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The bodies 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 woman from Syria and her child, who had been missing for a number of months, were found on Friday. The freezers were placed behind a drywall partition in the flat, situated in the Innsbruck area.

A pair of males, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the Syrian woman, stated to authorities last week that there had been an accident—but disputed intentional killing.

Addressing journalists recently, a representative for the public prosecutor's office announced the pair were being held on "serious suspicion of homicide".

The identities of those involved have not been disclosed by police, in following Austrian law.

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

Police said the woman's colleague told them at the time she had gone on an long journey with her child to visit her parents in Turkey.

Her bank card was then noted as being active in foreign locations repeatedly.

But when officers searched the mother's apartment, her smartphone was found.

A witness also stated listening to a commotion in the apartment, and cries of "mother" on the day the pair were believed to have vanished.

A broader police investigation was launched, with investigators discovering multiple communications transmitted via the woman's phone—among them a notice of quitting to her employer and communications to the male associate.

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

Katja Tersch stated to reporters on that day that a storage facility had been secured before the victims' disappearance and a freezing appliance had been placed there.

The brothers extracted the appliance from the storage space on the date the mother and daughter went missing, the official stated. And a shortly afterward, they purchased another freezer.

Investigators say they consider this indicates the fatalities were premeditated.

"The cause of death remains unclear due to the state of decomposition of the bodies," she commented.

Mayr—from the legal authorities—noted the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the victims were professionally hidden and not discovered during a earlier inspection.

Although the brothers were arrested in June, it was not until November 12 that the 55-year-old acknowledged an event and to storing the victims. He denies any plan to cause death, authorities stated.

In a related development, his younger brother admitted to a attempt to hide evidence but denied knowledge of a homicide.

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

Via a shared communication, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister declared the "suspected killing of two... represents the abrupt and violent termination of a mother and child and uncovers a cruel system".

"Females of all ages are being murdered due to the simple reality that they are women and girls," they continued.

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