Shocking Find: Remains of Missing Mum and Daughter Located in Freezing Units in Austria

The remains of a 34-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter have been located inside freezers in an residence in western Austria.

The victims, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been unaccounted for for several months, were detected on Friday. The cooling units were concealed behind a drywall partition in the flat, situated in the city of Innsbruck.

Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his brother aged 53, were detained in June. The 55-year-old, a colleague of the Syrian woman, informed law enforcement last week that there had been an unfortunate event—but rejected intentional killing.

Informing journalists recently, a official for the public prosecutor's office announced the brothers were being detained on "strong suspicion of murder".

Personal details of those concerned have not been released by authorities, in following Austrian law.

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

Police said the 55-year-old suspect informed them at the time she had taken an long journey with her child to travel to her relatives in Turkey.

The victim's bank card was then found to have been used in foreign locations on multiple occasions.

But when investigators entered the mother's apartment, her smartphone was found.

Someone also reported overhearing a loud noise in the flat, and shouts of "mama" on the day the two were presumed to have gone missing.

A broader official inquiry was launched, with officers finding several texts originating from the mother's device—such as a job termination message to her workplace and communications to the male colleague.

Authorities said a four-figure sum was also transferred to the individual.

A senior police official told the press on recently that a storage facility had been rented out before the victims' disappearance and a cooling unit had been installed within.

The male siblings took out the cooling unit from the facility on the very day the woman and her child disappeared, the official stated. And a week later, they purchased a second unit.

Officials state they think this indicates the demise were intentionally orchestrated.

"How they died was not identifiable due to the condition of the bodies," she stated.

A legal representative—representing the state—said the precise timeline is still unclear, but the remains were professionally hidden and were not found during a prior examination.

While the suspects were detained in June, it was not until 12 November that the 55-year-old acknowledged an incident and to storing the victims. He disputes any murderous intent, officials confirmed.

Meanwhile, his brother admitted to a cover-up but disputed involvement in a murder.

The pair are presently in detention before court proceedings in prisons in Innsbruck and Salzburg, situated at a distance.

In a joint statement, Austria's Minister for Women and Justice Minister stated the "alleged double murder... symbolizes the abrupt and violent termination of a mother and child and reveals a brutal scheme".

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

"Murders of women are a strongly established and society-wide problem that we must combat firmly."