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The remains of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been located inside freezers in an flat in the western part of Austria.

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been missing for a number of months, were found on Friday. The cooling units were concealed behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, located in the Innsbruck area.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were detained in June. The older man, a colleague of the female victim, informed authorities last week that there had been an accident—but denied homicide.

Informing reporters previously, a official for the legal authorities said the pair were being kept in custody on "high likelihood of intentional killing".

The names of those implicated have not been disclosed by law enforcement, in accordance with local legislation.

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

Police said the male associate informed them at the time she had taken an extended trip with her daughter to visit her parents in Turkey.

Her bank card was then found to have been used abroad on multiple occasions.

However when investigators searched the victim's residence, her cellphone was discovered.

Someone also claimed overhearing a commotion in the dwelling, and shouts of "mama" on the date the pair were believed to have vanished.

A wider criminal probe was started, with authorities finding various messages sent from the mother's device—among them a resignation letter to her workplace and messages to the male associate.

Officials stated a significant cash transfer was also sent to the suspect.

Katja Tersch informed the press on recently that a storage unit had been secured before the victims' disappearance and a freezing appliance had been installed within.

The brothers removed the cooling unit from the facility on the day the woman and her child disappeared, Tersch said. And a shortly afterward, they acquired an additional appliance.

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

"The cause of death remains unclear due to the condition of the remains," Tersch said.

Mayr—of the public prosecutor's office—stated the precise timeline is still unclear, but the bodies were expertly concealed and not discovered during a prior examination.

While the suspects were taken into custody in the summer, it was only on November 12 that the suspect confessed to an event and to storing the victims. He disputes any murderous intent, authorities said.

In a related development, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a concealment but disputed knowledge of a murder.

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, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister declared the "reported homicide of mother and child... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of a mother and child and reveals a brutal scheme".

"Female individuals are being murdered due to the simple reality that they are female," they went on to say.

"Femicides are a profoundly embedded and widespread concern that we must combat firmly."