Nora Quoirin may have been ‘alive and moving around’ during first few days of the search to find her, Malaysian inquest into London teenager’s death hears
- The body of 15-year-old Nora, who had learning difficulties, was discovered unclothed on August 13 last year after a massive hunt through the rainforest
- Police insist there was no foul play but her parents demanded an inquest
- Officer told the court: ‘We can assume that when the search team was in the area (where she was later found), the missing person was still alive and moving. So it is possible that when we were there, the missing person was not there.’
London teenager Nora Quoirin may have been ‘alive and moving around’ during the first view days of the search to find her, a Malaysian inquest has heard.
The body of 15-year-old Nora, who had learning difficulties, was discovered unclothed on August 13 last year after a massive hunt through the rainforest.
Police insist there was no foul play but her parents – who believe there was criminal involvement, as they say she would not have wandered off alone – pushed for an inquest and authorities agreed.
Superintendent Mohamad Nor Marzukee Besar told the inquest they’d searched the area where Nora was found several times and suggested she was ‘not there’ when his teams were.
The body of 15-year-old Nora Quoirin (pictured in a family photo), who had learning difficulties, was discovered unclothed on August 13 last year after a massive hunt through the rainforest
Police officers searching for Nora in the jungle surrounding the Dusan Resort in August last year
A map shows the Dusun Resort near Seremban in Malaysia where Nora disappeared last year
She was reported missing on August 4, a day after she arrived with her parents at the Dusan Resort near Seremban, about 40 miles southeast of Kuala Lumpur.
She was found nine days later by a civilian search team on a palm-oil plantation around 1.5 miles from the resort.
An autopsy found that she probably starved and died of internal bleeding after spending about a week in the dense rainforest.
Supt. Besar was asked about how many times they’d searched the area in question, the BBC reported.
He replied: ‘Three times. The fourth day, the fifth day, and the sixth day [of the search].’
Deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad asked Supt Besar what he concluded from this.
‘We can assume that when the search team was in the area, the missing person was still alive and moving,’ Supt Besar said.
‘So it is possible that when we were there, the missing person was not there.’
Parents Meabh and Sebastien demanded an inquest after arguing their daughter would not have wandered off. They are pictured calling for their daughter with a megaphone last year
The police officer was also asked about Nora’s clothing, the girl’s family say she was last seen wearing underwear, and she was without clothing when she was found.
Supt Besar said that his men were unable to find any of Nora’s clothing.
He added that the police believe Nora left the resort through an open window in the apartment her family were staying in.
Supt Besar said that based on CCTV footage of Nora walking normally through Kuala Lumpur airport, he was of the view that she could have walked ‘towards the mountain.’
Nora’s Irish mother Meabh, 46, and French father Sebastian, 48, are not able to attend the inquest due to the coronavirus pandemic, but are following it via video link.
The inquest will be calling 64 witnesses to the courthouse, pictured, in Seremban
Yesterday, Supt Besar said that Nora’s parents believed she was in one of three houses near the resort.
‘Family members said the child had been abducted and identified the three houses where she might be held,’ he told the court in Seremban city, on the second day of the inquest.
‘We searched the houses but did not find anything.’
The teen’s family had also told police at the time that she could not walk more than 20 feet on her own, Supt Besar said.
As well as the houses, a team searched a hut deep in the jungle after the resort owner said the girl could have been taken there, but only found a man sleeping at the site, he said.
The inquest is scheduled to conclude on September 18.
A police officer searches for Nora in August last year following her disappearance