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The bodies of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been found inside freezing appliances in an flat in the western part of Austria.

The victims, a woman from Syria and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were detected on the end of last week. The cooling units were concealed behind a drywall partition in the dwelling, located in the Innsbruck area.

Two individuals, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in the month of June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the female victim, stated to authorities last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but disputed homicide.

Addressing the media previously, a official for the public prosecutor's office said the two suspects were being detained on "high likelihood of intentional killing".

The names of those involved have not been released by authorities, in compliance with Austrian law.

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

Police said the male associate informed them at the time she had taken an long journey with her child to see her family in the nation of Turkey.

Her bank card was then found to have been used overseas several times.

However when police searched the woman's home, her cellphone was discovered.

An individual also stated hearing a commotion in the apartment, and screams of "mama" on the date the pair were presumed to have gone missing.

A broader official inquiry was launched, with investigators discovering various messages transmitted via the mother's device—among them a resignation letter to her workplace and messages to the male colleague.

Authorities said a amount in the thousands was also moved to the suspect.

A senior police official informed media representatives on recently that a rented space had been rented out before the vanishing and a freezer had been installed within.

The brothers extracted the cooling unit from the facility on the day the mother and daughter went missing, the official revealed. And a seven days after, they obtained an additional appliance.

Authorities state they think this indicates the demise were planned in advance.

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

A legal representative—of the public prosecutor's office—said the exact sequence of events is still unclear, but the remains were professionally hidden and not discovered during a prior examination.

Although the men were taken into custody in the summer, it was only on November 12 that the 55-year-old admitted to an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He disputes any murderous intent, officials said.

At the same time, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a attempt to hide evidence but denied knowledge of a homicide.

The two suspects are currently in detention before court proceedings in jails in two Austrian cities, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and Justice Minister stated the "reported homicide of mother and child... constitutes the swift and cruel conclusion of two individuals and exposes a brutal scheme".

"Females of all ages are being killed due to the mere fact that they are women and girls," they added.

"Gender-based killings are a deeply rooted and society-wide problem that we must address decisively."