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

The deceased, a woman from Syria and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were found on Friday. The freezers were concealed behind a plasterboard wall in the flat, located in the city of Innsbruck.

Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were arrested in the month of June. The elder brother, a work associate of the Syrian woman, told authorities last week that there had been an accident—but rejected murder.

Speaking to reporters earlier, a official for the legal authorities said the brothers were being held on "high likelihood of murder".

Personal details of those implicated have not been released by police, in compliance with Austrian law.

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

Police stated the woman's colleague informed them at the time she had embarked on an prolonged visit with her daughter to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then found to have been used abroad several times.

However when officers searched the woman's home, her smartphone was located.

A witness also stated hearing a commotion in the apartment, and cries of "mother" on the day the pair were thought to have disappeared.

A broader official inquiry was started, with authorities finding several texts transmitted via the mother's device—such as a job termination message to her workplace and texts to the male associate.

Law enforcement confirmed a amount in the thousands was also sent to the individual.

A senior police official stated to the press on that day that a rented space had been secured before the mother and child went missing and a freezer had been positioned inside.

The brothers took out the freezer from the facility on the very day the mother and daughter went missing, the official stated. And a week later, they purchased another freezer.

Authorities state they think this suggests the demise were premeditated.

"How they died could not be determined due to the condition of the victims," she commented.

The prosecutor's spokesman—representing the state—noted the exact sequence of events is still unclear, but the victims were expertly concealed and were not found during a previous house search.

Although the men were arrested in June, it was only on 12 November that the elder brother confessed to an occurrence and to hiding the bodies. He disputes any intent to kill, investigators stated.

Meanwhile, his 53-year-old sibling acknowledged a cover-up but disputed awareness of a killing.

The pair are presently in pre-trial detention in prisons in two Austrian cities, approximately 189 kilometers away from each other.

In a joint statement, Austria's Minister for Women and the top legal representative declared the "alleged double murder... represents the sudden and brutal end of a mother and child and uncovers a cruel system".

"Female individuals are being killed due to the simple reality that they are of the female gender," they continued.

"Femicides are a strongly established and widespread concern that we must fight resolutely."