The Coroner’s Court today was told that a day after Nora Anne Quoirin’s body was found on Aug 13 last year, police were still continuing operation at the scene to locate the victim’s underwear.
The third witness in the inquest into the death of the Irish-French teenager, Nilai Police chief Supt Mohd Nor Marzukee Besar said the operation was carried out on Aug 14, following the discovery of the naked body, about 2.5 km from the resort where she and her family stayed.
“After returning from the Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital on the night of Aug 13, I held a small meeting with my search team because the investigating officer informed me that the victim’s family disclosed that the teenager only had on her underwear the last time she was seen.
“There was a lingering question on the whereabouts of her underwear because the body that we found was naked. So, I planned an operation to search for the victim’s underwear the next day,” he said, when testifying at the inquest, which entered its third day today.
The search was conducted in a straight-line sweeping pattern which started from The Dusun retreat where Nora Anne vanished on August 3, 2019, to the point where her body was found about 2.5km away.
Asked by Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad whether the subject was found, the witness who was the search and rescue (SAR) operation commander said it was not found despite having mobilised a total of 361 personnel for the purpose.
Marzukee said the operation was only carried out for one day, starting at 8.30 am.
Earlier, Marzukke said Nora Anne could walk normally when she was at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
He said the CCTV footage obtained from KLIA on August 3 last year showed Nora Anne walking from the arrival hall to the waiting area on the date the teenager and her family arrived in Malaysia.
He said this was contrary to the family’s initial disclosure to investigating officer Inspector Wan Faridah Mustanin that Nora Anne could walk no more than 20 feet (six metres) without guided assistance from another person as she could not maintain her balance.
“In the footage, the missing person could be seen walking normally with her luggage like anyone of her age (15-years-old),” he testified.
After viewing the footage repeatedly, Marzukee said it was then decided that the search area was to be significantly expanded from between four and six sq km previously to a 20 sq km radius towards the nearby Gunung Berembun on the eighth day of Nora Anne’s disappearance.
The inquest continues tomorrow.