Skip to main content

New! You can personalise your feed. Try it now

Advertisement

Advertisement

M’sia police say Nora Quoirin may have been on the move when search team covered area where her body was found

SEREMBAN — The Negri Sembilan police chief confirmed on Thursday (Aug 15) that the search and rescue team had covered the area where Nóra Quoirin’s body was found, however he said the Irish teenager could have been on the move during the period of their search.

Members of the search team are seen entering an area cordoned by police after the discovery of a body in the jungle near Seremban August 13, 2019.

Members of the search team are seen entering an area cordoned by police after the discovery of a body in the jungle near Seremban August 13, 2019.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

SEREMBAN — The Negri Sembilan police chief confirmed on Thursday (Aug 15) that the search and rescue team had covered the area where Nóra Quoirin’s body was found, however he said the Irish teenager could have been on the move during the period of their search. 

Datuk Mohamad Mat Yusop told Malay Mail: “We covered that area, since we believed, that she’s alive until day seven. She may have been mobile (moving around).

“After searching the area till day seven, we then concentrated at the Gunung Berembun area after that.

“However during the time we concentrated at Berembun area, a group of volunteer hikers went to the area where we scoured much earlier and they found her,” he clarified.

Mr Mohamad also said police are still investigating on what could have transpired.

“We will continue to investigate and find out what really happened,” he assured.

Meanwhile, he also confirmed again that Nora was found completely unclothed but added that investigators cannot ascertain what she wore before she disappeared from The Dusun resort.

“Her parents told us she was last seen on the bed of the resort at 10pm with her undergarment. That statement was taken from her parents.

“However we cannot establish if she disappeared from the resort with or without her undergarment. We have to further investigate all this,” he said.

Earlier on Thursday, when Mr Mohamad disclosed Nora’s post-mortem results, he said she suffered intestinal bleeding due to stress and having gone without food for days.

There were no signs of injuries or violence on her body and authorities concluded she likely died around two to three days, and not more than four days before she was found.

When asked if the cause of death concluded from the autopsy was starvation, Mohamad said: “Yes, starvation.”

The Quoirins can claim Nora’s body at any time but Mr Mohamad said they have yet to make preparations.

He added that the official report indicated the cause of death as gastrointestinal bleeding due to duodenal ulcer. 

The 15-year-old girl’s body was discovered on Tuesday just 2km from the resort. 

Although Police have ruled out foul play, Nora’s grandfather believes that there were criminal elements in her death.

Mr Sylvian Quoirin told Irish daily the Irish Times that he believed “someone put” the 15-year-old’s body in the place where she was found.

“She wasn’t there yet (during previous searches). Someone put her there, to get rid of her,” he said.

He discounted theories that Nora Anne wandered outside on her own, or had been enticed out by a stranger, describing it as “absurd”.

Mr Quoirin said Nora, a special needs teenager, would cling to her parents and siblings, and was easily frightened.

“Can you imagine her walking 2.5km, naked and barefoot, over rocks, in the middle of the night? For me, that’s absurd,” he told the newspaper.

The Irish Times also quoted Nora’s French relatives as saying that the post-mortem results were “inconclusive”, stressing the need to continue to investigate the possibility that she was a victim of a criminal act.

Her uncle, Mr Pacôme Quoirin, told the daily in a phone interview that it was important that criminal hypothesis was not excluded as there was “incomplete information”.

Nora and her family had arrived in Malaysia on August 3 for a two-week holiday and checked in at The Dusun. The following morning, she was found to be missing, and a window on the ground floor of the guesthouse they were staying in was left open.

A massive search and rescue (SAR) operation was immediately launched and eventually grew to more than 300 policemen, including VAT 69 commandos and members of the famed Senoi Praaq General Operations Force battalion, and various other government authorities, as well as Orang Asli and civilian volunteers.

The search also included tracker dogs from the police and Fire and Rescue Department’s K9 units as well as helicopters equipped with infrared cameras.

The Quoirin family separately issued a statement thanking authorities and search-and-rescue operatives for their efforts in locating their daughter but said they were heartbroken by her death. AGENCIES

Related topics

Malaysia Nora Anne Quoirin The Dusun resort

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.