Malaysian police looking for missing London teen girl

This undated photo taken from the Facebook page of The Lucie Blackman Trust shows Nora Quoirin. Police in Malaysia say they do not yet have any signs of foul play in the disappearance of the 15-year-old London schoolgirl. The family of Quoirin says her father discovered her missing from her bedroom Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019, at a resort hotel in a nature reserve, south of Kuala Lumpur.(The Lucie Blackman Trust/Family via AP)

KUALA LUMPUR — Police in Malaysia said Monday they are investigating the disappearance of a 15-year-old London girl, but there were no initial indications of foul play.

The family of Nora Quoirin said her father discovered her missing from her bedroom Sunday morning at a resort hotel in a nature reserve 63 kilometers (39 miles) south of Kuala Lumpur, with the window left open.

The Lucie Blackman Trust, a British charity supporting people during a crisis overseas, quoted the girl’s aunt as saying the family considers her disappearance a criminal matter.

The girl’s parents are an Irish-French couple, but have been living in London for about 20 years, the group said in a statement posted on its Facebook page. It is dealing with the media on behalf of the family.

The aunt, Aisling Agnew, said from Belfast that the 15-year old was especially vulnerable because she has learning and developmental disabilities.

“Nora would not know how to get help and would never leave her family voluntarily,” said Agnew. “We now consider this a criminal matter. We are appealing to everyone to assist the local police in any way they can and to pass on any information that would help locate our beloved Nora without delay.”

Members of General Operations Force arrive to join a search operation for a missing15-year-old London schoolgirl at The Dusun resort in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, Monday, Aug. 5, 2019. Police in Malaysia say they do not yet have any signs of foul play in the disappearance of the London schoolgirl, but investigations are ongoing. (AP Photo/Lai Seng Sin)

Che Zakaria Bin Othman, the deputy police chief for Negeri Sembilan, the state the girl’s family was visiting, said: “So far, there’s no indication of foul play; however, the investigation is still ongoing.”

He said he and the police chief met Sunday and Monday with the missing girl’s family and officials from the embassies of Ireland and France.

“All officials are still up there at the hotel, we discussed with them all, and God willing, we will continue the search until it is successful,” he said.

The Lucie Blackman Trust gave a somewhat different account of the police evaluation of the disappearance.

Citing information that it said came from Nora’s family, it stated on its Facebook page that: “Contrary to several reports that police are NOT treating Nora’s disappearance as an abduction, the family have been told directly by police that they are treating it as both an abduction and missing persons case.” /kga