SEREMBAN: After 10 days, the search for missing Irish teen Nora Anne Quoirin has come to a tragic end.
Her parents, Sebastien and Meabh, confirmed that the body found this afternoon was that of their 15-year-old special needs daughter.
Negri Sembilan police chief Datuk Mohamad Mat Yusop told reporters that the parents had positively identified the remains of their daughter at the Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital mortuary, here.
It was almost a foregone conclusion, however, as earlier in the day, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Mazlan Mansor had said police were “very certain” that the body of the “female Caucasian” found at 1.57pm was that of Nora Anne.
“(In fact) we are very certain of it, but let’s wait for the family to confirm,” he had told reporters before the parents were brought to the hospital.
The body was found without any clothing, he said, but added that it was still too early to say if there were any criminal elements involved and will be known once a post-mortem examination is completed.
Mazlan said the body was found by a group of hikers who were registered volunteers participating in the search.
He said the search and rescue (SAR) team had already checked the area but did not explain how they had missed it.
The body, said Mazlan, was flown to the Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital for post-mortem examination.
Earlier, Mohamad had announced the discovery.
“My deputy (Senior Assistant Commissioner Che Zakaria Othman) and forensics unit policemen went in at 2.05pm and reached the site at 2.30pm,” he told reporters, adding that the body was “still intact”.
This was the 10th day of the search for Nora Anne, the eldest of three children.
The family had arrived in Negri Sembilan for a two-week holiday in Malaysia and checked in at the resort the day before she went missing.
On Aug 4, the family discovered Quoirin missing, a large window in one of the room left open.