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

The victims, a Syrian woman and her child, who had been unaccounted for for a number of months, were found on the end of last week. The cooling units were concealed behind a drywall partition in the apartment, situated in the Innsbruck area.

Two individuals, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were arrested in June. The older man, a colleague of the female victim, informed authorities last week that there had been an accident—but denied murder.

Addressing the media recently, a official for the public prosecutor's office stated the pair were being detained on "high likelihood of murder".

The identities of those involved have not been released by law enforcement, in compliance with local legislation.

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

Authorities revealed the male associate informed them at the time she had taken an prolonged visit with her child to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then discovered to be utilized in foreign locations several times.

But when officers entered the woman's home, her mobile phone was discovered.

An individual also claimed overhearing a commotion in the dwelling, and shouts of "mother" on the occasion the two were believed to have vanished.

A wider police investigation was launched, with officers discovering multiple communications sent from the mother's device—such as a job termination message to her company and messages to the male associate.

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

A senior police official informed reporters on that day that a rented space had been leased before the mother and child went missing and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.

The brothers removed the cooling unit from the storage space on the very day the mother and daughter disappeared, the official revealed. And a seven days after, they obtained another freezer.

Officials believe they think this suggests the fatalities were premeditated.

"How they died could not be determined due to the advanced decay of the victims," the official said.

The prosecutor's spokesman—from the legal authorities—stated the specific order of occurrences is not yet known, but the remains were professionally hidden and not discovered during a previous house search.

Although the brothers were arrested in the summer, it was only on 12 November that the 55-year-old acknowledged an event and to hiding the bodies. He rejects any murderous intent, investigators confirmed.

Meanwhile, his brother admitted to a attempt to hide evidence but disputed knowledge of a killing.

The pair are at this time in custody awaiting trial in jails in separate locations, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

In a joint statement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative stated the "suspected killing of two... represents the abrupt and violent termination of two human lives and uncovers a brutal scheme".

"Women and girls are falling victim to homicide due to the mere fact that they are of the female gender," they continued.

"Gender-based killings are a profoundly embedded and widespread concern that we must address decisively."