Fears Annapuranee ‘Anna’ Jenkins missing in Malaysia has been held against her will

THE family of a grandmother missing in Malaysia for over six months have vented their frustration at local police amid fears she has been held against her will.

THE family of a grandmother missing in Malaysia for more than six months have vented their frustration at local police over fears she has been held against her will.

The daughter of Annapuranee “Anna” Jenkins voiced her disappointment at Royal Malaysia Police’s poor response in the search for the 65-year-old, who went missing on December 13.

The Glenelg South grandmother was last seen at Georgetown, Penang Island, in northern West Malaysia when she alighted an Uber before her destination.

Jen Bowen, 39, of Glenunga, feared her mother had been held against her will for six months and a search was done around the Malaysia-Thai border, where human trafficking is rife.

“Our worst fear is that she is in trouble and she has been in trouble for six months … that she is in danger and is being held against her will because there has been no valid sighting of her,” she said.

Frank Jenkins and daughter Jen Bowen, the husband and daughter of Annapuranee 'Anna' Jenkins, who disappeared in Malaysia in December. Picture: Matt Turner

“We are trying to cover everything because we don’t have any leads.

“I’m worried that she has fallen and passed away and we haven’t been able to locate her.”

Ms Bowen claimed police promised 300 missing person posters would be distributed at polling stations around the island on Malaysia’s election day on May 9.

She has since been told fewer than 50 were put up in areas her brother had previously canvassed.

Ms Bowen’s brother, whose job prevents him from being identified, and Gold Coast-based private security firm Panoptic Solutions returned and searched northern Malaysia for 10 days last month but shockingly discovered none of the mainland police stations were told of Mrs Jenkins’ disappearance.

The family of Annapuranee Jenkins have put up a 20,000 Ringgit reward ($6750 Aus dollars) for information about her disappearance.

“A team of four visited 41 mainland police stations and not one knew an Australian national woman was missing in Penang,” Ms Bowen said. “(Malaysian police) told us that nothing could be done.

“Why couldn’t they have done the basics which they had promised us over and over again?”

She said a police taskforce was set up in February, which was “promising” at first.

“We felt they were listening but they were rehashing the work … and they’ve done nothing new,” she said. “We are alone in this process. We need police to use their network, we need police to do their job.”

The grandmother of two was on holiday with her husband, Frank, 78, but was alone when she vanished after a dental appointment.

She was heading to an aged-care home to visit her sick mother. when she requested the Uber driver taking her there to drop her off 4km from the destination.

Annapuranee Jenkins has been missing in Malaysia since December 13.

Mrs Jenkins’ phone was acciden­tally left at the hotel and it was not clear how much cash she had on her.

Her handbag has not been recovered.

A week before her disappearance, Mrs Jenkins had gone for a walk and collapsed, prompting a two-hour search before security guards at a church found her. The search team’s most recent trip to Malaysia had “a lot of possible sightings” but none eventuated into leads.

“We are going to forge on with this to keep mum in the minds of the locals. But we couldn’t go over as often as we want,” Ms Bowen said.

“The missed events, Mother’s Day and dad’s birthday, was really hard.”