Today's Times
A London teenager with learning difficulties died by misadventure after getting lost in a Malaysian jungle, a court has ruled, rejecting claims by her family that she was kidnapped.
The naked body of Nora Quoirin, a French-Irish 15-year-old, was found in a stream in a palm oil plantation in August 2019. She had disappeared ten days earlier from the Dusun holiday resort where she was staying with her parents, brother and sister. Her family insisted that Nora, who had a learning disability, was incapable of wandering off on her own and that she must have been abducted.
But the coroner in the city of Seremban agreed with the findings of a pathologist and police officers, who concluded that she had died of intestinal bleeding caused by starvation after climbing through a large window during the night, wandering off on her own and getting lost.
Meabh and Sebastien Quoirin, centre, said that their daughter was kidnapped
Meabh and Sebastien Quoirin, centre, said that their daughter was kidnapped
MALAYSIA INFORMATION MINISTRY/AP
“After hearing all the relevant evidence, I rule that there was no one involved in the death of Nora Anne,” Maimoonah Aid said, in a judgement delivered online because of coronavirus restrictions. “It is more probable than not that she died by misadventure – ie she had gone out of the Sora House [where the family were staying] on her own and subsequently got lost in the abandoned palm oil plantation.”
She added: “For me to speculate and presume of her action and involvement of a third party without any proved facts would be a breach of my duty. The inquiry is hereby closed.”
Nora was born with a disorder called holoprosencephaly, which restricts development of the brain, and caused her to have difficulties with balance and communication. A British pathologist supported the findings of the first post-mortem examination about the causes of her death, but rejected its conclusion that she had not been sexually assaulted, saying that the decomposition of the remains made it impossible to be sure about this.
Her parents said that they had heard “muffled” noises during the night that she disappeared from the cottage where the family were staying. The coroner said, however, that there were no physical signs of a struggle or of forced entry.
