Nora Quoirin disappeared from Dusun Resort, not far from Kuala Lumpur, on August 4, 2019 (File)
Kuala Lumpur:
The father of a Franco-Irish teenager whose body was found in the Malaysian jungle said during an investigation on Thursday that he heard noises in the family’s holiday cottage before he went missing.
The body of Nora Quoirin, a 15-year-old girl with learning disabilities, was discovered undressed last year after a massive hunt in the rainforest.
Authorities insist there was no foul play, but her parents believe she was abducted from the complex where they were staying near Kuala Lumpur, claiming the teenager would not have left alone.
Testifying at the inquest into his death, Sébastien Quoirin said he “heard a thud from the chalet” late at night on the day the London-based family arrived.
“I could feel it was close … I can’t describe the nature of the noise,” he said, speaking via video link as he could not attend the hearing in person due to of the coronavirus.
The 48-year-old Frenchman did not stand up to investigate, however, saying he was in a “state of semi-consciousness”. The teenager’s mother, Meabh Quoirin, made similar statements in her testimony on Wednesday.
They discovered that their daughter was missing the next morning. A 10-day hunt involving hundreds of rescuers followed, before the body of the schoolgirl was found near the station.
A cabin window latch was broken, but the teenager’s father didn’t think she could have gotten out on her own as she struggled for mobility and balance.
“She doesn’t have a survival instinct. I couldn’t understand how she could have gotten out of the chalet and ventured out of the resort herself, ”he said.
He said the teenager’s feet were not injured when her body was discovered, which would be unusual if she spent days wandering the jungle, and believes she could have been kidnapped and then dumped.
“The kidnappers might have realized that she was a liability as a result of the extensive police search and media attention,” he said.
The family criticized authorities for reacting slowly after the teenager’s disappearance, but police said they carried out a thorough investigation and there was no indication of kidnapping.
An autopsy revealed the teenager was likely starved and died of internal bleeding – but her family pushed for the investigation, which is expected to continue until December.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
