GEORGE TOWN – The puzzling case of Aussie grandmother Annapuranee “Anna” Jenkins whose skeletal remains were found in Penang a year ago after her disappearance in 2017 has again put Malaysia in the spotlight.
SA Best member of the South Australian Legislative Council Frank Pangallo in a statement named the Malaysian government, the Royal Malaysian Police, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as well as the Australian Federal Police as parties that need to improve their handling of the case.
He added that he has written to Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne with a request to initiate discussions “as a matter of urgency” with the Malaysian government to push for a formal investigation.
He also plans to ask the state Parliament to write to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong seeking his intervention.
Pangallo has asked the Australian government to request Malaysia to repatriate Anna’s remains to South Australia at its cost, allowing her family an opportunity to conduct a funeral.
“Her grieving family has been forced to go beyond what any family should have to endure because nobody seems to care – along with the incompetent and woeful investigation, if you could call it that, by police in George Town.
“Anna’s son and daughter have had to become homicide detectives themselves in uncovering some important clues, including the discovery of human remains and some of their mother’s personal possessions.
“Her family deserves justice – and they deserve closure.”
Pangallo also lambasted Malaysia for failing to solve the case.
“The Government of Malaysia has an international responsibility to at least try to solve her unsolved death.
“Malaysia’s economy relies heavily on its global tourism appeal but to have serious questions raised about the way it fails to investigate the disappearance of an international citizen should concern them – and the rest of the world.”
The family’s legal counsel here S. Raveentharan said he has written extensively to the authorities seeking for an inquest but the response was largely muted.
“I am sure the Penang people share the Jenkins family’s grief. Anna was a Malaysian although she took up Aussie citizenship due to her marriage to husband Frank. We need to accord her the best in resolving the case.”
She was married to retired Royal Australian Air Force member Frank Jenkins.
Her son Greg Jenkins has repeatedly urged authorities to help the family as there is belief that his mother could have been murdered before her remains were found near the Penang Turf Club in Jalan Batu Gantung.
He wanted an extensive search to recommence at the construction site, which is said to be part of a luxurious retirement homes project, adjacent to a crematorium and the Penang Turf Club.
Annapuranee, then aged 66, was in Penang for a short holiday but disappeared on December 13, 2017, in the bustling Scotland Road here after exiting a ride-sharing service vehicle.
The driver of the vehicle was questioned and later released by the police.
She had asked to get off, according to the elderly driver, and last year, her skeletal remains were found 2km from where she was last seen.
Some of her remains were found inside a cleared construction site. In 2017, the site was a forestry area nestled against the Penang Hill range.
Greg recalled the day that his mother, who was born in Parit Buntar, had left for Penang with her husband.
It was part of the pair’s routine visit to the island where they had first met and fallen in love before settling in Adelaide as a married couple.
They had two children – Greg and Jennifer – as well as two grandchildren.
He said Anna was visiting her mother at the Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Infirm but had got off midway in Scotland Road.
Her mother C. Mary Anne died at the age of 101 in 2018.
Frank is now in poor health, and Greg hopes the family can find closure by getting her remains back, as only parts of her spine and skull were given to him.
Greg, who works with the Australian military, said the family also wants an inquest as soon as possible to investigate how his mother died.
Police here have formally closed the case and referred to the prosecuting office to determine the next course of action. – The Vibes, October 27, 2021
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