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The bodies of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezers in an apartment 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 uncovered on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a plasterboard wall in the apartment, located in the city of Innsbruck.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were detained in the month of June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the female victim, stated to authorities last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but disputed murder.

Speaking to the media recently, a official for the public prosecutor's office stated the two suspects were being detained on "serious suspicion of intentional killing".

Personal details of those implicated have not been disclosed by authorities, in following Austrian law.

Their going missing was initially flagged by the cousin of the mother, who lives in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Investigators revealed the male associate informed them at the time she had gone on an long journey with her child to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.

Her bank card was then discovered to be utilized in foreign locations several times.

However when officers examined the mother's apartment, her smartphone was found.

Someone also stated overhearing a loud noise in the apartment, and shouts of "mother" on the date the two were thought to have disappeared.

An expanded criminal probe was initiated, with officers uncovering multiple communications transmitted via the woman's phone—including a job termination message to her company and texts to the male associate.

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

The head of the State Criminal Police Office informed the press on recently that a storage unit had been rented out before the mother and child went missing and a cooling unit had been installed within.

The male siblings extracted the freezer from the facility on the day the woman and her child went missing, she said. And a shortly afterward, they acquired a second unit.

Authorities believe they consider this indicates the deaths were intentionally orchestrated.

"The cause of death could not be determined due to the advanced decay of the bodies," Tersch commented.

A legal representative—from the legal authorities—noted the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the remains were carefully placed and were not found during a previous house search.

While the brothers were taken into custody in June, it was not until November 12 that the 55-year-old admitted to an incident and to concealing the remains. He disputes any murderous intent, authorities said.

In a related development, his younger brother admitted to a concealment but rejected knowledge of a murder.

The brothers are presently in detention before court proceedings in prisons in Innsbruck and Salzburg, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister declared the "suspected killing of two... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of a mother and child and uncovers a heartless setup".

"Females of all ages are falling victim to homicide due to the simple reality that they are of the female gender," they continued.

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