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The remains of a mother aged 34 and her 10-year-old daughter have been found inside freezing appliances in an apartment in western Austria.

The victims, a Syrian woman and her daughter, who had been missing for a number of months, were found on Friday. The freezers were hidden 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 disputed homicide.

Speaking to reporters earlier, a representative for the legal authorities announced the pair were being kept in custody on "high likelihood of homicide".

The names of those implicated have not been disclosed by police, in compliance with Austrian law.

The family's disappearance was first reported by the woman's cousin, who resides in Germany, on the 25th of July last year.

Authorities stated the 55-year-old suspect informed them at the time she had taken an extended trip with her child to travel to her relatives in the nation of Turkey.

Her bank card was then found to have been used abroad on multiple occasions.

However when police searched the woman's home, her mobile phone was found.

A witness also stated hearing a loud noise in the dwelling, and screams of "mum" on the day the mother and child were presumed to have gone missing.

An expanded criminal probe was started, with authorities finding multiple communications sent from the mother's device—among them a notice of quitting to her employer and messages to the male associate.

Law enforcement said a amount in the thousands was also transferred to the individual.

The head of the State Criminal Police Office told media representatives on that day that a storage unit had been leased before the vanishing and a freezing appliance had been positioned inside.

The two suspects removed the cooling unit from the storage space on the very day the victims disappeared, she said. And a shortly afterward, they purchased an additional appliance.

Authorities believe they think this indicates the deaths were premeditated.

"How they died remains unclear due to the condition of the remains," the official said.

A legal representative—representing the state—said the precise timeline is yet to be determined, but the bodies were professionally hidden and went unnoticed during a prior examination.

Although the brothers were taken into custody in the summer, it was not until 12 November that the elder brother confessed to an occurrence and to storing the victims. He rejects any murderous intent, authorities confirmed.

In a related development, his brother confessed to a attempt to hide evidence but rejected knowledge of a murder.

The two suspects are currently in custody awaiting trial in jails in separate locations, situated at a distance.

Via a shared communication, the nation's official for women's affairs and the top legal representative stated the "suspected killing of two... represents the sudden and brutal end of two individuals and reveals a cruel system".

"Women and girls are being murdered due to the simple reality that they are female," they went on to say.

"Murders of women are a deeply rooted and society-wide problem that we must fight resolutely."