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The remains of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been located inside freezing appliances in an residence in western Austria.

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were detected on the end of last week. The freezers were hidden behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, located in the Innsbruck area.

Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in the month of June. The older man, a colleague of the Syrian woman, stated to authorities last week that there had been an incident—but denied intentional killing.

Addressing the media earlier, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office stated the pair were being detained on "strong suspicion of homicide".

The identities of those concerned have not been disclosed by police, in compliance with local legislation.

The vanishing of the mother and child was first reported by the woman's cousin, who resides in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Investigators said the woman's colleague informed them at the time she had taken an extended trip with her daughter to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then discovered to be utilized overseas several times.

However when officers examined the victim's residence, her mobile phone was found.

A witness also claimed overhearing a commotion in the flat, and shouts of "mother" on the date the pair were thought to have disappeared.

A wider police investigation was started, with investigators finding various messages originating from the woman's phone—such as a notice of quitting to her employer and texts to the male colleague.

Authorities confirmed a significant cash transfer was also transferred to the individual.

A senior police official told the press on that day that a storage facility had been rented out before the mother and child went missing and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.

The male siblings took out the appliance from the storage space on the day the woman and her child vanished, the official revealed. And a week later, they obtained an additional appliance.

Authorities say they consider this indicates the deaths were planned in advance.

"The reason for their demise remains unclear due to the condition of the bodies," she said.

A legal representative—from the legal authorities—stated the precise timeline is not yet known, but the remains were professionally hidden and were not found during a earlier inspection.

While the suspects were arrested in the summer, it was only on the 12th of November that the suspect acknowledged an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He denies any intent to kill, investigators confirmed.

At the same time, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a cover-up but denied awareness of a killing.

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

Through a combined announcement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative stated the "suspected killing of two... represents the sudden and brutal end of two individuals and reveals a brutal scheme".

"Female individuals are being murdered due to the sole reason that they are of the female gender," they went on to say.

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