AN INQUEST into the tragic death of schoolgirl Nóra Quoirin has heard how eight fingerprints were found on the window of the room she was staying in prior to vanishing from the Dusun Resort in Malaysia.
The 15-year-old, who lived with both mental and physical disabilities, disappeared from her bedroom at the hotel at some point on the night of Saturday, August 4, 2019.
Her naked body was found, ten days later, several miles from the hotel following an extensive search of the thick Malaysian jungle surrounding the resort.
Earlier this week, the inquest was told how a post-mortem showed Nóra had died from internal bleeding, inside her intestines.
The medical examination concluded she she haemorrhaging after prolonged stress and hunger in the dense jungle.
However, both Nora’s grieving parents, Meabh, from Belfast, and Sebastian believe it is “inconceivable that Nóra, with her physical and mental state could possibly have embarked upon this journey alone in the middle of the night.”
The coroner’s court in Seremban, Malaysia, where an inquest is taking place yesterday explained that eight fingerprints were found at the window frame on the upper floor of the villa.
Some of these prints couldn’t be matched.
Furthermore, bloodstains were also found in the bathroom of the room where Nora was staying.
According to Assistant Commissioner Wan Rukman Wan Hassan 20 fingerprint samples were taken from Dusun Resort manager Haanim Ahmed Bamadhaj and his family, as well as both current and former employees at the resort.
Nora’s family also had their fingerprints taken, with all of the samples collected subsequently compared with the prints found at the scene of her disappearance.
"The results found four of the eight fingerprints had inadequate features and cannot be matched, while four were in suitable condition and one matched the mother of the missing person,” he said.
Speaking on the seventh day of the inquest, he also explained that the decomposition of Nóra’s body meant they were unable to get her fingerprints for analysis.
Though that still left three sets of prints unaccounted for, Wak Rukman speculated that they could have belonged to previous tenants at the resort.
He went on to describe how a closer examination of the bathroom, using luminol, uncovered evidence of several droplets of blood.
“But whose blood it belonged to I am not at liberty to say,” he added.
Wak Rukman also refuted the claims made by Nóra’s family, that she would have been unable to wander off in the middle of the night without help.
He told the inquest that CCTV footage of the family arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport was examined in order to check the veracity of their claims.
“I thought it was reasonable to study the possibility of whether there were suspicious circumstances [surrounding their arrival],” he said.
He subsequently concluded that there were discrepancies between information Nóra’s family provided and what was witnessed on the tapes.
“I was told by the investigating officer that the missing person had difficulty walking due to her condition but in the footage she could be seen walking normally while tugging on her luggage behind her,” he said.
He also highlighted a broken latch on one of the windows Nóra is suspected of using to exit the resort.
Police have so far dismissed any suggestion Nóra was abducted, despite the fact her clothes have never been recovered.
Her family have been unable to attend the inquest due to the coronavirus pandemic but have been watching along via an online stream.
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