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The remains of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been discovered inside freezing appliances in an residence in the western part of Austria.

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been missing for several months, were detected on Friday. The cooling units were placed behind a plasterboard wall in the dwelling, situated in the Innsbruck area.

Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were detained in June. The older man, a work associate of the female victim, told police last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but disputed murder.

Informing the media previously, a representative for the legal authorities stated the brothers were being kept in custody on "serious suspicion of murder".

The names of those concerned have been withheld by authorities, in following local legislation.

Their going missing was initially flagged by the female victim's relative, who is based in Germany, on 25 July 2024.

Investigators said the male associate informed them at the time she had taken an prolonged visit with her daughter to visit her parents in the nation of Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then found to have been used abroad several times.

But when police examined the mother's apartment, her smartphone was located.

A witness also reported hearing a commotion in the dwelling, and shouts of "mother" on the date the two were presumed to have gone missing.

A broader police investigation was initiated, with authorities finding multiple communications originating from the mother's device—such as a notice of quitting to her employer and texts to the 55-year-old suspect.

Officials said a four-figure sum was also moved to the man.

Katja Tersch informed reporters on Tuesday that a rented space had been leased before the vanishing and a cooling unit had been placed there.

The two suspects removed the cooling unit from the unit on the date the mother and daughter vanished, Tersch revealed. And a seven days after, they purchased an additional appliance.

Authorities say they think this points to the demise were intentionally orchestrated.

"The reason for their demise was not identifiable due to the state of decomposition of the remains," Tersch stated.

The prosecutor's spokesman—representing the state—said the specific order of occurrences is still unclear, but the remains were carefully placed and went unnoticed during a earlier inspection.

While the suspects were taken into custody in June, it was not until the 12th of November that the elder brother admitted to an incident and to storing the victims. He rejects any plan to cause death, authorities confirmed.

At the same time, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a concealment but denied awareness of a homicide.

The brothers are currently in pre-trial detention in prisons in separate locations, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

Through a combined announcement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister stated the "suspected killing of two... constitutes the abrupt and violent termination of two individuals and exposes a cruel system".

"Female individuals are falling victim to homicide due to the simple reality that they are female," they went on to say.

"Murders of women are a deeply rooted and widespread concern that we must combat firmly."