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

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been missing for several months, were uncovered on Friday. The freezers were concealed behind a false wall in the apartment, situated in the Innsbruck area.

Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in the month of June. The elder brother, a work associate of the female victim, told law enforcement last week that there had been an incident—but disputed intentional killing.

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

Personal details of those concerned have not been released by authorities, in accordance with national regulations.

The family's disappearance was initially flagged by the female victim's relative, who is based in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.

Investigators stated the woman's colleague claimed 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 repeatedly.

Yet when investigators entered the victim's residence, her smartphone was located.

Someone also stated overhearing a commotion in the dwelling, and cries of "mother" on the date the mother and child were thought to have disappeared.

A broader police investigation was started, with authorities discovering multiple communications sent from the victim's mobile—including a job termination message to her workplace and communications to the 55-year-old suspect.

Authorities confirmed a four-figure sum was also transferred to the individual.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office stated to the press on that day that a rented space had been leased before the mother and child went missing and a freezer had been positioned inside.

The two suspects removed the appliance from the facility on the day the woman and her child vanished, Tersch revealed. And a week later, they purchased an additional appliance.

Officials state they consider this suggests the fatalities were premeditated.

"How they died could not be determined due to the advanced decay of the remains," she commented.

A legal representative—from the legal authorities—said the precise timeline is not yet known, but the bodies were expertly concealed and were not found during a earlier inspection.

While the men were detained in the summer, it was not until 12 November that the suspect admitted to an event and to concealing the remains. He rejects any plan to cause death, investigators stated.

Meanwhile, his younger brother acknowledged a cover-up but rejected knowledge of a homicide.

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

Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative stated the "alleged double murder... represents the swift and cruel conclusion of two human lives and reveals a heartless setup".

"Female individuals are being murdered due to the mere fact that they are women and girls," they continued.

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