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

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were detected on the end of last week. The freezers were hidden behind a plasterboard wall in the dwelling, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the female victim, stated to law enforcement last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but disputed homicide.

Addressing reporters earlier, a representative for the legal authorities said the two suspects were being detained on "high likelihood of murder".

Personal details of those involved have been withheld by law enforcement, in compliance with national regulations.

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

Authorities revealed the male associate claimed at the time she had taken an long journey with her daughter to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.

Her bank card was then noted as being active in foreign locations repeatedly.

But when police examined the mother's apartment, her cellphone was discovered.

Someone also reported listening to a disturbing sound in the dwelling, and cries of "mama" on the day the mother and child were believed to have vanished.

An expanded criminal probe was launched, with investigators finding multiple communications transmitted via the mother's device—among them a resignation letter to her employer and communications to the 55-year-old suspect.

Law enforcement stated a amount in the thousands was also moved to the individual.

Katja Tersch told the press on recently that a storage unit had been rented out before the vanishing and a freezing appliance had been installed within.

The two suspects extracted the appliance from the facility on the day the woman and her child disappeared, the official stated. And a seven days after, they acquired another freezer.

Investigators say they believe this points to the deaths were premeditated.

"The cause of death was not identifiable due to the state of decomposition of the victims," Tersch stated.

The prosecutor's spokesman—of the public prosecutor's office—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 brothers were taken into custody in June, it was not until November 12 that the 55-year-old confessed to an occurrence and to hiding the bodies. He denies any murderous intent, authorities confirmed.

In a related development, his brother confessed to a concealment but denied involvement in a murder.

The brothers are at this time in detention before court proceedings in detention centers in separate locations, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

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

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

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