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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 flat in the western part of Austria.

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

Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were taken into custody in the month of June. The 55-year-old, a work associate of the female victim, stated to authorities last week that there had been an accident—but denied homicide.

Speaking to the media recently, a representative for the public prosecutor's office announced the brothers were being held on "serious suspicion of intentional killing".

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

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

Investigators said the male associate claimed 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 found to have been used overseas on multiple occasions.

Yet when officers entered the victim's residence, her mobile phone was found.

A witness also stated hearing a disturbing sound in the dwelling, and cries of "mum" on the date the pair were thought to have disappeared.

A wider police investigation was started, with investigators discovering various messages originating from the woman's phone—including a resignation letter to her employer and messages to the male associate.

Officials confirmed a four-figure sum was also transferred to the suspect.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office stated to the press on that day that a storage facility had been rented out before the victims' disappearance and a cooling unit had been positioned inside.

The brothers extracted the appliance from the unit on the date the mother and daughter disappeared, Tersch revealed. And a seven days after, they purchased an additional appliance.

Officials say they consider this indicates the fatalities were premeditated.

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

A legal representative—of the public prosecutor's office—said the specific order of occurrences is yet to be determined, but the bodies were professionally hidden and not discovered during a prior examination.

While the brothers were detained in June, it was only on November 12 that the 55-year-old acknowledged an occurrence and to concealing the remains. He denies any intent to kill, officials said.

In a related development, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a concealment but rejected knowledge of a homicide.

The pair are presently in custody awaiting trial in jails in separate locations, situated at a distance.

Through a combined announcement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister declared the "reported homicide of mother and child... symbolizes the abrupt and violent termination of two individuals and reveals a cruel system".

"Women and girls are falling victim to homicide due to the sole reason that they are female," they went on to say.

"Femicides are a deeply rooted and society-wide problem that we must combat firmly."