Malaysian police have claimed that London schoolgirl Nora Quoirin was not abducted when she disappeared from a resort on holiday with her family and instead traveled alone.
The naked body of the 15-year-old was found in the Malay jungle, about 2 km from the Dusun resort, where she was staying, 10 days after she went missing in August last year.
On Monday, a Malaysian court opened an investigation into the death and heard from Sembilan state police chief Mohamad Mat Yusop, who has always admitted that Nora, who had special needs, climbed out of a window.
Haanim Ahmed Bamadhaj, the owner of the resort, said that the latch of the window from which the teenager had apparently climbed was broken, and that there was no CCTV in place.
The survey, at Seremban Coroner’s Court, showed two windows of the bungalow, one of which had a broken latch.
During the interview, Mat Yusop said he inspected the family’s bungalow and saw nothing suspicious, according to the Mirror.
A poster during the search for Nora Quoirin in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. (AP)
There were no signs that a crime had occurred, he said, adding: “There was no indication that the victim had been abducted.
“We have not received any phone calls – normally in this type of case we will get a call saying that the victim has been abducted and is in the hands of certain people, and they would demand a ransom.
“I believe the missing person actually climbed out the window.”
A preliminary postmortem result found that Nora died of intestinal bleeding, possibly caused by hunger or stress, two or three days before her body was discovered.
Malaysian authorities said there was no sign of foul play, although parents Meabh and Sebastien Quoirin suspected there was a criminal element to her death and said her condition meant she was not independent and had difficulty running.
The Quoirins, who have lived in London for 20 years and have to provide evidence via video link, have previously said her daughter would not travel alone and was abducted.
Meabh Quoirin, mother of missing schoolgirl Nora Anne Quoirin, reads a statement at a news conference in Seremban, Malaysia, in August 2019. (AP)
The Quoirins asked for inquest to “have the fullest possible picture of what happened to Nora”.
“As vulnerable children, with significant physical and mental challenges, we reflect every conclusion that Nora was alone for the entire duration of her disappearance,” they said last year.
Police in Malaysia, however, said they found no evidence of kidnapping or kidnapping.
Mat Yusop also said the postmortem found no evidence that Nora had been abducted or raped.
He said at the time: “First of all, there is no element of kidnapping or kidnapping.”
“The cause of death was upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to duodenal ulcer, complicated by perforation … it could be due to a lack of food for a long period of time and due to a long stress,” he added.
Ms Quoirin said in an interview with Irish state broadcaster RTE last year that it had been “physically mentally impossible to imagine that she could not have any distance at all”.
Rescue team members gather in an enclosed area in Pantai, Malaysia, shortly after Nora’s body is found. (AP)
“For us, something very complex happened,” she said.
“It simply came to our notice then that we believed there was a criminal element in what was happening.
‘And of great importance we are struggling, because it was difficult to get resources fast enough to investigate a criminal angle.
“Although a postmortem when it comes can give us answers, and has already given us some basic answers about what caused Nora’s death, but does not explain how she could possibly have reached where she was found.”
Mat Yusop said he immediately ordered a search after being told the girl was missing.
A member of the rescue team uses a sniffer dog in the mass search. (AP)
He said he visited the resort the next day, about 40 miles south of the capital Kuala Lumpur, and spoke with Nora’s parents.
He added: “The family was sad when I met them. I assured the father that we will use all our resources to find the missing girl.”
The court also heard a recording of Meabh Quoirin called “Nora darling, Nora, Nora, mummy here”.
The Quoirins say important time and evidence were lost because Malaysian police insist on treating the girl’s disappearance as a case of a missing person, not a crime.
