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

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been missing for a number of months, were uncovered on the end of last week. The cooling units were hidden behind a drywall partition in the flat, located in the city of Innsbruck.

Two men, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were arrested in the month of June. The older man, a work associate of the female victim, informed police last week that there had been an accident—but rejected intentional killing.

Addressing journalists recently, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office said the brothers were being detained on "strong suspicion of murder".

The names of those involved have not been disclosed by police, in accordance with Austrian law.

The family's disappearance was first reported by the woman's cousin, who lives in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

Authorities revealed the woman's colleague informed them at the time she had gone on an extended trip with her child to visit her parents in Turkey.

Her bank card was then discovered to be utilized overseas on multiple occasions.

But when officers searched the mother's apartment, her cellphone was found.

A witness also claimed hearing a loud noise in the flat, and shouts of "mama" on the occasion the mother and child were believed to have vanished.

An expanded criminal probe was initiated, with investigators discovering multiple communications originating from the mother's device—among them a job termination message to her employer and messages to the male associate.

Officials stated a four-figure sum was also moved to the man.

Katja Tersch stated to reporters on that day that a storage facility had been secured before the vanishing and a freezing appliance had been installed within.

The male siblings extracted the freezer from the facility on the very day the woman and her child vanished, the official said. And a seven days after, they obtained another freezer.

Authorities state they consider this suggests the fatalities were intentionally orchestrated.

"The reason for their demise was not identifiable due to the advanced decay of the victims," the official said.

A legal representative—from the legal authorities—noted the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the victims were professionally hidden and were not found during a previous house search.

While the men were taken into custody in the summer, it was not until November 12 that the 55-year-old acknowledged an incident and to concealing the remains. He disputes any intent to kill, investigators said.

In a related development, his brother admitted to a attempt to hide evidence but rejected knowledge of a killing.

The two suspects are presently in custody awaiting trial in jails in two Austrian cities, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative declared the "reported homicide of mother and child... symbolizes the abrupt and violent termination of two human lives and reveals a brutal scheme".

"Females of all ages are falling victim to homicide due to the simple reality that they are of the female gender," they added.

"Murders of women are a profoundly embedded and widespread concern that we must address decisively."