The parents of a 15-year-old girl who died in a Malaysian jungle say they have “many questions” over what happened after police said she died of hunger and stress.

A former police officer advising Nora Quoirin’s family has appealed for authorities to retain an “open mind” about the cause of death.

The teenager’s unclothed body was discovered on Tuesday, nine days after she disappeared at night from a holiday resort where the family had been staying 1.6 miles away.

Malaysian police say there was no evidence of abduction or kidnapping “for the time being” and Nora died of intestinal bleeding, probably caused by starvation and stress.

After meeting Malaysia’s deputy prime minister and minister for the state, her parents said they were “struggling to understand the events of the last 10 days”.

Search for missing Nora Quoirin in Malaysia Show all 9 1 /9 Search for missing Nora Quoirin in Malaysia Search for missing Nora Quoirin in Malaysia A Royal Malaysian Police officer points to a map showing the search and rescue operation area for the missing 15-year-old Franco-Irish teenager Nora Quoirin in Seremban AFP/Getty Search for missing Nora Quoirin in Malaysia Members of a rescue team conducts a search and rescue operation for a missing British girl at a forest in Seremban EPA Search for missing Nora Quoirin in Malaysia A member of a rescue team conducts a search and rescue operation for a missing British girl at a forest in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019. Malaysian police said Wednesday they were analyzing fingerprints found in a forest resort cottage where Nora Anne Quoirin, the British teenager, was reported missing AP Search for missing Nora Quoirin in Malaysia A member of a rescue team conducts a search and rescue operation for a missing British girl at a forest in Seremban AFP/Getty Search for missing Nora Quoirin in Malaysia Royal Malaysian Chief of Police of Nilai District Mohd Nor Marzukee Besar (C) conducts a briefing before a search and rescue operation for the missing 15-year-old Franco-Irish girl Nora Quoirin in Seremban AFP/Getty Search for missing Nora Quoirin in Malaysia Members of Malaysian rescue team prepare for a search and rescue operation for the missing the 15-year-old Franco-Irish girl Nora Quoirin in Seremban AFP/Getty Search for missing Nora Quoirin in Malaysia A Police K9 unit team conducts a search and rescue operation for a missing British girl at a forest in Seremban AP Search for missing Nora Quoirin in Malaysia A member of a rescue team conducts a search and rescue operation for a missing British girl at a forest in Seremban AP Search for missing Nora Quoirin in Malaysia A member of a rescue team conducts a search and rescue operation for a missing British girl at a forest in Seremban AFP/Getty

In a statement Sebastien and Meabh Quoirin said: “The initial postmortem results have given some information that helps us to understand Nora’s cause of death.

“But our beautiful, innocent girl died in extremely complex circumstances, and we are hoping that soon we will have more answers to our many questions.”

Jim Gamble, a former police officer, told the BBC’s Breakfast programme: “The family themselves have always had a question mark of whether there was any criminal activity, and I think everyone should retain an open mind.”

He said in the villa where the family were staying, the downstairs window was broken so it could have been opened from outside.

“We know why Nora died, in simple terms from starvation, we know where she ended up, but we don’t necessarily know how she got there,” he added.

Malaysian police said Nora, who had learning difficulties and was described by her family as “vulnerable”, is likely to have spent a week in the jungle on her own.

A postmortem examination found that the London teenager died between two and four days before her body was found, authorities said.

In the statement, issued on the family’s behalf by the Lucie Blackman Trust, her French-Irish parents said they would be bringing Nora’s body home “where she will finally be laid to rest, close to her loving families in France and Ireland”.

They also thanked Malaysian authorities and search parties.

Mohamad Mat Yusop, the state police chief, said: “The cause of death was upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to duodenal ulcer, complicated with perforation ... it could be due to a lack of food for a long period of time and due to prolonged stress.”

Further analysis is due to be carried out on samples from her body, he said.

There were some bruises on her legs but they would not have caused her death, he added.