Search for girl, 15, starts second week

SEREMBAN, Malaysia — The search for a 15-year-old London girl who vanished from a Malaysian forest resort entered a second week on Sunday, with no letup despite a major Muslim festival amid rising concerns for her safety.

The family of Nora Anne Quoirin reported her missing Aug. 4 from the Dusun eco-resort in southern Negeri Sembilan state, in a case that has baffled police and turned up no evidence so far.

Negeri Sembilan police chief Mohamad Mat Yusop said Sunday that no missing person had been reported in the area in the past decade, except for hikers who lost their way in the jungle.

He said police are investigating all angles, including reports that villagers heard a truck on the morning the girl was reported missing.

Some 300 people continued the search despite heavy rain Sunday morning, sacrificing time with their family amid a Muslim religious festival, he said. Police have set up a new hotline in the hope that some new information will come through, he added.

Police believe the teen climbed out through an open window in the living room of the family’s cottage and was still in the vicinity of the resort. They are treating her as a missing person but do not rule out a possible criminal element in her disappearance.

Quoirin’s family arrived Aug. 3 for a two-week stay at the Dusun, a small resort located in a durian orchard next to a forest reserve 39 miles south of Kuala Lumpur.

Her parents, who believe she was abducted, said Saturday that their daughter was born with holoprosencephaly, a malformation that causes her to have a smaller brain and led to learning and physical disabilities. They said she isn’t independent, has difficulty walking and has never wandered off on her own or become lost despite having been to other Asian and European countries before.