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The bodies of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been discovered inside freezing appliances in an residence in western Austria.

The deceased, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were found on Friday. The freezers were placed behind a drywall partition in the apartment, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

A pair of males, a Austrian man, 55 and his brother aged 53, were arrested in the month of June. The elder brother, a work associate of the Syrian woman, stated to law enforcement last week that there had been an incident—but denied murder.

Addressing reporters earlier, a representative for the legal authorities said the pair were being kept in custody on "serious suspicion of intentional killing".

Personal details of those involved have been withheld by police, in following national regulations.

The vanishing of the mother and child was originally brought to light by the female victim's relative, who lives in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.

Investigators revealed the 55-year-old suspect told them at the time she had gone on an long journey with her daughter to visit her parents in Turkey.

The mother's debit card was then found to have been used in foreign locations several times.

However when officers entered the woman's home, her cellphone was found.

A witness also reported listening to a disturbing sound in the flat, and cries of "mum" on the date the pair were thought to have disappeared.

A broader criminal probe was launched, with authorities uncovering various messages sent from the victim's mobile—among them a resignation letter to her company and texts to the male colleague.

Law enforcement confirmed a significant cash transfer was also sent to the individual.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office informed reporters on that day that a storage unit had been leased before the mother and child went missing and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.

The two suspects took out the appliance from the unit on the date the mother and daughter disappeared, Tersch stated. And a week later, they purchased another freezer.

Authorities state they think this suggests the fatalities were premeditated.

"The cause of death remains unclear due to the advanced decay of the bodies," she said.

The prosecutor's spokesman—from the legal authorities—noted the exact sequence of events is not yet known, but the victims were carefully placed and not discovered during a prior examination.

Although the men were detained in the summer, it was not until the 12th of November that the elder brother confessed to an occurrence and to hiding the bodies. He rejects any plan to cause death, officials stated.

At the same time, his younger brother confessed to a concealment but denied involvement in a murder.

The brothers are presently in pre-trial detention in detention centers in two Austrian cities, situated at a distance.

In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative stated the "alleged double murder... represents the sudden and brutal end of two individuals and uncovers a cruel system".

"Females of all ages are being murdered due to the simple reality that they are female," they went on to say.

"Gender-based killings are a profoundly embedded and issue affecting all of society that we must combat firmly."