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The bodies of a mother aged 34 and her young daughter, 10 have been discovered inside freezers in an flat in western Austria.

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

Two individuals, a Austrian man, 55 and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in June. The older man, a work associate of the Syrian woman, stated to police last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but rejected murder.

Addressing journalists recently, a spokesman for the state prosecutor announced the two suspects were being detained on "serious suspicion of intentional killing".

The names of those implicated have not been disclosed by authorities, in following national regulations.

Their going missing was initially flagged by the female victim's relative, who lives in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.

Authorities said the woman's colleague informed them at the time she had embarked on an long journey with her child to visit her parents in the nation of Turkey.

Her bank card was then discovered to be utilized overseas repeatedly.

But when police searched the mother's apartment, her mobile phone was found.

An individual also stated hearing a commotion in the dwelling, and screams of "mother" on the day the two were thought to have disappeared.

A wider police investigation was initiated, with investigators uncovering multiple communications originating from the victim's mobile—such as a resignation letter to her workplace and communications to the 55-year-old suspect.

Officials said a four-figure sum was also sent to the suspect.

A senior police official stated to media representatives on recently that a rented space had been rented out before the vanishing and a cooling unit had been positioned inside.

The two suspects extracted the freezer from the unit on the day the mother and daughter disappeared, Tersch said. And a shortly afterward, they obtained a second unit.

Authorities believe they think this suggests the demise were premeditated.

"The reason for their demise was not identifiable due to the advanced decay of the bodies," the official stated.

A legal representative—from the legal authorities—noted the precise timeline is yet to be determined, but the bodies were professionally hidden and not discovered during a earlier inspection.

While the brothers were taken into custody in the summer, it was not until November 12 that the suspect confessed to an event and to concealing the remains. He disputes any murderous intent, authorities confirmed.

In a related development, his 53-year-old sibling confessed to a concealment but denied awareness of a homicide.

The two suspects are at this time in custody awaiting trial in detention centers in Innsbruck and Salzburg, around 117 miles (189km) apart.

Through a combined announcement, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative said the "suspected killing of two... represents the abrupt and violent termination of a mother and child and uncovers a heartless setup".

"Female individuals are falling victim to homicide due to the mere fact that they are female," they continued.

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