On August 5th, after Nora Quoirin had been missing for one day, family representatives in Ireland and France started up two separate GoFundMe pages. They were ostensibly started for the purpose of “Finding Nora”, but the descriptions were explicit that funds raised might also go to paying for family members’ flights to and from Malaysia, as well as “unforeseen expenses”.
I seem to remember the page originally stating something about paying for accommodation as well, but I don’t have a screengrab of that section of the original. If it was part of the original it isn’t now.
Soon after starting the GoFundMe, the person who started it – Meabh’s sister and both her children – traveled to Malaysia. Although the GoFundMe states the reason for the fundraising was to “participate in the search and rescue effort”, on the ground there is no evidence this happened. There are no photos of any family members searching the forest, although there are photos of others guests’ families doing so.
Nora’s body was discovered at midday on August 13th. The GoFundMes that were started to #FindNora nevertheless continued taking donations for the next two weeks, until it was deactivated on August 27th.
The Quoirin family, meanwhile, had already returned from Malaysia to an undisclosed location, presumably around August 20th, though details on when they left Malaysia remain sketchy. News reports suggest Nora’s body was flown home as early as August 17th.
On August 20th, the Lucie Blackman Trust closed the official fundraising efforts on their official page, and thanked the public for their overwhelming support while inviting them to join another initiative – the LBT Global Volunteer Network – with fundraising as part and parcel of their stated objective.
Matthew Searle, the Quoirins spokesman, also diligently went to the closed group on Facebook – Nora Quoirin: Uncovering the truth – and posted this message, explaining the delay in closing the GoFundMe pages.
It has subsequently come to light that the Quoirins hired a lawyer in Malaysia on the same day the twin GoFundMe’s were set up, and have also secured representation with a lawyer in France.
Thus far it appears they have not felt it necessary to do a second autopsy or pay for any additional investigation into their daughter’s “abduction”, even though Nora’s clothing was never found. They have been saying all along that they believe foul play was involved, and that Nora was abducted.
It would be good to get full disclosure on precisely how and where the money raised for the purposes of finding Nora was actually spent, and also whether the reward promised the day before Nora was found dead, was paid by the hikers who found her in the jungle. And if it wasn’t paid to the hikers, what happened to that money?
True Crime Rocket Science II 
I read that the hikers had refused the reward.
The go fund me’s were shocking and shameless, but people with lots of money usually are.
Hiring a lawyer-may have been advised to do so by police or embassy? Don’t know what protocol is as ‘foreigners’.
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Yes, the first thing to do when your child goes missing isn’t to look for your child, it’s to look for a lawyer. Maybe he can find your child.
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The interesting thing about the need for a lawyer in France is that France automatically conducts an investigation when one of their citizens died abroad ( she had dual nationality). Agree the go find me is unspeakably vulgar. I wonder if they do have loads of money though ? Hard to evaluate income on jobs like theirs,a especially hers. His current property management directorship appears to be his 2nd, after resigning from an earlier one a few years back.
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I remember early reports stated the father was a mobile phone salesman but that got changed to company director and I can’t find reports anymore on that. Yeah I agree it’s difficult to assess their financial situation. Is it true that in Britain the NHS will pay for care of disabled people, even school fees? I don’t know if the family qualifies though because they are Irish/French?
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I was just told by someone it’s “data analysis salesman” I guess I was wrong about the mobile phone bit. Sorry my bad.
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Hi lyn. Education is free for all children regardless of their level of need. An EHC (education, health and care plan) would assess the level of needs of someone with special needs and this would determine if they required a place in a special school – or – a mainstream school, possibly with additional support such as equipment or support workers. Any healthcare would be provided by nhs. There would be additional bits – such as something called short breaks for disabled children and, if needed, support from social workers who work with families with disabled children. So the above is funded by a mixture of nhs, local councils and schools – a mixture.
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Can I just say the mis-type on the above reference to go fund me is a predictive texting typo. I have a dark sense of humour, but I really wouldn’t purposely go there with this!
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Also the Dusun Resort has been given a black eye. No one will want to stay there if they think children get abducted in the middle of the night. Maybe some of the funds raised should be given to them.
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Or to sharpen their security/CCTV. That seems to me to be a sensible solution. It could also go to a special school that trains jungle SAR teams, or possibly a Nora Quoirin Fund that takes care of lost children in Malaysia.
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