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The deceased of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been found inside freezing appliances in an flat in western Austria.

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were detected on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a false wall in the dwelling, situated in the Innsbruck area.

A pair of males, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in June. The older man, a work associate of the female victim, told authorities last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but disputed homicide.

Addressing reporters recently, a official for the state prosecutor said the brothers were being kept in custody on "strong suspicion of murder".

Personal details of those implicated have been withheld by police, in accordance with national regulations.

The family's disappearance was first reported by the female victim's relative, who lives in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Authorities revealed the woman's colleague informed them at the time she had taken an prolonged visit with her child to visit her parents in the nation of Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then noted as being active abroad repeatedly.

However when officers searched the mother's apartment, her cellphone was found.

Someone also claimed hearing a disturbing sound in the dwelling, and shouts of "mum" on the day the mother and child were thought to have disappeared.

An expanded police investigation was launched, with authorities uncovering various messages sent from the mother's device—including a resignation letter to her company and texts to the male associate.

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

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

The brothers extracted the appliance from the unit on the date the mother and daughter disappeared, the official revealed. And a seven days after, they purchased an additional appliance.

Officials believe they believe this indicates the fatalities were planned in advance.

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

A legal representative—representing the state—stated the specific order of occurrences is yet to be determined, but the bodies were expertly concealed and went unnoticed during a prior examination.

Although the brothers were arrested in the summer, it was only on the 12th of November that the 55-year-old confessed to an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He disputes any murderous intent, authorities confirmed.

In a related development, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a cover-up but disputed involvement in a killing.

The pair are presently in pre-trial detention in jails in Innsbruck and Salzburg, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister declared the "reported homicide of mother and child... constitutes the abrupt and violent termination of a mother and child and exposes a cruel system".

"Women and girls are being murdered due to the mere fact that they are of the female gender," they continued.

"Gender-based killings are a profoundly embedded and issue affecting all of society that we must address decisively."