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The deceased of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been discovered inside freezers in an residence in the western part of Austria.

The victims, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were detected on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a false wall in the flat, located in the Innsbruck area.

Two men, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in the month of June. The older man, a work associate of the female victim, stated to police last week that there had been an incident—but rejected homicide.

Speaking to the media earlier, a official for the public prosecutor's office announced the pair were being held on "strong suspicion of murder".

The names of those involved have not been disclosed by law enforcement, in following local legislation.

The family's disappearance was originally brought to light by the woman's cousin, who resides in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Police stated the male associate told them at the time she had embarked on an prolonged visit with her child to visit her parents in the nation of Turkey.

Her bank card was then found to have been used in foreign locations on multiple occasions.

However when officers entered the victim's residence, her mobile phone was located.

A witness also stated hearing a commotion in the apartment, and screams of "mum" on the occasion the pair were presumed to have gone missing.

An expanded official inquiry was initiated, with officers discovering various messages sent from the mother's device—including a resignation letter to her employer and texts to the 55-year-old suspect.

Authorities confirmed a amount in the thousands was also transferred to the man.

Katja Tersch stated to reporters on recently that a storage facility had been leased before the vanishing and a cooling unit had been positioned inside.

The two suspects removed the freezer from the storage space on the date the woman and her child disappeared, she said. And a week later, they purchased another freezer.

Investigators believe they believe this indicates the demise were premeditated.

"How they died remains unclear due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," she said.

A legal representative—of the public prosecutor's office—stated the exact sequence of events is yet to be determined, but the bodies were carefully placed and not discovered during a earlier inspection.

Although the men were taken into custody in the summer, it was not until 12 November that the suspect confessed to an incident and to storing the victims. He rejects any plan to cause death, authorities confirmed.

In a related development, his younger brother confessed to a concealment but disputed awareness of a homicide.

The two suspects are at this time in custody awaiting trial in jails in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.

In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister declared the "suspected killing of two... represents the sudden and brutal end of a mother and child and reveals a heartless setup".

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

"Gender-based killings are a profoundly embedded and widespread concern that we must combat firmly."