THE family of a teenager with special needs who has been missing in Malaysia since Sunday last night said they believe she was abducted.
Nora Quoirin, whose mother Meabh is from Belfast, went missing while on a holiday with her family at the Dusan resort in a nature reserve near Seremban, 39 miles south of the capital Kuala Lumpur.
The 15-year-old, whose father is French, is understood to have been travelling on an Irish passport.
The family have lived in London for the past 20 years.
It is understood Nora’s father raised the alarm when he discovered her missing from her bedroom at 8am local time on Sunday.
Her window had been opened.
An investigation was launched by Malaysian police and searches are ongoing in the area.
It is not known if the teenager was abducted or left her room and got lost.
Police yesterday revealed that sniffer dogs had picked up the teenager's scent within 100 metres from her resort bedroom but the trail stopped there.
It came as the family of the missing teenager issued a new statement in which they said they believed Nora "has been abducted".
"We are especially worried because Nora has learning and developmental disabilities, and is not like other 15-year-olds.
"She looks younger, she is not capable of taking care of herself, and she won’t understand what is going on.
"She never goes anywhere by herself. We have no reason to believe she wandered off and is lost".
The statement added: "Nora has shoulder length wavy dark blonde hair and blue eyes, she is 5ft1 and thin. If you have any information, please pass it on so we can assist the local police in any way possible".
However, police in Malaysia are continuing to treat Nora as a missing person, adding there is so far no sign of foul play.
Yesterday, it was revealed that around 160 people are involved in ongoing searches, including villagers.
Search teams, made up of include police, the fire and rescue services department, civil defence and the forestry department, have also begun searching dense jungle and hilly terrain on foot and by helicopter.
Sniffer dogs are also being used in the search as well as local indigenous people - known as Orang Asli.
Negeri Sembilan police chief Mohamad Mat Yusop told a press conference yesterday that there was no evidence Nora had been abducted.
"We have no clues, no evidence to say this case is abduction," the police chief said. "We will do our very best. We will not give up hope. We believe that she didn't go far and that she had lost her way."
He said that sniffer dogs had picked up the teenager's scent within 100 metres from her resort bedroom but the trail stopped there.
Missing persons charity the Lucie Blackman Trust (LBT) had previously said Nora's disappearance was being treated as an abduction.
The girl's family said they were treating the disappearance as a "criminal matter".
Speaking to LBT from Belfast, Nora's aunt, Aisling Agnew, said on Monday: "Nora's parents and relatives in Ireland and France are distraught by her disappearance.
"Nora is a child with special needs and has learning and developmental disabilities which make her especially vulnerable, and we fear for her safety.
"Nora would not know how to get help and would never leave her family voluntarily.
"We now consider this a criminal matter.
"We are appealing to everyone to assist the local police in any way they can and to pass on any information that would help locate our beloved Nora without delay."
A GoFundMe page set up to support the family, which aimed to raise £6,000, had last night raised almost £20,000.
The fundraiser said: "More family members are travelling to Malaysia to participate in the search-and-rescue effort and would appreciate donations to cover any unforeseen expenses or charges incurred in the process."
