A body has been found in the Malaysian rainforest which “resembles” missing teenager Nora Quoirin, according to officials.
Malaysian police told reporters on Tuesday that a Caucasian female body had been found in the forest surrounding the resort where the 15-year-old was on holiday with her family, according to Britain’s Press Association (PA) news agency.
An official explained that the body, which he said “resembles Nora”, had been winched by helicopter to the hospital, PA reported. Quoirin’s family were going to the mortuary to undertake an identification, he added.
Search teams had been scouring the rainforest surrounding the Dunsun resort since Quoirin, who has a learning disability, was found to be missing from her bedroom on Sunday, August 4.
The Lucie Blackman Trust (LBT), which has been assisting the girl’s family, also confirmed the discovery and said that an investigation was underway.
“At this time we cannot confirm it is Nora. However it sadly seems likely,” The Lucie Blackman Trust (LBT) said in a statement seen by CNN on Tuesday.
LBT said that an update would be given “as soon as possible” and asked for the family to be given privacy.
Quoirin, whose mother is from Belfast and whose father is French, was traveling on an Irish passport during the trip.
Her parents offered a £10,000 ($12,000) reward for information leading to the return of their daughter, after receiving a donation from an anonymous business in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It came after Quoirin’s family crowd-funded donations which exceeded £100,000 ($120,000).
“Nóra would not know how to get help and would never leave her family voluntarily,” her aunt wrote in the appeal. “Nora is a child with special needs and has learning and developmental disabilities which make her especially vulnerable and we fear for her safety.”
The resort, where the family was staying, is in a remote area 800 feet above sea level in the Titiwangsa mountain range. It contains six houses, each surrounded by rainforest, and has capacity for just 20 guests.
