The family of Nora Quoirin have said they hope to have “more answers to our many questions” over the tragic death of their daughter.
It’s believed the vulnerable 15-year-old survived in the remote Malaysian forest for a week before succumbing to a combination of stress and starvation. Her unclothed body was discovered on Tuesday 1.6 miles away from the resort where she had been staying.
Negeri Sembilan state police chief Mohamad Mat Yusop said on Thursday that the post-mortem examination had found no evidence that the teenager had been abducted or raped.
He said she had died between two and four days previously, from intestinal bleeding, most likely due to starvation and stress.
In a statement issued by the Lucie Blackman Trust, the Quoirin family said: “The initial post-mortem results have given some information that help us to understand Nora’s cause of death. But our beautiful innocent girl died in extremely complex circumstances and we are hoping that soon we will have more answers to our many questions. We are still struggling to understand the events of the last 10 days.”
Nora’s body was found by volunteer searchers beside a small stream in an area that rescuers had already looked at.
Her family have publicly said they do not think she would have wandered off alone and believed she had been abducted.
Nora’s grandfather, Sylvain Quoirin told the Irish Times: “She wasn’t there yet [during previous searches]. Someone put her there, to get rid of her.
Mr Quoirin, who is the mayor of a small town of Burgundy, added there are “dark areas that need to be cleared up for the family to be able to grieve in peace.
He asked: “Can you imagine her walking 2.5km, naked and barefoot, over rocks in the middle of the night? For me that’s absurd.”
On Friday the Lucie Blackman Trust said no reward had been paid out following the discovery of Nora’s body.
The Malaysian police say they have found no evidence of abduction or kidnapping “for the time being” and a former police officer advising the Quoirin family has insisted this not be ruled out.
Jim Gamble told the BBC’s Breakfast programme: “We have some of the answers but not all of them.
“The family themselves have always had a question mark of whether there was any criminal activity involved and I think everyone should retain an open mind.”
He said: “In the villa we do know that the downstairs window was broken so it couldn’t have been locked by the family and could have been opened from outside.
“We know why Nora died, in simple terms from starvation, we know where she ended up, but we don’t necessarily know how she got there.
“I am not trying to pour fuel on the speculative fire but all of those things need to be considered and we do need to keep an open mind as we move forward and as we look back to see what lessons can be learned.”