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The bodies of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been discovered inside freezers in an flat in the western part of Austria.

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been missing for a number of months, were detected on Friday. The cooling units were concealed behind a plasterboard wall in the apartment, situated in the Innsbruck area.

Two individuals, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in June. The older man, a colleague of the Syrian woman, told police last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but rejected murder.

Addressing the media earlier, a representative for the state prosecutor announced the two suspects were being held on "high likelihood of homicide".

The identities of those involved have been withheld by law enforcement, in following local legislation.

Their going missing was originally brought to light by the woman's cousin, who is based in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Investigators stated the male associate claimed at the time she had gone on an long journey with her daughter to visit her parents in the nation of Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then found to have been used abroad repeatedly.

But when police searched the mother's apartment, her smartphone was discovered.

A witness also reported hearing a commotion in the flat, and cries of "mother" on the date the pair were presumed to have gone missing.

An expanded police investigation was launched, with authorities discovering multiple communications originating from the mother's device—among them a notice of quitting to her employer and texts to the male colleague.

Authorities confirmed a four-figure sum was also moved to the suspect.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office informed reporters on Tuesday that a storage facility had been secured before the vanishing and a freezer had been installed within.

The two suspects removed the appliance from the unit on the date the woman and her child vanished, the official stated. And a shortly afterward, they obtained another freezer.

Authorities say they consider this points to the fatalities were premeditated.

"The cause of death could not be determined due to the state of decomposition of the victims," the official stated.

Mayr—representing the state—said the specific order of occurrences is yet to be determined, but the victims were professionally hidden and were not found during a earlier inspection.

Although the brothers were taken into custody in June, it was only on 12 November that the suspect confessed to an incident and to storing the victims. He denies any intent to kill, investigators said.

At the same time, his brother admitted to a cover-up but denied involvement in a murder.

The brothers are at this time in pre-trial detention in prisons in two Austrian cities, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

Through a combined announcement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative stated the "reported homicide of mother and child... symbolizes the swift and cruel conclusion of two human lives and exposes a cruel system".

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

"Gender-based killings are a strongly established and widespread concern that we must fight resolutely."