Malaysian authorities Wednesday conducted a post-mortem examination on the body of a Franco-Irish teen found in the jungle after she disappeared from a resort, as her family mourned the "unbearable" loss.
The naked body of Nora Quoirin, 15, was discovered Tuesday in a ravine in dense rainforest after a 10-day hunt involving hundreds of people, helicopters and sniffer dogs.
She went missing from the Dusun Resort, not far from Kuala Lumpur, on August 4, a day after checking in for a holiday with her London-based family.
Her family believed the teen, who had learning difficulties, had been abducted but police classified her disappearance as a missing person case.
Her body had to be airlifted by helicopter out of the ravine -- about 2.5 kilometres from the resort -- after which it was transported to hospital and identified by her relatives.
On Wednesday morning a pathologist began conducting a post-mortem examination on the body, police said, as a media scrum gathered at the hospital in Seremban town, which was guarded by armed officers.
Her family said the schoolgirl was "at the heart of our family", in a statement released by The Lucie Blackman Trust, a UK charity that supports relatives of British people missing overseas.
"She is the truest, most precious girl and we love her infinitely. The cruelty of her being taken away is unbearable. Our hearts are broken.
"We will always love our Nora."
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content