Nora could not have survived in Malaysia jungle, father tells inquest

The father of a French-irish teenager who was found dead near a Malaysian resort after vanishing while on holiday has said his daughter would not have had the stamina or instinct to sur vive for days in the jungle.

Sebastien Quoirin also told the inquest into Nora Anne Quoirin's death that the condition of the 15-year-old's body d i d n o t s u p p o r t t h e p o l i c e theor y that she ventured out of the family's cottage on her own, walked and hid in the forest.

He said he had visited the area where Nora's body was found, which involved a drive out of the resort and another hour of walking along a rocky stream in dense and slippery terrain.

"I don't b elieve she would have coped at all... she didn't have a sur vival instinct," the Frenchman said by video link from his London home.

"I don't believe Nora would have had the stamina or the strength to b e on the move f o r. . . d ays . No r a wo u l d n o t know what to eat, she would be seriously dehydrated... she would be very weak."

Nora's disappearance from h e r f a mi l y ' s c o t t a g e a t t h e Dusun eco -resor t in southern Negeri Sembilan state on August 4 last year, a day after her family arrived for their h o li d ay, s p a r ke d a mas s ive search.

H e r b o d y w a s f o u n d o n August 13 beside a stream in a palm oil estate about 1.6 miles f r o m t h e r e s o r t . H e r f a mi - ly believes she was abducted because she had mental and physical disabilities and could not have wandered off on her own.

Police told the inquest that an investigation showed no criminal activity and no indication Nora had been abducted. Officers believe she climbed out of a window on her own, and the post-mortem showed she succumbed to intestinal bleeding due to starvation and stress.

Mr Quoirin said rescuers had combed the area where she was found four times, including once with dogs, but failed to spot her.

When he and his wife were asked to identify the body, he said Nora's feet "didn't seem to be particularly damaged".

"I try to think how was it possible since the police told us Nora has been on the move. I am not an exper t but to us, Nora's body didn't seem compatible of someone wandering off in the jungle, half naked without shoes," he said.

Mr Quoirin said Nora's normal r e a c t i o n wh e n s h e f e l t s c a r e d wo u l d h ave b e e n t o "freeze, look down and call for mummy or daddy".

He said it was possible that a b d u c t o r s l a t e r r e l e a s e d her due to her handicap, the s e a r c h o p e r a t i o n a n d t h e media attention.

T h e g i r l ' s I r i s h m o t h e r, M e a b h Q u o i r i n , s p o k e a t length about Nora's disability in her evidence on Wednesday. She said it would be nearimpossible for her daughter to push open and climb out of a window in the cottage.nora's body was found naked, and it was unclear what happened to her underwear, but police said the post-mortem showed no sign she was sexually assaulted.

The Quoirin family has sued the resor t owner for alleged n e g l i g e n c e , c l a i mi n g t h e r e was no securit y and that the window with a broken latch was found ajar the morning Nora disappeared.