Nora Quoirin’s body is identified by her devastated parents after she was found dead in Malaysian jungle
NORA Quoirin's devastated parents have identified a naked body found by a jungle waterfall as their missing daughter, police in Malaysia said today.
The body of a white skinned female was found about a mile away from the resort in Malaysia from where the 15-year-old disappeared nine days ago.
Nora's parents are an Irish-French couple who have lived in London for about 20 years.
The teen had only arrived the day earlier with her parents and two siblings at the resort - in a nature reserve near Seremban, 39 miles south of the capital Kuala Lumpur.
It was the start of a two-week "trip of a lifetime";, a family friend said.
Nora's parents discovered her missing from her room at the Dusun resort last Sunday morning after putting her to bed the night before wearing only her undergarments.
The Dusun is a 12-acre orchard resort next to the Berembun Forest Reserve - 4,000 acres of protected virgin forest rising to 3,900 feet.
'TRIP OF A LIFETIME'
The forest has wild boar, deer, giant millipedes, monkeys and leeches, according to the resort's website.
There are two small villages near the resort where the majority of residents work in farming of the local land.
Nearly 350 people were involved in a massive search operation that included sniffer dogs, elite commando forces and thermal detectors.
Police officers from the UK, Ireland and France also went to Malaysia to help in the search.
Volunteer hikers were also among those who joined in the hunt for Nora, who was born with the brain defect.
Shamans were even brought in to pray for her safe return and video footage showed them praying cross legged on the jungle floor.
Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for the parents of Madeleine McCann, said there were parallels between Nora’s disappearance and that of the three-year-old in Portugal in 2007.
"My heart goes out to the family if this does indeed turn out to be Nora, as it is looking likely,” he told Good Morning Britain.
"This will now enable police and Nora's family to get some answers. The family faced trauma at the beginning of their holiday when Nora disappeared.
"There were parallels in that sense with Madeleine."
The desperate search for Nora
August 4: Nora is reported missing after her father discovers she is not in her bedroom at the Dusun Resort at around 8am on Sunday.
The window was also open in the room that Nora had been sharing with her two siblings.
August 5: Missing persons charity The Lucie Blackman Trust says that Malaysian police are treating Nora's disappearance as a potential abduction, but officers deny there is any foul play involved.
August 6: Nora's family say they believe her to have been abducted.
"She never goes anywhere by herself. We have no reason to believe she wandered off and is lost."
August 7: Police say they are analysing unidentified fingerprints an open window and in a downstairs hall found in the family's hotel suite.
August 9: Police investigate whether footprints found in the forest where Nora went missing belong to the missing teen. Her family say she wouldn't have wandered off on her own.
August 10: Nora's family thank the search teams involved since the teenager's disappearance.
August 11: Hundreds of rescuers still involved in the search operation a week after she disappeared.
August 12: A visibly emotional Mrs Quoirin makes a further appeal for her daughter to return home.
"Nora is our first child. She has been vulnerable since the day she was born.
"She is so precious to us and our hearts are breaking. We are appealing to anyone who has information about Nora to help us find her."
A reward of £10,000 - donated by an anonymous Belfast business - is made available for information leading to Nora's safe return.
August 13: A body is found and police said Nora's parents confirmed it was her .