The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened a criminal probe into the death of an Irish-French girl, whose body was found near a jungle stream in Malaysia, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday, reports Reuters.
The remains of Nora Anne Quoirin, 15, were found on Tuesday, ten days after she went missing from a rainforest resort in Seremban, about 70 kilometres (44 miles) south of Kuala Lumpur.
An autopsy begun on Wednesday morning had yet to conclude, Malaysian police said, adding that forensic pathologists were still working to determine the cause of Quoirin’s death.
The Paris prosecutor had opened a criminal investigation into Quoirin’s case for kidnapping on August 9th, a spokeswoman told Reuters in a text message.
French prosecutors regularly launch investigations on cases involving French citizens abroad. Nora’s mother is from Belfast while her father is French.
Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan state police chief Mohamad Mat Yusop declined to comment on the French probe.
Quoirin’s family lawyer Sankara N. Nair had earlier called on Malaysian police to accept an offer by French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to help investigate the circumstances of the girl’s death.