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The deceased of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezers in an flat in western Austria.

The victims, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been missing for several months, were uncovered on the end of last week. The freezers were placed behind a false wall in the flat, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were detained in June. The elder brother, a colleague of the female victim, informed authorities last week that there had been an incident—but denied homicide.

Addressing reporters recently, a spokesman for the legal authorities said the brothers were being kept in custody on "high likelihood of murder".

The names of those involved have not been released by authorities, in accordance with Austrian law.

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

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

Her bank card was then discovered to be utilized abroad repeatedly.

Yet when investigators searched the victim's residence, her smartphone was located.

An individual also stated hearing a commotion in the dwelling, and screams of "mum" on the date the two were thought to have disappeared.

A wider criminal probe was started, with authorities uncovering several texts originating from the woman's phone—such as a notice of quitting to her workplace and texts to the male colleague.

Law enforcement confirmed a four-figure sum was also transferred to the individual.

Katja Tersch stated to media representatives on that day that a rented space had been leased before the victims' disappearance and a freezer had been installed within.

The male siblings extracted the freezer from the unit on the date the woman and her child went missing, the official stated. And a shortly afterward, they obtained a second unit.

Authorities believe they consider this indicates the demise were planned in advance.

"The cause of death remains unclear due to the state of decomposition of the remains," she commented.

Mayr—of the public prosecutor's office—noted the exact sequence of events is not yet known, but the victims were carefully placed and not discovered during a earlier inspection.

While the brothers were arrested in the summer, it was not until the 12th of November that the suspect acknowledged an event and to concealing the remains. He disputes any murderous intent, investigators stated.

At the same time, his 53-year-old sibling confessed to a concealment but denied knowledge of a killing.

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

In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister declared the "suspected killing of two... symbolizes the swift and cruel conclusion of a mother and child and exposes a heartless setup".

"Female individuals are falling victim to homicide due to the sole reason that they are women and girls," they went on to say.

"Murders of women are a strongly established and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."