Nora Quoirin: Family have ‘many questions’ over death in Malaysian jungle
The parents of a 15-year-old girl who died in a Malaysian jungle say they have “many questions” over what happened after police said she died of hunger and stress.
A former police officer advising Nora Quoirin’s family has appealed for authorities to retain an “open mind” about the cause of death.
The teenager’s unclothed body was discovered on Tuesday, nine days after she disappeared at night from a holiday resort where the family had been staying 1.6 miles away.
Malaysian police say there was no evidence of abduction or kidnapping “for the time being” and Nora died of intestinal bleeding, probably caused by starvation and stress.
After meeting Malaysia’s deputy prime minister and minister for the state, her parents said they were “struggling to understand the events of the last 10 days”.
In a statement Sebastien and Meabh Quoirin said: “The initial post-mortem results have given some information that helps us to understand Nora’s cause of death.
“But our beautiful, innocent girl died in extremely complex circumstances, and we are hoping that soon we will have more answers to our many questions.”
Jim Gamble, a former police officer, told the BBC’s Breakfast programme: “The family themselves have always had a question mark of whether there was any criminal activity, and I think everyone should retain an open mind.”
He said in the villa where the family were staying, the downstairs window was broken so it could have been opened from outside.
“We know why Nora died, in simple terms from starvation, we know where she ended up, but we don’t necessarily know how she got there,” he added.
Malaysian police said Nora, who had learning difficulties and was described by her family as “vulnerable”, is likely to have spent a week in the jungle on her own.
A post-mortem examination found that the London teenager died between two and four days before her body was found, authorities said.
In the statement, issued on the family’s behalf by the Lucie Blackman Trust, her French-Irish parents said they would be bringing Nora’s body home “where she will finally be laid to rest, close to her loving families in France and Ireland”.
They also thanked Malaysian authorities and search parties.
Mohamad Mat Yusop, the state police chief, said: “The cause of death was upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to duodenal ulcer, complicated with perforation ... it could be due to a lack of food for a long period of time and due to prolonged stress.”
Further analysis is due to be carried out on samples from her body, he said.
There were some bruises on her legs but they would not have caused her death, he added.
Additional reporting by PA
