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The bodies of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been located inside freezers in an residence in western Austria.

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been missing for a number of months, were detected on the end of last week. The cooling units were hidden behind a plasterboard wall in the flat, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

Two individuals, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were arrested in the month of June. The older man, a colleague of the female victim, told authorities last week that there had been an incident—but disputed homicide.

Speaking to reporters earlier, a official for the legal authorities said the two suspects were being detained on "high likelihood of homicide".

The identities of those implicated have been withheld by law enforcement, in accordance with local legislation.

The vanishing of the mother and child was first reported by the woman's cousin, who resides in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Investigators revealed the 55-year-old suspect claimed at the time she had embarked on an prolonged visit with her daughter to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

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

Yet when police examined the victim's residence, her mobile phone was located.

An individual also claimed overhearing a loud noise in the flat, and screams of "mum" on the occasion the two were believed to have vanished.

A wider police investigation was started, with investigators discovering multiple communications sent from the victim's mobile—such as a notice of quitting to her employer and texts to the male colleague.

Law enforcement said a significant cash transfer was also moved to the individual.

A senior police official told the press on recently that a storage unit had been leased before the mother and child went missing and a cooling unit had been positioned inside.

The two suspects extracted the cooling unit from the unit on the very day the mother and daughter went missing, Tersch revealed. And a week later, they obtained an additional appliance.

Officials believe they believe this points to the fatalities were planned in advance.

"The cause of death remains unclear due to the advanced decay of the remains," the official stated.

The prosecutor's spokesman—representing the state—stated the exact sequence of events is still unclear, but the remains were carefully placed and not discovered during a prior examination.

While the men were detained in June, it was only on 12 November that the elder brother confessed to an incident and to storing the victims. He rejects any plan to cause death, officials stated.

In a related development, his younger brother confessed to a cover-up but denied knowledge of a murder.

The pair are presently in detention before court proceedings in prisons in two Austrian cities, situated at a distance.

Through a combined announcement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister stated the "reported homicide of mother and child... symbolizes the sudden and brutal end of a mother and child and uncovers a brutal scheme".

"Women and girls are being killed due to the mere fact that they are women and girls," they continued.

"Murders of women are a profoundly embedded and issue affecting all of society that we must address decisively."