Who Was The Real Anna And Why Did She Go Missing

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Who is Annapurnee (Anna) Jenkins, an Australian citizen who went mysteriously missing in Penang on Dec 5, 2017?
Was she missing due to dementia, a misadventure, or was she fleeing from an abused partner, as theories from certain quarters suggest?
Part of her remains and belongings were found at a construction site along Batu Gantung 900 days after a missing person report was lodged.
Now an inquest into the cause of her death will be heard from Monday to April 1, but her family fears that her death might just be declared as "sudden death".
When a person goes missing from the face of this earth, he or she would most likely end up only as a statistic or news story.
No one really cared who the real Anna was, not even her investigators.
According to her son, Gregory Steven Jenkins, after four years and 11 investigating officers on Anna's case, not one of them have sat down to ask him "who mum was".
"They do not know about her character or anything about her, her likes and dislikes," Gregory told Malaysiakini.
Anna met Gregory's dad, Frank Jenkins, in Penang, when he was a Vietnam veteran who was posted to Butterworth in the 60s.
He was actually set up to meet with Anna's sister but fell for her instead.
The couple lived in Butterworth and Tanjung Bungah before they moved to Australia.
Anna and Frank JenkinsGregory's elder sister Jennifer was born in Penang. When Anna was pregnant with Greg, the couple moved to Australia (South).
After Gregory, now 42, was born, Anna became an Australian citizen in 1992.
Anna returned to Penang frequently, about four or five times a year, to visit her ailing mother.
She valued her family above all else, said Greg.
"Whenever we came here, the first thing we did was to pay respects to grandma and spend a bit of time with her before we did other things," he added.
'Gold chains don't interest me'
To Gregory, his mum was the "most caring and gentle soul you would ever meet, she was of strong faith but with that strong faith, she used to do a lot of charity work".
"She did a lot of work for refugees in Australia. She also did it here. When she was back, she would collect all the toiletries from the hotel and donate them to, mainly, nursing homes.
"She would give it to the Little Sisters of the Poor (where her mum later stayed). She would hand over bags and clothes from Australia and donate them to the home," he recalled.
Gregory also said his mum did not like presents.
Whenever he visited her from another state in Australia where he lived, he would give her a bunch of flowers.
He said Anna would pull them apart and group them in four or five bunches, and she would then get into the car, drive around and hand them over to refugees or the homeless.
"I gave her a gold chain once. I saved some money for it, a couple of days later, she was not wearing it.
"I asked, where is it? She said she had given it away. I got a bit angry because I saved a lot of money and that's when she sat me down, we had a cup of tea and she told me that these people have nothing.
"There is a whole family sitting on the floor, a whole family struggling to have food, they can't get jobs because they are refugees, so if I could give them something to help them go on to the next day, that's what I want," Gregory said.
He said Anna then took him around to where the refugees lived, with two or three families in one home, adding that his mother would always cook big batches of curry and then drop them off at the families.
"That's the kind of present that I want, not gold chains as those do not interest me", she had told him.
Gregory JenkinsGregory said even now, whenever the family goes to a restaurant, they will buy an extra meal and give it to the homeless.
"That is one thing mum taught us, not to waste any food, and if you cannot finish it, share it with others," he said.
Anna had strong family values, so when her mum was sick, her family asked if she would like to spend her time in Malaysia for about six months or a year.
However, according to Gregory, she replied, "I would not leave your father", dismissing the theory that she was fleeing an abused partner.
Anna loved her family too much to stay apart from them for too long.
Not going to start hiking at 65
However, Gregory claimed there were several theories "conjured" by the authorities on why Anna went missing on that fateful day, to which he had categorically dismissed all of them.
Gregory alleged that he was also accused of planting evidence at the construction site where he found his mother's shoes, several belongings and bone fragments.
Gregory said he took ages to convince the authorities but was finally given a group of officers to go up the hill where mum's remains and belongings were found.
He did it to show how implausible it was for a 65-year-old woman, wearing the shoe she was wearing, carrying the things she was carrying, in her condition, to go for a hike.
Gregory hired a local person who knew the area well to guide the group up the hill, and there was no way to get through the area without a machete as there were hard and long slopes, while it was not a hiking trail.
"Mum is not going to start hiking at the age of 65 for the first time, while she is in another country on her way to see mother. It is not plausible and is just a ridiculous theory," he said.
After climbing the hills, crossing ravines and jumping over streams, a police officer agreed that Anna could not have been able to get through the area.
He claimed that when the shoes were found, the forensic team present was not wearing any gloves, any protection, a clear violation of the force's standard operating procedures.
"And maybe just to appease me, they brought in the dog, but a dog would not be able to pick up a scent after four years," Gregory said.
"They also reckoned that mum had dementia, but it is not true.
"She has been certified by doctors to be of a sound mind as she had to look after dad, who has dementia and cancer," he added.
He was also told that perhaps, his mother, 65 at the time of her disappearance, went missing due to the anaesthetic she was administered at the dentist, where she was last seen alive.
He also heard a theory that his mum might have tried to avoid paying the bill at the dentist, to which Greg said he had checked and found the suggestion untrue.
'No stones left unturned'
Gregory said rather than carrying out a proper investigation, the police had come out with these "wild theories".
He related an incident where a police officer even tried to get one of the local church members to say he had seen Anna crying at the church.
"But the person refused to say it and refused to sign a statement prepared by the police," he claimed.
"The police later apologised for the matter. However, the said police officer was put back on the case where we went back to square one, as he refused to answer messages and phone calls.
"If only they had focused on the case instead of making up these theories, we would have a better chance to solve mum's case," Gregory said.
The police have maintained that they have thoroughly investigated Anna's disappearance, with no stones left unturned.
However, the police have ruled out foul play after her bone analysis was released by forensics.
Background:
Dec 5, 2017 - Annapuranee (Anna) and her husband Frank Jenkins entered Malaysia and stayed in Hotel Jen, Penang. The purpose of their visit was mainly to visit Anna's ailing mother, who was under the care of the Little Sisters of the Poor, an old folks home in Batu Lanchang.
Dec 13, 3pm - Anna attended her dental appointment at Goh Surgery in Jalan Burma, Pulau Tikus. She has been seeing this dentist since 2012.
After the appointment, she headed to visit her mother. The dentist's receptionist helped Anna engage an Uber driver.
She was last seen at the dentist.
Dec 13, 7pm - When Anna failed to return to the hotel, Frank contacted his daughter Jennifer Bowen, who was then in Australia. Jennifer got in touch with hotel manager O Odayppan.
Together with Frank, Odayppan searched for Anna by driving him around for six hours. However, Anna was nowhere in sight.
Dec 14 - Odayppan lodged a missing person report at the Jalan Pattani police station. No statement was taken from Frank at the time.
According to the Uber driver, Anna was dropped off at the SJK (T) Ramakrishna, along Jalan Scotland at 4.45pm.
Dec 15 - Anna's son Gregory, arrived in Penang and began searching for Anna, claiming that their missing person report was not given "due urgency". - Mkini

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