A heartbreaking voice recording of missing Irish teenager Nóra Quoirin's mum was used by police in the Malaysian jungle yesterday, as day five of the search took place.
The recording was played on loudspeakers near the Dusun resort in Negeri Sembilan where Nóra went missing. Her Belfast-born mum, Meabh, said;
“Nóra darling, I love you. Mum is here.” The Irish Times reports that voices of other relatives have been recorded for use in the case as well.
Search-and-rescue teams, Indigenous trackers and members of special forces remain hopeful in their efforts to find the missing 15-year-old, who has learning and developmental disabilities.
The family have spoken out after police leading the investigation wouldn't rule out a "criminal element" in the search for Nóra.
The 15-year-old came to the resort on Saturday for a two-week holiday with her mum, her French father Sebastien and her younger siblings. The resort is roughly 63km from Kuala Lampur.
The family are based in London, but the teen apparently has an Irish passport. Her dad raised the alarm on Sunday at 8am after Nóra was not found in her room, and the family believe she was abducted.
Meabh and Sebastien insist that their daughter would never have wandered off on her own in the middle of the night.
The police force analysed fingerprints found in a resort cottage from which Nóra was reported missing, with deputy police chief Che Zakaria Othman saying investigations were ongoing to identify the prints which were at an open living room window, rather than the bedroom where she was sleeping.
Police stated they were “not ruling out any possibility” and that they believed Nóra was still in the local area. While initial reports commented that Nóra’s bedroom window was opened, the police have denied this.
Divers have been searching the river which runs through the forest, and helicopters have been deployed. Indigenous Orang Asli people are also aiding the search, and trackers from the Senoi Praaq special unit.
Her family said in a statement: “We must remain hopeful. Nóra is still missing, and she is very vulnerable, and we need to do everything we can to bring her home.”
Her relatives have expressed thanks to the Royal Malaysian Police, the search-and-rescue teams, and the emergency services “for all they have done for us in this difficult time”.
They are “completely overwhelmed” by the support they have received worldwide and are appreciative of the assistance of French, British and Irish police.
There is no evidence of foul play, but police are ruling nothing out. Sniffer dogs haven't picked up a trace of the missing teen, and about 250 search-and-rescue personnel have taken part in the search.
The Star newspaper in Malaysia assessed that the total number of people reported missing in the Malaysian jungle this year has been noticeably higher than the past three years.
Fire-and-rescue department operations director Abdul Wahab Mat Yasin said that since January, there were 252 cases of people reported lost.
In the past, the Malaysian authorities have been criticised for inaction on numerous cases, such as that of Malaysian-born Australian citizen Annapuranee Jenkins in 2017. She has never been found.
Feature image: Twitter/@CackyMo
