Nora Quoirin: Body found by Malaysia police confirmed as that of missing teenager

Discovery comes nine days after Londoner went missing

A body found in the search for Nora Quoirin in Malaysia is that of the missing London teenager, her family has confirmed.

“We are very certain,” said Mazlan Mansor, Malaysia’s deputy police chief.

Mohamad Mat Yusop, the Negeri Sembilan state police chief, had earlier said “a body has been found” in a remote part of the region where Nora had been holidaying with family.

The Lucie Blackman Trust, a UK missing people charity, said in a statement: “[We] can confirm with great sadness that the body found today is that of missing teenager Nora Quoirin.

“All at the Lucie Blackman trust are thinking of the family and continue to support them as they come to terms with this news.”

Nora’s family members identified her body, police said.

Nora, 15, disappeared from the Malaysian jungle resort of Dusun on Sunday 4 August – the day after the family arrived for their holiday. It sparked a massive hunt by police and volunteers.

Her parents, Meabh and Sebastien Quoirin, an Irish-French couple who have lived in London for 20 years, made a heartfelt appeal on Monday to find her as a £10,000 reward was offered for information leading to her safe return.

Nora’s family believed she had been abducted, according to a statement released on 6 August. “She never goes anywhere by herself. We have no reason to believe she wandered off and is lost,” they said.

Police believe the teenager, who had learning and physical disabilities, climbed through an open window in the living room of their resort cottage. They listed her as a missing person but did not rule out a possible criminal element.

Appearing in front of news cameras on Monday, Mrs Quoirin said: “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,” she added.

Following the confirmation that Nora’s body had been found, Irish premier Leo Varadkar said that the situation was “every family’s worst nightmare”.

He tweeted: “Our thoughts & sincere condolences are with Nora Quoirin’s parents, siblings & wider family at this unimaginably difficult time. They have experienced every family’s worst nightmare. I’d like to pay tribute to everyone who searched for Nora. May she rest in peace.”

President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, and his wife Sabina offered their “deepest condolences” to Nora’s family.

“On behalf of the people of Ireland, I would also like to express my gratitude for the assistance given by the Malaysian authorities in the search for Nora, for the volunteers who answered the call to join the search and for all those throughout Malaysia, Ireland, Britain and France who offered what support they could,” he said.

France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and secretary of state for Europe Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said in a statement that the country’s resources are ”at the disposition of the Malaysian authorities so that light can be shed on the circumstances of [Nora’s] death.”

Press Association contributed to this report