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The bodies of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been discovered inside freezing appliances in an apartment in western Austria.

The victims, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were detected on Friday. The cooling units were concealed behind a plasterboard wall in the flat, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

A pair of males, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the female victim, informed law enforcement last week that there had been an accident—but rejected murder.

Addressing journalists recently, a spokesman for the state prosecutor announced the two suspects were being detained on "high likelihood of murder".

Personal details of those implicated have not been disclosed by law enforcement, in accordance with Austrian law.

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

Police stated the male associate claimed at the time she had gone on an extended trip with her child to visit her parents in the nation of Turkey.

Her bank card was then noted as being active abroad several times.

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

An individual also reported hearing a disturbing sound in the flat, and cries of "mama" on the occasion the mother and child were presumed to have gone missing.

An expanded official inquiry was launched, with authorities finding several texts originating from the woman's phone—including a job termination message to her employer and messages to the male colleague.

Officials said a significant cash transfer was also sent to the man.

A senior police official informed the press on Tuesday that a rented space had been rented out before the vanishing and a freezer had been placed there.

The brothers removed the freezer from the facility on the day the woman and her child vanished, Tersch stated. And a week later, they acquired a second unit.

Officials believe they consider this indicates the fatalities were intentionally orchestrated.

"The reason for their demise remains unclear due to the condition of the remains," Tersch commented.

Mayr—representing the state—noted the specific order of occurrences is yet to be determined, but the bodies were carefully placed and not discovered during a prior examination.

While the brothers were detained in the summer, it was only on the 12th of November that the elder brother confessed to an event and to hiding the bodies. He disputes any plan to cause death, authorities confirmed.

At the same time, his younger brother admitted to a cover-up but disputed knowledge of a killing.

The brothers are currently in detention before court proceedings in detention centers in two Austrian cities, situated at a distance.

Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative stated the "suspected killing of two... represents the abrupt and violent termination of two human lives and uncovers a brutal scheme".

"Female individuals are being killed due to the simple reality that they are women and girls," they added.

"Murders of women are a strongly established and society-wide problem that we must combat firmly."