Malaysian police determine Glenelg grandmother’s cause of death before post mortem

Authorities investigating the death of a Glenelg grandmother who disappeared after an Uber ride asked a single question - are her remains human or animal?

The inquest into the mysterious disappearance and death of Glenelg grandmother has heard the investigating officer was told not to investigate the death, and a finding of “sudden death” was ordered before a post mortem was conducted.

South Australian Annapuranee “Anna” Jenkins in Malaysia in December 2017.

Mrs Jenkins’ son Greg, who discovered his mother’s remains hidden in a $107m luxury villa construction site, said the evidence was “a sad day for Malaysia”.

“The investigation officer (Azrul Azizan Mat Rawi) stated that he was directed to not investigate mum’s case, just to determine if the remains found were human or animal,” he said.

“The DPP directed the forensic team to determine mum’s case as a sudden death before the post mortem was released.

“It means there was absolutely no investigation into mum’s death; the DPP has the ‘hand of god’ to determine the outcome of a post mortem before it’s actually been conducted; and the investigation officer and forensic pathologist are subservient to the DPP.

“The remains that were tested were destroyed. There is no conserving remains for any subsequent follow up testing or investigation. Mum’s vertebrae was destroyed, plain and simple.

Annapuranee ‘Anna’ and Frank Jenkins. Picture: Supplied by family

“No one has mentioned mum’s skull fragment. It’s like it doesn’t exist. It’s the one crucial piece of evidence that could determine cause of death but it is like it’s off limits to talk about.”

Mr Jenkins earlier this week likened her inquest to a scene in Forrest Gump.

“It’s like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get,” he said.

“Yet again we did not get a witness list. There were supposed to be four witnesses but one did not appear because it was too far to travel. It was supposed to start at 10am but did not start until almost midday.

“When the investigating officer took the stand he introduced contradictory evidence, then proceedings were halted because the evidence was not labelled properly.”

Mrs Jenkins disappeared in Penang while on a Uber ride between her dentist and her mother’s aged care home.

Greg Jenkins and sister Jen Bowen at the construction site in Malaysia where their mother Anna Jenkins’ remains were discovered, as the Coroner and officials from the inquest inspect the site. Picture: Greg Jenkins

Greg Jenkins arrives Adelaide Airport. The son of Anna Jenkins, who went missing in Malaysia in 2017, arrived back from Penang, carrying his mother Anna’s remains in a cardboard box. His sister, Jen Bowen, was there to meet him. Picture: Dean Martin

Her remains were discovered at a construction site but workers were told to bury them and not tell anyone.

Mr Jenkins found them after a worker contacted him after seeing a reward poster — a cursory search by police did not find anything but Mr Jenkins foraged through the rubble and found his mother’s bones.

The family believes she met with foul play and constant lobbying finally resulted in an inquest which has been repeatedly adjourned.

Malaysian police who handed the remains of Mrs Jenkins to her family in unsealed plastic bags in an open cardboard box secretly retained pieces of her skull and her coccyx — and have since destroyed them.

Mr Jenkins says it is yet another “kick in the guts” to his family in the botched investigation into the disappearance of his mother as the repeatedly delayed inquest resumed for the fourth time on Tuesday.

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

Mr Jenkins told The Advertiser the bones had been crushed into powder which effectively wrecked any hope of analysis proving a deadly assault.

“This is just another kick in the guts for us,” he said.

“Mum’s sunglasses were found smashed, and the skull fragment could have shown if there was blunt force trauma to her head, but now the fragment has been crushed to powder it destroys that hope.”

Mr Jenkins has now spent more than $300,000, made 34 trips to Penang, travelled 80,000km in Malaysia, interviewed more than 1000 people and distributed 12,500 flyers and banners with a reward seeking information in the quest for justice for his mother.

The Glenelg grandmother mysteriously vanished in Penang on December 13, 2017 while on a trip to visit her mother.

Malaysian-born Mrs Jenkins was last seen alive when she left her dentist to travel a short distance to see her 101-year-old mother in an aged care home while on a regular holiday trip with her husband Frank.

Her Uber driver claims the devout Catholic asked to be dropped off near a Muslim orphanage.

The botched police investigation, which variously claimed she had wandered into the jungle and could survive on bananas, was fleeing domestic violence, was “involved with drugs” and had skipped out on her dental bill, has outraged her family and all claims been comprehensively debunked by evidence.

Mr Jenkins had realised there were bones missing when he took the remains back to Australia as cabin baggage after properly sealing them.

He alerted the Australian High Commission in Malaysia who contacted police and the Director of Public Prosecutions seeking information.

This week Commission officials advised him the bones had been destroyed.

“The Consular Officer spoke the investigation officer (I/O) regarding the collection of Mrs Jenkins’ remains which were held back as specimen for the inquest,” their letter to Mr Jenkins states.

“I/O said that 3 (to his recollection) small fragment pieces of bones were taken for DNA analysis. As a result of the DNA analysis, the pieces are now in a powder form.”

Mr Jenkins said his lawyer will raise the destruction of the bones when the inquest resumes.

With sister Jen Bowen, the family’s efforts to find the truth, including hiring private investigators, resulted in a construction worker contacting the family after workers who found remains were told by supervisors to bury them and not tell anyone.

Mr Jenkins then conducted his own search of the $107m luxury villa construction site and found his mother’s remains after a cursory check by police failed to find anything.

Adding insult to injury, police released later released the remains to the family in open plastic bags in an unsealed cardboard box which Mr Jenkins needed to secure in order to bring them back to Australia — but they only handed 34 of the 36 or so bone pieces which were recovered.

The latest iteration of the inquest is expected to last for four days including a visit to the construction site, and the Jenkins family is hoping for a result which shows Mrs Jenkins “died from an unlawful act” rather than misadventure or a medical episode, Mr Jenkins said.