A body found during the search for a British schoolgirl in Malaysia is Nora Quoirin, police have confirmed.
The 15-year-old, who has learning and developmental disabilities vanished from the Dusun forest eco-resort, in southern Negeri Sembilan state, on Sunday, August 4.
Her parents have identified the body, which was found by rescuers on Tuesday, and authorities have said a post-mortem will be carried out on Wednesday.
Quoirin was on a family holiday with her Irish-French parents, Meabh and Sebastien, and her younger brother and sister.
On Tuesday morning, Malaysian police confirmed that rescuers had found a body around 1.6 miles from the resort where Nora was reported missing more than a week ago.
An official told reporters at a press conference that a body had been found which “resembles Nora”.
He said: “The body was winched by helicopter to the hospital.”
He said Nora’s family had been informed of the news and were going to the mortuary at the hospital to identify the body.
On Tuesday a spokesman for the Lucie Blackman Trust which is handling media enquiries for the family said the body was “likely” to be that of Nora.
They added: “The Lucie Blackman Trust can confirm a body has been found in the search for Nora Quoirin.
“At this time we cannot confirm it is Nora. However it sadly seems likely. Investigations are under way to confirm identity and cause of death.
“The charity will update as soon as possible. Please respect the family and do not approach them at this difficult time.”
A window, which reportedly can only be opened from the inside of their apartment, was found wide open on the morning Nora was reported missing.
Nora’s parents are adamant that they had “no reason to believe she wandered off and is lost” and insisted she had been abducted – putting them at odds with the local police.
But while police have refused to rule out a “criminal element”, they have maintained no signs of foul play have been found.
Police chief Yusop told reporters on August 6 that he believed Nora had climbed out of a window.
Up to 350 people were taking part in the search for Nora, including officers from British, Irish and French police forces, and a Malaysian shaman who was filmed performing rituals and weeping in the forest surrounding the family’s holiday apartment, around 40 miles south of Kuala Lumpur.
Shortly before the discovery of the body, Nora’s mother told the media: “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 to find her.”
Nora was born with holoprosencephaly, meaning that she has a smaller brain and has spent much of her young life in hospital.
