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

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were found on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a drywall partition in the apartment, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in June. The 55-year-old, a work associate of the Syrian woman, told authorities last week that there had been an incident—but rejected murder.

Informing reporters recently, a official for the public prosecutor's office stated the brothers were being kept in custody on "high likelihood of intentional killing".

Personal details of those concerned have not been disclosed by police, in following local legislation.

Their going missing was initially flagged by the female victim's relative, who resides in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.

Authorities said the 55-year-old suspect claimed at the time she had taken an long journey with her daughter to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then discovered to be utilized in foreign locations on multiple occasions.

Yet when officers examined the victim's residence, her smartphone was discovered.

Someone also reported listening to a disturbing sound in the flat, and shouts of "mama" on the occasion the two were believed to have vanished.

A broader criminal probe was initiated, with investigators uncovering multiple communications transmitted via the victim's mobile—including a resignation letter to her company and messages to the male colleague.

Officials said a four-figure sum was also transferred to the suspect.

A senior police official stated to media representatives on recently that a rented space had been secured before the vanishing and a freezing appliance had been installed within.

The brothers extracted the appliance from the storage space on the date the victims disappeared, Tersch revealed. And a shortly afterward, they purchased an additional appliance.

Officials say they consider this indicates the deaths were premeditated.

"The reason for their demise remains unclear due to the state of decomposition of the remains," the official commented.

Mayr—from the legal authorities—stated the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the remains were professionally hidden and not discovered during a prior examination.

While the men were detained in the summer, it was only on 12 November that the 55-year-old admitted to an incident and to storing the victims. He denies any murderous intent, investigators said.

In a related development, his 53-year-old sibling confessed to a concealment but denied involvement in a murder.

The brothers are currently in custody awaiting trial in prisons in two Austrian cities, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

Through a combined announcement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister stated the "reported homicide of mother and child... constitutes the sudden and brutal end of two human lives and uncovers a heartless setup".

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

"Femicides are a profoundly embedded and widespread concern that we must fight resolutely."