Malaysian police searching for missing Nora Quoirin believe they have found her footprints in the jungle, as heartbreaking new footage revealed the moment they broadcast her mother’s voice into the forest.
Meabh Quoirin’s voice called out ‘Nora darling, Nora I love you, Mum is here’ in a loudspeaker message which police hoped would lure the 15-year-old out – but the search enters its sixth day today with Nora still missing and her disappearance still unexplained.
Yesterday sniffer dogs found footprints which rescuers believe belong to Nora, but no further clues emerged despite a huge search involving hundreds of rescuers equipped with drones, helicopters and thermal imaging cameras.
Nora’s photograph has also been handed out at roadblocks in the area and native forest trackers are calling out the London schoolgirl’s name as they comb the dense forest.
Today there are fears that heavy rain and thunder could hamper the search around the luxury resort cottage where Nora, who has learning difficulties, vanished on Sunday.
Rescuers say that even an ‘able-bodied or normal person would be weak by the fifth day’ and are searching behind trees or rocks where Nora could be hiding.
Desperate appeal: Malaysian rescuers yesterday broadcast the voice of Nora Quoirin’s mother into the jungle on loudspeakers (pictured) in the hope of luring her out
Day six: Malaysian rescue workers comb the dense forest today as they resume the search for missing London teenager Nora Quoirin who has not been seen since Sunday
A helicopter from the Royal Malaysian Police Air Wing Unit (pictured), equipped with a surveillance thermal imaging camera, was yesterday seen trawling dense trees near the Dusan forest eco-resort in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, where the youngster went missing
Nora Quoirin is pictured (right) with her mother Maebh whose voice has been recorded and broadcast into the jungle on loudspeakers in an effort to find the missing teenager
A window (seen at the back) in the resort cottage’s living room was left open, police have said as they investigate how Nora disappeared from the accommodation where she was staying with her family
Nora Quoirin ‘could only have left her cottage through an open window’
Nora Quoirin could only have left the resort cottage through an open window on the ground floor, Malaysian police believe.
Authorities yesterday released pictures of the cottage’s living room and the open window where unknown fingerprints were discovered.
The window is fairly narrow but police believe Nora could have squeezed through.
The open ground-floor window that Nora may have left through
‘Only the glass window exit was used. We are certain about this, a police officer told Malaysian media, citing the work of a forensic police team.
Police are now investigating whether the fingerprints could belong to an outsider as Nora’s family fears that she was abducted from the cottage.
Whether the window could have been opened from the outside remains unclear.
Another window in the bedroom upstairs, where the girl was sleeping with her two siblings, was kept shut.
District police chief Nor Marzukee Besar said rescuers are using recordings of her mother’s voice ‘as if the family is calling her’ and playing them over loudspeakers.
Meabh Quoirin’s voice rang out loudly through the loudspeakers, piercing the silence in the jungle, but received no answer.
The voices of her other family members have also been recorded and will be played through megaphones in the hope of luring her out.
Ms Quoirin’s voice was used first as she is closest to Nora, the police chief told Malaysian media.
However, Nora’s family members are not taking part in the search operations themselves for security reasons.
Yesterday a helicopter from the Royal Malaysian Police Air Wing Unit, equipped with a surveillance thermal imaging camera, was seen trawling dense trees near the Dusan forest eco-resort in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, where the youngster went missing.
Malaysian police say they believe the girl is still in the area of jungle where the search is focused.
‘We still believe this missing person is still within our search vicinity,’ the police chief told reporters.
Her family say it would be extremely unusual for the reserved youngster to have wandered off on her own.
Members of the Senoi Praq, a special police team made up of indigenous tribes with forest tracking skills, are searching the forest surrounding the Dusun eco-resort.
The trackers shouted ‘Nora!’ as they waded through the hilly forest terrain yesterday.
Two drones and a team of police sniffer dogs have been deployed in the huge search operation and divers have also been sent to search rivers, on the theory that she could head downhill to try and find water.
Today police were seen handing out fliers with Nora’s picture and hanging them on walls in the hope that someone will reocgnise her.
The Lucie Blackman Trust, a British charity that supports people involved in crises overseas, has also issued a bilingual poster.
A rescue team member combs through thick vegetation in the Malaysian forest where police are searching for Nora Quoirin
Malaysian rescue workers hand out instructions on Friday on the sixth day of the search for the 15-year-old London teenager
A Royal Malaysian Police officer hands a poster to a motorist as authorities widen the search for the missing teenager
A female driver is handed a flier with a picture of Nora Quoirin today, six days after she disappeared from her resort
Nora Quoirin, 15, (pictured left) went missing from her bedroom on Sunday morning while on a family holiday at a nature resort in Seremban, Malaysia. Pictured on the right is a map of the resort from where she disappeared
Members of a rescue team conduct a search and rescue operation in the forest in Seremban on Friday
A Malaysian police officer hangs a flier on the wall with Nora’s picture and details on it, telling the public to get in contact
Police have released these pictures of the window which they say was left open at the holiday resort cottage
As the investigation grows increasingly desperate, police have sought advice about the possibility that ‘jungle spirits’ played a role in her disappearance.
Senior officers have discussed local folklore concerning the existence of mystical forces in the jungle where the teenager vanished.
Malaysians have long believed that spirits roam the country’s vast jungles, leading to a plethora of superstitions and a belief that the spirit world has played a role in previous disappearances.
Officers involved in the search for the 15-year-old yesterday said that, while unlikely, police had to ‘pay respect’ to the idea – although it does not form a central part of the search operation.
Police yesterday released pictures of the cottage’s living room and ground-floor window, saying that the opening was big enough for a person to squeeze through.
Police suspect that she climbed out of the ground-floor window which was found open, but have not ruled out a ‘criminal element’.
‘Only the glass window exit was used. We are certain about this, a police officer told Malaysian media yesterday, citing the work of a forensic police team.
Unknown fingerprints have also been discovered at the Malaysian jungle cottage where she disappeared, adding to the family’s fears that she was abducted.
The fingerprints were found at the open window downstairs, while her parents were in another room upstairs when she disappeared.
Investigators have questioned 20 people so far and said they had received laboratory results on the fingerprints.
A Malaysian rescue worker speaks to his colleagues as they prepare to resume the search for Nora Quoirin on Thursday
A fire and rescue department officer plays the voice of Nora’s mother on a phone, projecting it through a loudspeaker
A helicopter from the Malaysian Police Air Wing Unit, equipped with a surveillance thermal imaging camera, joins the search
A Royal Malaysian Police officer shows pictures of missing Nora Quoirin to a passing motorist in Seremban today
A rescue team member searches green vegetation in the jungle for any sign of the missing teenager on Friday
A Police K9 unit team conducts a search and rescue operation with sniffer dogs, who may have found her footprints
A map shows the Dusun Resort near Seremban in Malaysia where Nora disappeared on Sunday
While officially treating it as a missing person case, police say they have not ruled out any other possibilities.
It remains unclear whether it was possible to open the window from outside the property. Those running the 12-acre resort previously said this could have been the case.
Rescuers were yesterday seen praying for Nora’s safety and 300 Muslim worshippers held a service for the missing teenager on Friday, according to local media.
‘The mosque hopes that Nora Anne’s family will be patient with this test and believe that it is the will of God,’ a local imam said.
However, sniffer dogs initially lost the scent for Nora just 100 yards from the eco-lodge bungalow where she vanished on Sunday morning.
Malaysian authorities are also said to be in contact with Interpol as they probe the mystery disappearance, and pictures of her have been distributed to police elsewhere in Malaysia.
Forest trackers are calling out Nora’s name as they comb the dense forest for any sign of the 15-year-old who vanished from her holiday resort on Sunday
Muslims pray in Seremban on Friday at a special service for the 15-year-old who has been missing since Sunday
A Royal Malaysian Police officer points to a map showing the search and rescue operation area
Members of the Senoi Praaq unit from the Royal Malaysian Police (right), Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department personel (second right), Malaysia Civil Defence Force officers (second) and the People’s Volunteer Corps are assisting the search
The 15-year-old, who is from a French-Irish family and has learning and developmental disabilities, arrived for a two-week stay with her family on Saturday.
Nora, who was sleeping upstairs with her sister Innes, 12, and brother Maurice, eight, was found to be missing on Sunday morning by her father at around 8am.
The Dusun is a small resort located next to a forest reserve about 40 miles south of Kuala Lumpur.
The resort’s management said in a Facebook post that its employees were ‘extremely distressed and worried’ about her disappearance and were assisting in the search.
The teenager’s family said earlier in the week that they were ‘overwhelmed’ by the support they had received and remained ‘hopeful’ their daughter could be found.
‘This is extremely traumatic for the whole family. Meabh and Sebastien are devastated and too upset to speak themselves at this time,’ Nora’s aunt Eadaoin Agnew said, referring to the girl’s parents.
‘But we must remain hopeful. And we ask everyone to keep Nora in their thoughts, and to continue to support the ongoing search for her,’ she said.
‘Nora is still missing, and she is very vulnerable, and we need to do everything we can to bring her home.’
Her grandfather Sylvain Quoirin that she had gone in ‘extremely mysterious’ circumstances and was not in the habit of running off.
‘In the morning, the window was open and she had disappeared,’ Quoirin said from Venisy, in north-central France where he is the mayor.
‘After an 18-hour flight and a seven-hour time difference you would sleep soundly and not go for a stroll at night,’ he said.
Nora’s family has appealed for donations to assist the search and more than £60,000 has been raised so far, as well as a further €4,000 (£3,700) in a separate French collection.
Nora’s bedroom inside the Sora apartment at the Dusun Resort in Seremban, Malaysia, where she was sleeping with her siblings
The living room at the Sora apartment, where there was an open window. It is advertised as an orchard resort on the edge of the tropical rainforest
‘We are still hopeful’: The full statement issued by Nora’s family
‘Nora’s family wish to express their deepest gratitude for the Royal Malaysian Police force, the search and rescue teams, and emergency services, for all they have done for us in this difficult time.
‘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.
Nora’s family giving their statement in a live TV broadcast yesterday. Pictured is her aunt (centre) and uncle Michael Agnew (right)
‘We are completely overwhelmed by the support we have received from all over the world.
‘This is extremely traumatic for the whole family. Meabh and Sebastien are devastated and too upset to speak themselves at this time.
‘We are extremely thankful to The Lucie Blackman Trust for their ongoing support.
‘They are handling all media enquiries for us and everything should be directed to them. Our family cannot face dealing with that at the moment.
‘But we must remain hopeful. And we ask everyone to keep Nora in their thoughts, and to continue to support the ongoing search for her.
‘Nora is still missing, and she is very vulnerable, and we need to do everything we can to bring her home.’