LAST UPDATE | 16 Aug 2019
THE FAMILY OF Nóra Quoirin have said they still have “many questions” about the death of their daughter and that criminal investigations remain ongoing.
In a statement released through the Lucie Blackman Trust, the family say the post-mortem has given them “some information” on what happened but that more needs to be revealed.
“The initial post-mortem results have given some information that help us to understand Nóra’s cause of death. But our beautiful innocent girl died in extremely complex circumstances and we are hoping that soon we will have more answers to our many questions,” the family said.
“We are still struggling to understand the events of the last 10 days.”
The 15-year-old’s body was found down a ravine 2 km from the resort from where the family had been staying on holiday.
She had been missing for 10 days, during which hundreds of police and volunteers searched for her.
Yesterday, police released information on the autopsy which indicated that Nóra died of hunger and extreme stress.
They said that the schoolgirl is believed to have died two to three days before her body was found, and that there was no evidence of abduction or foul play, which had been the fears of Nóra’s family.
The family today met with Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister, who conveyed her condolences and said it was a “tragic thing to happen”.
In the statement today, the family have thanked the authorities for their work in attempting to find Nóra.
We had the opportunity to thank them for everything that the Malaysian government, police, search and rescue teams, local people and volunteers have done to help us. Tragically, as we know, this wasn’t enough to save Nóra.
“We would like to thank the Malaysian authorities for their ongoing support and cooperation with international governments and police as the criminal and missing persons investigations continue,” the added.
“We will be bringing Nóra home where she will finally be laid to rest, close to her loving families in France and Ireland.”
The Lucie Blackman Trust has also noted that investigations will also continue in France “as is standard practice in overseas cases involving French citizens”.
“Whilst investigations are underway we continue to urge an end to public speculation,” the charity stated.
The family’s French solicitor has also told the Daily Mail that “unanswered questions” remain over what happened
“The family are just concerned to find out the truth. There are many unanswered questions and we cannot exclude criminal involvement. Nóra was found where people have already searched. If she was alive for that long, then it is possible that she met somebody. We cannot exclude anything at this stage,” Charles Morel told the paper.
Speaking after meeting the Quoirin family, Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Ismail said she also met with the police officers who were investigating the 15-year-old Irish citizen’s disappearance to get a “comprehensive explanation” of what happened. Speaking to a pool of reporters, the deputy leader said:
It’s very sad that she was found lifeless… It’s very sad that they came for a holiday, and for this tragic thing to happen. I have extended our deepest condolences.
“I leave the investigations, and if there are any other things to be discovered, to the police,” she said
Hundreds of people have been signing books of condolence in Belfast and London following the teenager’s death. The Tánaiste Simon Coveney signed the book in Belfast yesterday.
“The loss of Nóra is like a great wound in the parish, she was loved by everybody,” Father Marcus Holden said, the parish priest at Nóra’s local church in London.
- With reporting by Rónán Duffy
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say