FIND OUR NORA
Vulnerable teen may have been snatched from room in remote jungle resort, her family fear
THE family of a schoolgirl who has vanished from a remote Malaysian jungle resort fear she may have been abducted from her bedroom as her parents slept.
Nora Quoirin, 15, was discovered missing by her father Sebastien when he woke on Sunday morning to find her bed empty and a window in the room open.
Mr Quoirin and his wife Meabh, who have lived in London for 20 years, had checked in to a two-bedroom bungalow at the Dusun resort with Nora, who has special needs, and her two siblings the day before.
Nora was last seen when her family went to bed on Saturday night.
Around 200 police officers and sniffer dogs were expected to continue looking for the ‘very vulnerable’ teenager in the jungle last night.
The 12-acre eco-resort is located in the foothills of the Titiwangsa Mountains near Seremban, 39 miles south of the capital Kuala Lumpur. It is next to Berembun Forest Reserve, 4,000 acres of virgin forest that are home to animals including panthers, wild boar and monkeys, as well as giant millipedes and leeches.
Nora’s Irish mother, a keynote speaker, and French father were said to be convinced she would not be able to open the window to the bedroom herself and would not have left voluntarily.
While investigators said they have yet to find any evidence of ‘foul play’, forensic teams took samples from her room yesterday.
Her aunt Aisling Agnew said from her home in Belfast: ‘Nora has learning and developmental disabilities which make her especially vulnerable and we fear for her safety.
‘Nora would not know how to get help and would never leave her family voluntarily. Local police now consider this a criminal matter and are treating it as an abduction. ‘Nora’s parents and relatives in Ireland and France are distraught.’ Matthew Searle, chief executive of the Lucie Blackman Trust, a missing persons charity helping the family, said: ‘They have been told the police are looking into whether she has been abducted.
‘Forensics teams have been taking samples in the room from which she went missing.
‘Her family don’t think she would be capable of opening the window herself. This raises the possibility that someone else did and that she could have been taken.
‘Because of the location of the resort, someone could have come in and quite easily have
‘We’re worried for her safety’ ‘Her parents are traumatised’
disappeared off into the jungle without being noticed.’
He added that her parents had joined the search alongside the emergency services.
Mr Searle said: ‘ They are incredibly traumatised. They are exhausted but are resolute to keep going and do everything they can to find Nora.
‘ This is a very vulnerable young girl missing in a remote location. It is possible that she has been seen or taken in by somebody and is unable to communicate.’
Yesterday other family members travelled to Malaysia to join the search.
Local police said they began searching for Nora when she was reported missing on Sunday morning A spokesman added: ‘So far there’s no indication of foul play, however investigations are still ongoing.’
The Dusun resort said: ‘ We are extremely distressed and worried and pray for her safety. We are giving what support we can to Nora’s family.’