Adelaide man Greg Jenkins says if the story of his mother's disappearance in Malaysia became a book, it would have to go in the fiction section because it was so unbelievable.
Sixty-five-year-old Annapuranee Jenkins — who was also known as Anna — vanished in Penang in 2017 while visiting her ailing mother. Three years later, through an anonymous tip, Greg Jenkins discovered his own mother's possessions and partial remains on a building site.
"We're always optimistic that we'll find some justice for Mum," he told 7.30.
"It's the only way we can keep moving forward."
Mr Jenkins believes his mother was the victim of a robbery-homicide, but he says Royal Malaysia Police have instead laid blame on her.
Among their claims is that she was on the run from Australian authorities and involved in the drug trade. They cited her purchase of a T-shirt from a Malaysian shop that had the word "Escape" on it to support their theory.
The sensational accusations have prompted South Australian Police to provide an affidavit, confirming Anna Jenkins had no record of involvement in drug activity in Australia.
"If it wasn't heartbreaking, it would be comical," Mr Jenkins told 7.30.
"Every angle of this case just makes me more and more frustrated and drives us more and more to try and right the wrongs of what should have occurred early on in the piece."
'She was a beautiful soul'
Annapuranee 'Anna' Cooroomasamy was born in Malaysia. She married Australian Air Force officer Frank Jenkins in 1977 and became an Australian citizen in 1982. The couple settled in Adelaide and had two children, Greg and Jen.
"The best way to describe my mum was she was a beautiful soul," Greg Jenkins told 7.30.
Mr Jenkins said his mum would travel to Malaysia with Frank up to five times a year to visit her mother, who was in an aged care home.
On December 13, 2017, Ms Jenkins left her husband at their hotel before visiting a local dentist. She then took an Uber ride to see her mother, but never made it.
The driver told authorities she asked him to stop on a busy road, midway to her destination.
Back at the hotel, Frank Jenkins received a bizarre phone call.
"He said that he received a phone call at 5:22pm to say that Mum was being followed, and two people who she believed to be Ukrainian ... were trying to get her passport," Mr Jenkins said.
With his mother missing, Mr Jenkins flew to Penang.
Despite the family's deep concern that she may have been kidnapped, they say police told them Ms Jenkins had a right to disappear and not be found.
"The best way to sum up the Malaysian police response was appalling. It was extremely lacklustre," Mr Jenkins said.
"I told him [the police officer] to go through Mum and Dad's phone. They said: 'There's no need.' I asked to take them up to the [hotel] room. They stated: 'There's no need.'
"They stated that Mum wasn't of status to be kidnapped and she wasn't wealthy or well-off."
Daughter Jen Bowen said complicating the situation was the fact that her father Frank suffers from dementia.
"With Dad's claims that there were individuals after Mum and potentially her passport, it could have been a case of Dad's memory not being 100 per cent or being actual fact, and that there were concerns over Mum's safety," she said.
"The fact that the police didn't explore that just really highlighted to us their lack of empathy, and the lack of commitment into looking into what actually did happen to Mum that day."
Searching for a needle in a haystack
Over the next three years, Mr Jenkins would fly to Malaysia dozens of times in his own private search for his mum.
"An investigating officer openly stated that I give him a headache, and he wished I would disappear and just go back to Australia and leave him alone," he said.
"We were trying to find a needle in a haystack and didn't know where the haystack was, or if there was a needle in it, was the best way we describe the search efforts."
Mr Jenkins plastered flyers with his number across Malaysia. Back in Australia one night in 2020, his phone beeped.
"I get a text message through WhatsApp asking, am I a brother or family member of Anna Jenkins?" he told 7.30.
"And that's the needle in the haystack that we were looking for."
The anonymous tipster sent Mr Jenkins photos of his mother's possessions that had been found by workers at a Penang building site. The location was about 800 metres from where the Uber driver claimed he'd dropped Anna Jenkins off.
"When I visited the construction site for the first time, it was less than two minutes when I found Mum's shoe," he said.
"I found appointment cards for both a massage and a dental appointment. I found Malaysian and Australian coins."
Then came more heartbreak.
"I sat there and I said a quick little prayer … I then found parts of Mum's spine," he told 7.30.
"We ended up finding 18 bones all up."
Royal Malaysia Police assisted with the search. DNA testing confirmed the remains to be Anna's.
"It just hit me and I remember just collapsing and I just couldn't, I couldn't breathe. I couldn't stand up … I'd lost all movement and just couldn't stop crying," he told 7.30.
Coronial inquest continues
An inquest is now underway in Penang into Anna Jenkins' death.
That's where Malaysian police aired their theory that Ms Jenkins was no innocent victim.
Mr Jenkins said there had been other unsubstantiated claims: that his mother was a victim of domestic violence and was trying to flee her family, or that she'd simply become lost on a walk.
The Malaysian coroner has retraced Anna Jenkins' last known movements as part of the inquiry.
"One of the claims was Mum decided to go hiking for the first time in 65 years," Mr Jenkins said.
"Once we got the coroner out to those locations she openly stated that there is no way a 65-year-old woman could make it out [to] this area, which was full of jungle back in 2017.
"We have full faith and trust in the coroner."
South Australian crossbench MP Frank Pangallo has been at the inquest to support the Jenkins family and has been shocked by what he's heard.
"There really wasn't a proper police investigation into this matter," he said.
"It's actually been the work of Greg Jenkins that has actually gotten to this point in the case. He had to become a police investigator himself."
ABC's 7.30 sent a series of questions to Royal Malaysia Police but was told no comment could be made due to the Inquest.
Family still hopeful for answers
Also closely watching the inquest has been Malaysian human rights activist Rama Ramanathan from the Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances (CAGED).
He said he couldn't believe police officers told the inquest Ms Jenkins was involved in the drug trade without a shred of evidence.
"I'm really shocked that this was allowed to go on. I think the coroner should have warned these officers not to say things they could not substantiate," he said.
"I think it shows a total disregard for the person who Anna Jenkins is, and for the families."
Mr Ramanathan said reforms were needed, including the establishment of a central unit within the Malaysian Police, to investigate missing persons cases, and that officers should receive specialised training.
"I think the police have a very lackadaisical attitude, I think they're sloppy and tardy in the way they go about doing investigations," he said.
In a statement, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the inquest was "an important step in ensuring there is justice for Mrs Jenkins."
"Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been providing consular assistance to the family of Mrs Jenkins since she was reported missing in 2017 and continue to work closely with them," Ms Wong said.
Mr Jenkins hopes one day he'll find out what really happened to his mum but in the meantime was committed to changing the attitude of Malaysian police.
"Mum doesn't have a voice and with Dad's dementia, he doesn't have a voice," he said.
"You know, if a missing person, no matter who it is, whether you think it's someone of status or not, they deserve the right to try and be found."
The inquest will resume in October.
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