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The bodies of a 34-year-old woman and her young daughter, 10 have been located inside freezers in an flat in the western part of Austria.

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were found on the end of last week. The freezers were concealed behind a false wall in the apartment, situated in the Innsbruck area.

A pair of males, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were taken into custody in June. The elder brother, a colleague of the female victim, told law enforcement last week that there had been an incident—but disputed homicide.

Speaking to journalists recently, a representative for the state prosecutor announced the pair were being kept in custody on "serious suspicion of intentional killing".

The identities of those involved have not been disclosed by police, in following national regulations.

The vanishing of the mother and child was originally brought to light by the cousin of the mother, who lives in Germany, on July 25, 2024.

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

The victim's bank card was then discovered to be utilized in foreign locations on multiple occasions.

Yet when police searched the mother's apartment, her mobile phone was discovered.

An individual also reported overhearing a commotion in the flat, and cries of "mama" on the date the mother and child were thought to have disappeared.

A broader police investigation was initiated, with authorities discovering multiple communications originating from the mother's device—including a job termination message to her workplace and communications to the 55-year-old suspect.

Law enforcement stated a significant cash transfer was also sent to the suspect.

A senior police official told the press on that day that a storage unit had been leased before the victims' disappearance and a cooling unit had been positioned inside.

The brothers took out the cooling unit from the facility on the very day the victims disappeared, Tersch stated. And a week later, they acquired a second unit.

Investigators believe they consider this indicates the demise were planned in advance.

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

A legal representative—representing the state—stated the specific order of occurrences is not yet known, but the remains were professionally hidden and not discovered during a prior examination.

While the suspects were detained in June, it was not until the 12th of November that the 55-year-old confessed to an incident and to concealing the remains. He disputes any murderous intent, officials said.

At the same time, his brother acknowledged a concealment but denied knowledge of a killing.

The pair are at this time in detention before court proceedings in prisons in two Austrian cities, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative stated the "alleged double murder... symbolizes the swift and cruel conclusion of two human lives and reveals a cruel system".

"Female individuals are being killed due to the sole reason that they are women and girls," they went on to say.

"Murders of women are a deeply rooted and widespread concern that we must address decisively."