London teenager Nora Quoirin starved to death six days after vanishing in Malaysian jungle, inquest hears as coroner rules out sexual assault
- The 15-year-old was found dead in a stream at the bottom of a slope last summer
- She had disappeared from a resort where she was staying with her family
- A forensic expert today ruled out a sexual assault prior to Nora’s tragic death
A London teenager who disappeared in a Malaysian jungle was not sexually assaulted before her death, an inquest has been told.
Nora Quoirin’s naked body was discovered in a stream at the bottom of a rocky slope last summer and had been dead for four days before rescuers found her.
A sexual assault was today ruled out by a forensic expert, with a post-mortem ruling the 15-year-old had died from internal bleeding in her intestine, through stress and starvation.
Nora Quoirin (pictured) was not sexually assaulted prior to her death, an inquest has heard
Nora vanished from the Dusun rainforest resort, around 45 miles from Kuala Lumpur, where she had been staying with her parents and siblings on August 3 last year.
A huge rescue operation was launched involving more than 350 searchers, including volunteers, sniffer dogs and a shaman before she was found dead ten days later.
Noor Aidora Saedon, head of forensics, told the coroner today the schoolgirl had died four days before her body was discovered by hikers.
An autopsy took place less than an hour after her body was airlifted from the water, the inquest heard.
Last week, the court was told how the girl was approached by a stranger at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Father Sebastien had left Nora, who had learning difficulties, with her two younger siblings – aged 12 and eight – for less then five minutes while he went to meet his wife, Meabh, who was flying in separately, at the arrival gate.
A female police office told the inquest that as Sebastien walked away, despite only taking around 30 steps, the siblings were approached by an unknown male.
Police believe Nora simply wandered off and that there is no ‘criminal element’ involved.
Officers say she was able to leave the resort by herself by getting out of a window which had a faulty latch.
A map shows the Dusun Resort near Seremban in Malaysia where Nora disappeared last year
Parents Meabh and Sebastien (pictured calling for their daughter with a megaphone last year) demanded an inquest after arguing their daughter would not have wandered off
DNA analysis established no evidence of penetration prior to her death.
The Mirror reports the expert telling the court: ‘The body may have been exposed to the elements, differing night-and-day temperatures, partially submerged in a flowing stream… these are conditions which are also taken into consideration when analysing samples and preparing the report.
‘There was no foreign matter lifted or found on the outside of the body to indicate a foreign DNA.
‘In short, we have done the analysis as thoroughly as I could and we could not find any foreign DNA on the body.’
The hearing continues.