The family of an Adelaide woman who disappeared in Malaysia five years ago believe her death is finally being taken seriously by Malaysian authorities after a coronial inquest resumed.

Key points:

  • Anna Jenkins was last seen getting into an Uber in Penang in 2017
  • The grandmother’s remains were found three years later on a construction site
  • A coronial inquest into her death has resumed in Malaysia

Annapuranee Jenkins, who was also known as Anna, vanished in Penang on December 13, 2017 while on a trip to visit her ailing mother. 

The 65-year-old and her husband Frank would travel to Malaysia multiple times a year to visit her mother, who was in an aged care home. 

On the last day that Mrs Jenkins was seen alive, she left her husband at their hotel and visited a local dentist before taking an Uber ride to see her mother.

She never made it to the aged care home. 

An inquest into Mrs Jenkins’s death was adjourned earlier this year after only three days, with Malaysia’s deputy prosecutor labelling the police investigation “too poor” for it to continue.

With the inquest resuming, Mr Jenkins says he finally has the chance to tell his story. 

“It’s the first time we have felt that mum has now got a voice,” he said.

“We were allowed to submit the chronological timeline, which, again, is huge because it’s all factually based evidence about what transpired since mum disappeared.”

Greg Jenkins, Anna’s son, spoke to Australian media during a break from the coronial inquest in Malaysia on October 14, 2022. (ABC News)

Mr Jenkins and his sister have long held the belief that their mother was the victim of a robbery-homicide and have accused local police of not properly investigating her disappearance. 

He has previously told the ABC he believes the Malaysian police response was “appalling” and “extremely lacklustre“. 

He says there have been up to 23 allegations made against him, his mother, father and sister.

“All of which there is no evidence, there is nothing that supports it and we have all of our evidence to then throw back at it to go, this is completely and utterly false,” he said. 

Anna Jenkins and her husband Frank.(Supplied)

Mr Jenkins said the prosecution’s team had originally asked for three days to go through his “chronological timeline” with him on the stand.

“The coroner shut them down and said you’ve got until nine o’clock today and the inquest will go ahead,” he said. 

“It’s a real positive sign that the coroner is actually looking at all of the evidence and not just listening to these absolute ridiculous allegations.

“We are trying to be as helpful as we can to the coroner and I think she can see that.”

Since his mother’s disappearance, Mr Jenkins has flown to Malaysia dozens of times searching for answers.

In 2020, he received an anonymous message on WhatsApp with a photo of some of his mother’s possessions which had been found by workers at a Penang building site, about 800 metres from where the Uber driver claimed he had dropped Mrs Jenkins off. 

When Mr Jenkins visited the site, he made the gut-wrenching discovery of more of his   mother’s belongings and 18 of her bones. 

Malaysian police search the construction site where Anna Jenkins’s remains were found in Penang.(Supplied)

Forensic Science SA confirmed the remains belonged to his mother.

Mr Jenkins says the coroner wants the inquest to finish next Friday. 

“The whole purpose of the inquest is to get a cause of death,” he said.

“We are hoping that the investigation remains open and we are hoping that a re-investigation into mum’s — what we believe is robbery-murder — gets taken seriously and gets re-investigated.”