Missing bones, wrong site — inquest into Anna Jenkins’ death ends in debacle 

The botched investigation continued into the inquest which finished with missing bones, a site visit going to the wrong place and more unanswered questions.

The Malaysian inquest into the mysterious death of Adelaide grandmother Annapuranee “Anna” Jenkins has ended in chaotic style with an evidence bag supposedly containing her crushed vertebrae actually holding dirt.­

A visit to the site where her remains were found was a similar debacle when the official party went to the wrong place — only intervention by Greg Jenkins who found his mother’s remains saw the Coroner directed to the correct place.

Mr Jenkins and his sister Jen Bowen who were in Penang for the inquest became suspicious of a bag containing powder which was supposedly their mother’s vertebrae after it was crushed to powder for DNA analysis.

They felt the colour was wrong and the amount of powder was too small.

“We stated to the DPP and Australian High Commission and our legal team that this did not look like a crushed bone, it looked like gravel and sand,” Mr Jenkins said.

“The investigation officer again stated that was mum’s vertebrae, but we challenged it and the Coroner ordered them to confirm the remains with the DNA analyst.

“We were right — it was not remains. It was dirt cleaned off mum’s vertebrae before they tested it for DNA.”

Greg Jenkins with sister Jen Bowen arrives at Adelaide Airport last year carrying his mother Anna’s remains which were handed to him by Malaysian police in open plastic bags in an unsealed cardboard box. Picture Dean Martin

There has been no mention in court of a crucial skull fragment which Malaysian police also ordered crushed for analysis, ending the family’s hopes it could be used to show assault was the cause of Mrs Jenkins’ death.

“No-one had photos of it or knew its whereabouts,” Mr Jenkins said. “Did they lose it accidentally? Did they lose it on purpose? What the heck happened to it? We don’t know.”

Mr Jenkins described the visit to the site where the remains were found as symptomatic of the botched investigation.

“It’s clear they are still confused about mum’s case, as the police and DPP and Coroner drove to the wrong area,” he said. “I had to then redirect them and made them follow me to the correct site. It was clear this was a publicity stunt.”

Greg Jenkins and sister Jen Bowen comfort each other during the Malaysian Coroner’s visit to the construction site in Penang where Mr Jenkins discovered his mother Anna’s remains. Picture: Greg Jenkins.

A soil analyst who gave evidence on the final day of the inquest confirmed one of four soil samples taken from the site was from a different, unknown location.

“That means mum was more than likely murdered at an unknown location, not where I found mum’s remains,” Mr Jenkins said.

Final submissions have been made and the Coroner now will make a date for the verdict.

The family is hoping it will be that Mrs Jenkins died from an unlawful act, in contrast to the original police finding she suffered a “sudden death” which was made before a post mortem was held and resulted in police not conducting an investigation.

Malaysian-born Mrs Jenkins was last seen in December 2017 getting an Uber ride from her dentist to visit her mother in an aged care home, on one of the regular trips she and husband Frank made to Malaysia from their Glenelg home.