Nora Quoirin: Malaysian search teams to play mother’s voice on loudspeakers in hunt for missing teen
Police hope vanished youngster will walk towards sound – but family remain fearful she’s been abducted
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Police searching for a British teenager missing in Malaysia are to play loudspeaker recordings of her family in a bid to find her.
Detectives believe Nora Quoirin, who has learning difficulties, may be lost in the jungle and will move towards the familiar sound.
The youngster, 15, vanished from the Dusun Tropical Rainforest Resort, where her family were staying, on Sunday.
Her parents raised the alarm when they found her bedroom empty that morning and the window open.
Meabh and Sebastian Quoirin, who live in London, say they fear she has been abducted.
But police are continuing to focus their enquiries around the theory she may have left the resort of her own accord and could now be stranded in a small 2.5 square mile area of the surrounding rainforest in Negeri Sembilan state.
The force has analysed fingerprints found in a resort cottage from which Nora was reported missing, despite previously saying there were no initial signs of foul play.
Speaking on Thursday, district police chief Mohamad Nor Marzukee Besar said officers would “be using a loudhailer to call her” and revealed her parents had been interviewed to “find out what voice the victim would like to hear”.
He added: “We hope that on this fifth day we will be successful in finding the missing victim.”
Some 200 officers, along with indigenous trackers, have been divided into six teams for the ongoing search.
The family's statement said: “We would like to thank our embassies, the local community, and the staff here at the hotel and anyone else who has offered help to find Nora.
“We also welcome the assistance of the French, British and Irish police.
“We are completely overwhelmed by the support we have received from all over the world.”
While the family themselves released a statement thanking authorities for the efforts, Nora’s grandfather Sylvain Quoirin suggested there were concerns the right line of investigation was not being pursued.
“In my opinion, the adventure escapade line of inquiry is not at all valid,” he told the BBC, adding the schoolgirl was “very shy, very reserved, very fearful”.
A statement released by the Lucie Blackman Trust, a charity which helps families of those missing overseas, said: “This is extremely traumatic.”
An online fundraising page set up for the family had raised more than £55,000 by Thursday morning.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments