Ransom demand sent to tragic Nora family
Court told email for € 4,650 ‘ may have been a scam’
We found a makeshift hut just 50 metres from the body RESCUE VOLUNTEER EVIDENCE TO INQUEST
THE family of tragic teenager Nora Quoirin received a terrifying ransom demand as they waited for news of their missing girl.
Nora, 15, who had a disorder which af fects brain development, vanished hours after the family arrived in a Malaysian eco- villa for a “trip of lifetime”.
Her naked body was found near a river 10 days l ater. Police say she died of internal bleeding and starvation after climbing from a window at the villa.
The i nqu e st h e a rd t h e ra ns om demand was emailed from an account that was later deactivated, possibly to conceal a fraud attempt.
Deputy Supt Hazizi Abd Samad told the hearing in Seremban, 40 miles south of Kuala Lumpur : “If an email address no longer exists, the creator had made the decision to erase it.
“Such behavi our i n many c y b e r c r i m e - related cases is attributable to frauds by scammers.” The email demanded two Bitcoin worth around € 4,650 and was addressed to the Lucie Blackman Trust, a charity helping Nora’s parents, Meabh and Sebastian.
It was allegedly sent from the US state of Virginia on August 7, four days after Nora vanished.
The coroner heard the body of the Irish citizen, who lived in London, was discovered in a remote area. A water plant operator had seen a European girl bathing in a river the day Nora vanished.
Rescue volunteer Chong Yue Fatt said his group leader contacted a Siamese monk who told them to look near the river. He went on: “There was a makeshift hut 50 metres from the b body and the surrounding a area was dense with vegetation.” veg
The hearin hearing, which had been sus suspended after a witn witness had contact with a Covid patient, goes on.