GEORGE TOWN – The coroner’s court today was told that Malaysian-born Annapuranee Jenkins had sought the help of a nurse at a dental clinic she frequented to book an Uber ride to her mother’s nursing home on the day she disappeared.
Jenkins, 67, was last seen alive on December 13, 2017 when she took a car booked via the ride-hailing app to visit her mother after a dental appointment.
Dental nurse Lim Cheng Wooi, 30, told the court that she helped Jenkins, who she addressed as “auntie Anna”, to book an Uber ride to the old folks home at Jalan Batu Lanchang.
“Auntie asked for my help because she informed me that she did not have the Uber app on her mobile phone,” Lim told the inquest on Jenkins’ case.
“So I booked an Uber ride using my account. After that, I wrote the registration number of the Uber car on a small piece of paper, and she waited for the car outside the clinic.”
Lim, the inquest’s fourth witness, said Jenkins had been receiving dental treatment at the clinic located in Pulau Tikus since July 2002.
Jenkins had an appointment for a filling procedure on the day she disappeared, Lim said.
“The treatment also does not require any drugs such as anaesthesia or the like.”
Lim said she only found out about Jenkins’ disappearance the next day after her son contacted her to find out if his mother had visited the dental clinic.
“After being contacted by Annapuranee’s son, police also came to the clinic and I handed over Annapuranee’s medical records to police to assist in the investigation.”
When asked, Lim admitted that she did not see any notification on the Uber app to show that Jenkins had arrived at her destination.
On the day she disappeared, Jenkins had allegedly asked her Uber driver to make a sudden stop at a random section of a busy road, where she then exited the vehicle – never to be seen again.
Her partial skeletal remains were found on June 24, 2020 at a construction site, 2km away from where she was last seen.
The prosecution is led by Datuk Khairul Anuar Abdul Halim while lawyer S. Raveentharan is holding a watching brief on behalf of the Jenkins family.
The inquest before coroner Norsalha Datuk Hamzah will continue tomorrow with a key witness – Uber driver Tan Tiang Guan, 64. – The Vibes, March 29, 2022
