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The deceased 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 woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were detected on the end of last week. The cooling units were placed behind a false wall in the flat, located in the Innsbruck area.

Two men, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in June. The elder brother, a colleague of the Syrian woman, told police last week that there had been an accident—but denied homicide.

Informing the media earlier, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office said the brothers were being detained on "high likelihood of murder".

The identities of those involved have been withheld by authorities, in accordance with national regulations.

The family's disappearance was initially flagged by the female victim's relative, who resides in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Police revealed the woman's colleague told them at the time she had gone on an extended trip with her child to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then noted as being active abroad repeatedly.

However when investigators entered the victim's residence, her mobile phone was discovered.

An individual also stated overhearing a loud noise in the apartment, and shouts of "mama" on the day the two were presumed to have gone missing.

An expanded criminal probe was launched, with investigators finding multiple communications originating from the mother's device—including a job termination message to her workplace and messages to the male associate.

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

Katja Tersch stated to reporters on recently that a storage unit had been leased before the vanishing and a freezing appliance had been placed there.

The brothers extracted the cooling unit from the facility on the very day the victims went missing, she stated. And a week later, they purchased another freezer.

Investigators believe they believe this indicates the deaths were premeditated.

"How they died could not be determined due to the advanced decay of the bodies," she commented.

A legal representative—representing the state—noted the specific order of occurrences is yet to be determined, but the victims were professionally hidden and went unnoticed during a earlier inspection.

While the men were taken into custody in June, it was not until 12 November that the 55-year-old admitted to an event and to hiding the bodies. He disputes any murderous intent, investigators confirmed.

Meanwhile, his younger brother acknowledged a concealment but disputed awareness of a killing.

The brothers are presently in pre-trial detention in detention centers in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.

Through a combined announcement, Austria's Minister for Women and the top legal representative declared the "suspected killing of two... represents the swift and cruel conclusion of two individuals and uncovers a brutal scheme".

"Women and girls are being murdered due to the simple reality that they are women and girls," they added.

"Femicides are a profoundly embedded and society-wide problem that we must combat firmly."