Malaysian police search for London teenager, 15, missing from jungle resort
Malaysian police said on Monday they have stepped up efforts on their hunt to find a 15-year-old girl from London who went missing from a resort near Kuala Lumpur on the weekend.
Nora Anne Quoirin's family told police that she was missing from her room since Sunday morning after arriving at the Dusun Pantai Hill resort, Seremban, near the capital Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday, police said in a statement.
"We're working with all departments of police and the fire service to locate the teenager," a police spokesman said, adding the girl, who is of Irish nationality, had a learning disability.
A platoon from the General Operations Force, the light infantry arm of the Malaysian police, has been roped in to search the foothills of the Titiwangsa mountains, next to a dense forest reserve that surrounds the resort, said SAC Che Zakaria Othman, the deputy state police chief.
Around 40 GOF personnel will join 119 others from civil defence authorities, the people’s volunteer corps, the forestry department and people from the local Orang Asli community to fan out across the area, he said, according to the Malaysian Star.
"We have covered areas near the resort and would expand to nearby areas as we get more personnel, " he told reporters at the Pantai police station. Sniffer dogs have also been deployed.
"The police have not ruled out abduction although there have been no signs of forced entry into the teen's room at the resort," Mr Othman told the Telegraph.
One theory being pursued by the force is that she may have been taken in by a local family while walking in the jungle and have trouble communicating.
Nora, whose mother Meabh is reportedly from Northern Ireland and whose father is French, was said to be travelling on an Irish passport. The Irish embassy in Kuala Lumpur said it was providing consular assistance to the family.
The family of five, who have been resident in the UK for at least two decades, checked into the 12-acre nature reserve resort on Saturday.
\Mr Zakaria said police received a missing person's report around 11am on Sunday after her parents discovered early that morning that she had disappeared from her room.
A member of staff at the Dusun hotel told the Sun that “the window was open but there is no way of telling whether it was opened from the inside or the outside.
“We searched our entire property yesterday and we are continuing to help police today. We pray she is safe.”
The family has not yet spoken to the press but Catherine Hill, a family friend, told the BBC that they had gone on what they hoped would be “a trip of a lifetime.”
She said: “They checked into their hotel, the Dusun - it looked beautiful with little cottages and an infinity pool.
“They went to bed, but this morning Nora was not in her room and the window was open.” Ms Hill added that the girl’s parents were “frantic” and later said that it was “out of character” for the teenager to wander off.
“Sadly, it is also possible that Nora has been the victim of serious crime – we urge anyone with any information to come forward,” said Matthew Searle, the chief executive of the Lucie Blackman Trust, which is supporting the family.
