Nora Quoirin was kidnapped then released as she couldn’t have survived for 7 days alone in jungle, dad tells inquest
THE FATHER of Nora Quoirin, the teenager who was found dead in a Malaysian jungle has told an inquest he believes she was kidnapped and released as she could not have survived alone for seven days.
Sebastian Quoirin told an inquest into his daughter’s death that after visiting the area where his daughter was found, he is convinced she would not have been able to “cope at all”.
Nora went missing from her family’s cottage a day after they arrived for a family vacation at the Duson eco-resort in southern Negeri-Sembilan on August 4 last year.
Following a huge search operation, her naked body was found on August 13 close to a stream about 1.6 miles away from the resort.
Mr Quoirin told the inquest: “I don’t believe she would have coped at all… she didn’t have a survival instinct.
“I don’t believe Nora would have had the stamina or the strength to be on the move for… days.
“Nora would not know what to eat, she would be seriously dehydrated… she would be very weak.”
Mr Quoirin has strongly disputed police claims that Nora left the family cottage alone and went to hide in the forest.
He said the condition in which her body was found did not support this theory.
The Frenchman told the inquest via video link from his home in London that Nora’s feet had not appeared to be “particularly damaged” when he and his wife went to identify her body.
He added: “I try to think how was it possible since the police told us Nora has been on the move.
“I am not an expert but to us, Nora’s body didn’t seem compatible of someone wandering off in the jungle, half-naked without shoes."
He told the inquest that his daughter’s usual reaction when she saw danger was “freeze, look down and call for mummy or daddy”.
According to her family, Nora was abducted as her mental and physical disabilities meant she would not have been able to leave the cottage on her own.
Her father said he believes Nora’s abductors decided to let her go when they found out about her disabilities, the search operation, and the growing media attention.
Police, however, have told the inquest there was no evidence which showed that the teenager had been kidnapped or had been the victim of sexual violence.
They said there was no indication that any criminal activity had taken place.
According to them, the French Irish girl climbed out of a window by herself.
They insist results of her autopsy revealed that she died of intestinal bleeding from starvation and stress.
Meanwhile, her mother Meabh Quoirin told the inquest yesterday that opening the window would have been extremely difficult for Nora.
She said as a result of the hot weather, all her children went to bed in their underwear.
She slammed “arrogant” cops who may have lost crucial evidence in the days following her disappearance.
“My own understanding was the dominant commitment was in search and rescue, and it took a long time to explore any criminal route,” she said.
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“I believe that criminal evidence, if it existed, would have been lost during that time.”
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Later this month, a British doctor who conducted a second autopsy will present his evidence remotely to the inquest.
Noira’s family have now launched a lawsuit against the resort saying there had been no security and a broken latch had been discovered open on the morning of her disappearance.
