Efforts to find the 15-year-old London schoolgirl who went missing while on holiday in Malaysia have stepped up a notch as new details about the teenager are revealed.
On Sunday, Nora Quoirin disappeared from her room in a resort south of Kuala Lumpur. She had been on holiday with her parents, who woke to find her gone.
A massive search operation has been underway since, with more than 260 people involved. Local police have now also decided to involve a group of elite commandos.
It comes as her family reveal new details about the 15-year-old. In a statement released through British charity the Lucie Blackman Trust - which helps families in need overseas - the family says Quoirin isn't very independent and has difficulty walking.
Quoirin was born with holoprosencephaly, which means she has a smaller brain leading to learning and physical disabilities.
"All her life she has spent a lot of time in hospital. When she was born, she needed operations to help her [breathe]. She has specialists that monitor her growth, her physical abilities and her strength, and especially her mental capacity," a statement from the Lucie Blackman Trust said.
"She has a good memory but she cannot understand anything conceptual. She is unable to do maths and so things like money are impossible to manage. She cannot make or receive phone calls independently."
The family says she has been to Asia and many European countries before and has never walked off.
The Telegraph reports that police believe she climbed through a window in the resort cottage living room and out into the night. The chances of a criminal element to the case has not been ruled out completely, but it is currently being treated as a missing persons investigation.
The Quoirin family are from London and arrived in the Dusun forest eco-resort in the southern Negeri Sembilan state about a week ago.
According to the BBC, Nora has an Irish passport. Her mother is from Belfast while her father is French.
Newshub.
