

Via a shared communication, Austria's Minister for Women and the top legal representative stated the "suspected killing of two... constitutes the sudden and brutal end of a mother and child and reveals a heartless setup".

"Female individuals are being killed due to the simple reality that they are female," they went on to say.

"Murders of women are a strongly established and widespread concern that we must combat firmly."