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The bodies of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezing appliances in an flat in western Austria.

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were found on the end of last week. 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 older man, a work associate of the female victim, told law enforcement last week that there had been an incident—but denied intentional killing.

Speaking to reporters recently, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office announced the brothers were being detained on "strong suspicion of homicide".

The names of those implicated have not been released by police, in following local legislation.

The vanishing of the mother and child was initially flagged by the woman's cousin, who is based in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Authorities stated the 55-year-old suspect informed them at the time she had gone on an extended trip with her daughter to visit her parents in Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then noted as being active overseas several times.

But when officers searched the victim's residence, her cellphone was discovered.

A witness also claimed listening to a loud noise in the flat, and cries of "mum" on the date the mother and child were thought to have disappeared.

An expanded police investigation was initiated, with authorities discovering multiple communications transmitted via the woman's phone—including a notice of quitting to her employer and texts to the male associate.

Authorities stated a significant cash transfer was also moved to the man.

Katja Tersch told the press on Tuesday that a storage facility had been rented out before the vanishing and a cooling unit had been positioned inside.

The brothers took out the cooling unit from the facility on the day the victims vanished, she stated. And a week later, they obtained an additional appliance.

Investigators say they consider this suggests the fatalities were intentionally orchestrated.

"The cause of death was not identifiable due to the condition of the remains," Tersch said.

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

While the suspects were taken into custody in June, it was not until November 12 that the elder brother acknowledged an incident and to hiding the bodies. He disputes any plan to cause death, officials said.

At the same time, his brother confessed to a cover-up but rejected awareness of a killing.

The brothers are at this time in detention before court proceedings in detention centers in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.

Via a shared communication, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister said the "reported homicide of mother and child... symbolizes the abrupt and violent termination of a mother and child and reveals a cruel system".

"Female individuals are being killed due to the sole reason that they are women and girls," they continued.

"Femicides are a strongly established and widespread concern that we must fight resolutely."