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The remains of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been discovered inside freezing appliances in an flat in western Austria.

The victims, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been missing for several months, were found on the end of last week. The cooling units were concealed behind a plasterboard wall in the dwelling, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

Two individuals, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were detained in the month of June. The older man, a colleague of the female victim, informed authorities last week that there had been an incident—but rejected murder.

Informing reporters previously, a representative for the public prosecutor's office stated the brothers were being kept in custody on "strong suspicion of murder".

Personal details of those involved have not been disclosed by authorities, in following national regulations.

The vanishing of the mother and child was first reported by the woman's cousin, who is based in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.

Police said the male associate claimed at the time she had taken an extended trip with her daughter to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.

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

However when officers examined the woman's home, her smartphone was located.

A witness also reported listening to a disturbing sound in the dwelling, and cries of "mum" on the occasion the pair were presumed to have gone missing.

An expanded official inquiry was started, with investigators finding various messages originating from the victim's mobile—including a resignation letter to her employer and texts to the male associate.

Law enforcement stated a four-figure sum was also transferred to the individual.

Katja Tersch told the press on recently that a storage unit had been rented out before the victims' disappearance and a freezer had been placed there.

The male siblings removed the freezer from the unit on the day the woman and her child went missing, the official said. And a shortly afterward, they acquired an additional appliance.

Investigators say they believe this points to the deaths were intentionally orchestrated.

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

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

Although the suspects were detained in the summer, it was not until November 12 that the elder brother acknowledged an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He rejects any intent to kill, officials said.

In a related development, his younger brother admitted to a attempt to hide evidence but denied knowledge of a murder.

The brothers are currently in custody awaiting trial in prisons in Innsbruck and Salzburg, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

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 abrupt and violent termination of two human lives and reveals a brutal scheme".

"Female individuals are falling victim to homicide due to the mere fact that they are female," they went on to say.

"Femicides are a strongly established and society-wide problem that we must combat firmly."