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The remains of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezers in an residence in western Austria.

The victims, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been missing for several months, were found on the end of last week. The cooling units were hidden behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, situated in the Innsbruck area.

Two men, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were arrested in June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the Syrian woman, stated to police last week that there had been an incident—but denied murder.

Speaking to the media previously, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office announced the two suspects were being held on "high likelihood of murder".

The names of those implicated have not been released by authorities, in compliance with national regulations.

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.

Authorities revealed the male associate told them at the time she had embarked on an prolonged visit with her daughter to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then found to have been used overseas on multiple occasions.

But when investigators examined the mother's apartment, her mobile phone was discovered.

A witness also stated overhearing a disturbing sound in the dwelling, and cries of "mother" on the day the mother and child were believed to have vanished.

A wider criminal probe was initiated, with investigators discovering multiple communications originating from the mother's device—including a job termination message to her workplace and messages to the 55-year-old suspect.

Authorities said a significant cash transfer was also sent to the individual.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office informed the press on recently that a storage facility had been secured before the vanishing and a freezing appliance had been placed there.

The two suspects extracted the cooling unit from the unit on the date the victims vanished, Tersch said. And a seven days after, they obtained an additional appliance.

Officials believe they consider this suggests the deaths were planned in advance.

"The cause of death could not be determined due to the condition of the remains," she stated.

A legal representative—of the public prosecutor's office—said the exact sequence of events is still unclear, but the remains were expertly concealed and not discovered during a prior examination.

Although the men were taken into custody in the summer, it was only on November 12 that the suspect confessed to an incident and to concealing the remains. He rejects any intent to kill, investigators stated.

At the same time, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a attempt to hide evidence but rejected knowledge of a killing.

The pair are currently 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 Justice Minister stated the "alleged double murder... constitutes the abrupt and violent termination of a mother and child and exposes a heartless setup".

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

"Murders of women are a profoundly embedded and issue affecting all of society that we must fight resolutely."