Malaysia coroner rules out others in French-Irish teen death

A Malaysian coroner has ruled the death of a French-Irish teen, whose body was found near a Malaysian jungle resort where she vanished while on holiday, was most likely a misadventure that didn’t involve other people

Malaysia Teen Death (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

A Malaysian coroner ruled Monday the death of a French-Irish teen whose body was found near a Malaysian jungle resort where she vanished while on holiday, was most likely a misadventure that didn't involve other people.

Coroner Maimoonah Aid ruled out homicide, natural death and suicide and said Nora Anne Quoirin likely got lost after leaving her family's cottage on her own.

The 15-year-old disappeared at the Dusun eco-resort in southern Negeri Sembilan state on Aug. 4, 2019, a day after the family arrived for a vacation. After a massive search, her naked body was found on Aug. 13 beside a stream on a palm oil estate about 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) from the resort.

Police believed she climbed out of the cottage window on her own, with no evidence of any foul play. But Nora’s parents said she was likely kidnapped because she had mental and physical disabilities and wouldn’t have wandered off on her own.

The coroner described that possibility as a theory and said it would be a breach of her duty to speculate on third-party involvement without any evidence.

A total of 49 witnesses have testified over 24 days since August last year via video-conferencing due to the coronavirus pandemic.