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The remains of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been discovered inside freezers in an apartment in western Austria.

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been missing for several months, were uncovered on Friday. The cooling units were hidden behind a false wall in the apartment, located 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 authorities last week that there had been an incident—but rejected homicide.

Speaking to journalists earlier, a representative for the state prosecutor announced the brothers were being kept in custody on "serious suspicion of murder".

Personal details of those concerned have been withheld by police, in following local legislation.

The vanishing of the mother and child was originally brought to light by the cousin of the mother, who lives in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Investigators said the woman's colleague informed them at the time she had gone on an long journey with her child to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

Her bank card was then found to have been used abroad on multiple occasions.

Yet when officers searched the victim's residence, her mobile phone was discovered.

Someone also stated overhearing a loud noise in the dwelling, and screams of "mother" on the occasion the mother and child were presumed to have gone missing.

A wider criminal probe was launched, with investigators discovering multiple communications originating from the victim's mobile—among them a resignation letter to her company and communications to the male colleague.

Officials confirmed a significant cash transfer was also moved to the suspect.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office informed reporters on Tuesday that a storage facility had been rented out before the victims' disappearance and a freezing appliance had been placed there.

The brothers took out the cooling unit from the storage space on the very day the woman and her child went missing, Tersch said. And a seven days after, they acquired another freezer.

Authorities believe they believe this points to the demise were premeditated.

"The reason for their demise could not be determined due to the state of decomposition of the victims," she commented.

The prosecutor's spokesman—representing the state—stated the exact sequence of events is not yet known, but the victims were professionally hidden and not discovered during a earlier inspection.

Although the men were detained in June, it was only on 12 November that the elder brother admitted to an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He disputes any plan to cause death, authorities said.

In a related development, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a concealment but disputed awareness of a killing.

The pair are at this time in custody awaiting trial in jails in Innsbruck and Salzburg, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

Through a combined announcement, Austria's Minister for Women and the top legal representative said the "reported homicide of mother and child... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of two individuals and reveals a heartless setup".

"Female individuals are falling victim to homicide due to the simple reality that they are women and girls," they went on to say.

"Gender-based killings are a strongly established and issue affecting all of society that we must address decisively."