The mother of a teenager from London whose body was found in the Malaysian jungle after a major search has criticised the local police for their response and maintains that her daughter was abducted.
Nora Quoirin, 15, had learning difficulties and went missing in August last year from a resort in Seremban while on a family holiday.
Her naked body was found 10 days later near a stream in a deep ravine near where the family had been staying.
Malaysian authorities insist there was no foul play but her French-Irish parents believe she was abducted. They say the teen would not have wandered off alone because she had issues with her balance and coordination.
Testifying at the inquest into her death via video link from London, Meabh Quoirin said she "immediately panicked" after realising her daughter was missing from the resort near the capital Kuala Lumpur.
"I became increasingly stressed. The first thought that ran through my mind was that Nora had been taken," she said.
Staff at the Dusun Resort began hunting for the teen – who was discovered missing from a chalet the day after arriving at the resort – and informed the police.
In the afternoon, a police officer arrived at the resort but the teen's mother, who is unable to attend the inquest in person due to the coronavirus, said he "didn't spend very much time there".
"He had a dog with him and we were initially hopeful – and then absolutely distraught because it was very obvious that this dog was not fit for purpose … really old, really tired."
Ms Quoirin said a policewoman sent to interview her had limited English and authorities did not want to continue searching after dark on the first day of the hunt, although they eventually agreed.
The window couldn't be locked because the latch was broken. The children slept in the loft, while she and her husband were in the master bedroom downstairs. Ms Quoirin said her younger daughter woke up near dusk to go to the bathroom and noticed that Nora was already missing, but thought she had gone to sleep with her parents.
Ms Quoirin said that at one point during the night she “was aware of muffled sounds inside," like two people whispering. “I was in between sleeping and being awake, so I wasn't really processing my thoughts normally … it caused me no alarm because I wasn't fully conscious," she said.
Ms Quoirin said Nora wouldn't necessarily have cried for help because she was “highly submissive," which could prove why there were no markings of struggle on her body. “She would just be silent and stare at the floor and close in on herself,” she said.
As the hunt dragged on for days, the search and rescue team expanded to include hundreds of personnel.
But Ms Quoirin said she became worried the police were not taking the family's concerns about criminal involvement in the case seriously. She said that officials did not take fingerprints from their chalet for days.
Police, however, say they conducted a thorough probe and insisted at the start of the inquest in August there was no indication the teen was kidnapped.
An autopsy found that she had probably starved and died of internal bleeding after spending about a week in the rainforest – but her family pushed for the inquest, which is expected to continue into December.
