10 days after she vanished, 15yo Nora Quoirin's body has been found. The mystery has only deepened.

When the disappearance of British teenager Nora Quoirin first hit the media it drew comparisons to the case of Madeleine McCann.

There were eerie similarities in the 15-year-old’s story, after she vanished while on a family holiday.

But Nora’s story has taken a horrific turn.

On Tuesday, her naked body was discovered by hikers near an isolated jungle waterfall in Malaysia ten days after she went missing from the resort she was staying at.

An autopsy in her death has concluded today that she likely died of starvation and stress after spending seven days in the jungle, after an earlier postmortem failed to determine a definitive cause of death.

Nora’s mum pleads for answers. Post continues after video.

Nora, her mum Meabh and her dad Sebastien and their other two children Innes, 12, and Maurice, 8, flew from London to Malaysia on Saturday, settling in for a two week holiday at the Dusun eco-resort south of Kuala Lumpur.

Nora, who has learning and developmental disabilities, unpacked her things in the upstairs bedroom with her siblings.

But on the first night of their trip, she went missing.

Her family immediately thought she’d been abducted; “She looks younger, she is not capable of looking after herself, and she won’t know what’s going on,” they said in a press statement.

In 2007, toddler Madeleine McCann went missing from a holiday resort bedroom. One of the theories is that McCann was carried out of the holiday villa through an open window in her bedroom.

In Nora’s case, investigators found an open window in the downstairs living area. They dusted for fingerprints and found “unknown prints” on and around the window.

“Only the glass window exit was used. We are certain about this,” a police officer told Malaysian media.

“She would not have been able to open the window on her own, and it was found propped open," spokesman for the family, Matthew Searle of the Lucie Blackman Trust, told The Sun.

“They also know Nora would not walk off anywhere on her own,” he added.

As time dragged on, the search continued.

"In my opinion, the adventure escapade line of inquiry is not at all valid," Nora's grandfather, Sylvain Quoirin, told the BBC as the media began to speculate on what could have happened.

"She's very shy, very reserved, very fearful," he explained.

The family never lost hope of finding Nora alive.

“We are completely overwhelmed by the support we have received from all over the world," they said in a media conference.

"Nora is so precious to us and our hearts are breaking."

The family, who is Irish-French in heritage, announced an AUD $18,000 reward for any information on locating Nora. The money had been donated by an anonymous Belfast-based business.

Members of the Senoi Praaq, a special police team comprising indigenous tribes famed for their forest tracking skills, combed the dense forest surrounding the resort. As they searched they called out Nora’s name, and played recordings of Nora’s mum’s voice through loudspeakers, but they found no trace of the teenager.

All up, there were 350 people involved in the massive search operation.

The discovery no one wanted was made on Tuesday afternoon. Nora was found naked in the Malaysian jungle.

Hikers came across her body in a stream running through a ravine near a waterfall 2.5km from the resort, and said she "looked like she was sleeping".

Nora's head was in her hands, and one of the hikers told the Daily Mail, "We knew she was dead."

It was an area that had previously been searched, admitted Malaysia's Deputy Inspector General of Police Mazn Mazlan.

A volunteer searcher told the publication that Nora had told her parents she was “excited” about seeing a waterfall.

A source close to the investigation told The Times there is a suggestion that the body may have been moved given it was so visible and not hidden by any debris or foliage, with the family spokesperson Mr Searle saying Nora's parents had "a large amount of questions".

"One of those questions is, has the body been there all the time or is there a criminal involvement? Was the body dumped there afterwards?" he said.

According to the Daily Mail, there were some scratches and bruises on Nora's body but otherwise there were no visible injuries.

A statement from the devastated family thanked everyone.

“We thank the local people here and those far and wide for their prayers and support at this time," it read.

“Nora has brought people together, especially from France, Ireland, Britain and Malaysia, united in their love and support for her and her family.

“To all our friends and family at home, we can’t thank you enough for all your love.

“Nora is at the heart of our family. She is the truest, most precious girl and we love her infinitely.

“We will always love our Nora.”

The family lawyer told the media the family was "devastated and highly traumatised" as they come to terms with Nora's death, after having to identify her body.

According to Reuters a kidnapping investigation has been launched by French authorities.