Family of Adelaide grandmother Annapuranee ‘Anna’ Jenkins, missing in Malaysia, fears she’s been abducted

THE family of an Adelaide grandmother missing in Malaysia fears she has been held against her will and is offering a reward for her return.

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THE family of a grandmother missing in Malaysia fears she has been held against her will, possibly by an Uber driver, and is offering a reward for her return.

Annapuranee “Anna” Jenkins, 65, of Glenelg North, went missing on December 13 in Penang on the way to visiting her sick 101-year-old mother at an aged-care home.

Her children have made several failed mercy dashes to Malaysia, alongside private security team Panoptic Solutions, and opened a phone line for tip-offs.

Daughter Jen Bowen said a member of the public told her his mother was taken by a taxi driver in Penang in 2013. The victim was held against her will for four months while the taxi driver forced her to draw cash from her bank account.

“When the money ran out, the taxi driver contacted the family to ask for more money,” Ms Bowen said.

Annapuranee 'Anna' Jenkins is still missing in Malaysia after 53 days. Husband Frank Jenkins and daughter Jen Bowen are offering a reward for her return. Picture: Bianca Di Marchi

Annapuranee Jenkins with husband Frank at Penang the day before she disappeared.

“That’s how that family got the (taxi driver’s) bank details and Interpol got involved.”

The perpetrator was eventually caught and that woman was rescued.

Ms Bowen feared her mother has met with a similar fate.

Mrs Jenkins took an Uber from her dentist to her mother’s nursing home, 15 minutes away, but asked to stop near an orphanage 4km from her destination. The Uber driver helped Ms Bowen’s brother retrace the journey and searched backstreets where Mrs Jenkins was last seen. But now the family is questioning the driver’s motives.

“We want to ask Interpol if my mum could have been implicated in something like that. You know, was (the Uber driver’s) car searched? Did they find anything in the car?” Ms Bowen said.

The last known photo of missing Adelaide grandmother Annapuranee Jenkins, taken from CCTV, as she leaves her hotel in Penang, Malaysia, on December 13, 2017. She hasn't been seen since. Her husband Frank Jenkins (far left) watches on.

Mrs Jenkins was carrying her handbag containing hundreds of dollars.

Panoptic Solutions Troy Claydon said there was no evidence “one way or another” to suggest Mrs Jenkins was abducted.

“There are similarities with both cases in that the previous victim is an elderly woman ... but the main difference is that no money has been withdrawn from her account,” he said.

The family is offering the equivalent of $3200 to anyone with information, or who may have seen Mrs Jenkins walking on Scotland Rd, George Town, where she was dropped off.

Malaysian police have responded to a letter from the Australian High Commissioner seeking updates.

“It’s been 52 days and they’ve interviewed four people ... the hotel staff, dental clinic staff, Uber driver and the aged-care home,” Ms Bowen said. “They (Malaysia police) just seem to be recycling information. We assumed they made up their mind about what happened to my mum, they don’t have a great deal of interest.”

Ms Bowen said the seven-week search had taken a toil “emotionally and financially” on her family, especially her father, 78-year-old Frank Jenkin.

The family has made a public appeal for information on Facebook.