MEDIA: Missing Australian Grandmother Annapuranee Jenkins

Annapuranee Jenkins, a loving wife, mother of two, and grandmother, disappeared in December of 2017 on the busy streets of Penang, Malaysia. Annapuranee, fondly known as Anna, visited a local dentist before making her way to see her elderly mother, which was the reason she and her husband Frank had made the trip to Penang. Somewhere in between the dentist’s office and her mother’s home, Anna seemed to vanish, and her family has been searching for her ever since.

Anna and Frank had been making the trip to visit Penang almost annually to visit and check up on Anna’s mother, who’s health, at the age of 102 had taken a turn for the worse. As Frank was suffering the early effects of dementia, he had stayed at the hotel during Anna’s trip to the dentist, to which she had forgotten to take her phone. Anna decided to take an Uber from her appointment to her mother’s home, but for unknown reasons stopped her ride a few kilometers before it reached its destination. That was the last that was seen of her.

After a very poor effort by the Penang police to locate Annapuranee, her family, desperate to find her, hired an Australian-based security company, Panoptic Solutions, to do what the police could not. Since then, both of her children have flown to Penang to search for Anna with the help of Panoptic, following leads down dead ends and distributing flyers to everyone they can. Sadly, the family believes that due to the slow start to the search, it will drastically reduce the chances that they will find Anna. This in no way stops them from looking for her though.

Panoptic Chief Executive Troy Claydon has a few theories about what has happened to Anna, including “suicide, kidnapping, voluntary disappearance, a mental breakdown followed by a tragic accident – "but where is the body?" – or even a religiously-motivated attack.” although there is not enough evidence to point to any of the possibilities, and Anna’s son assures Panoptic that his mother was sound of mind and had shown no signs of mental illness.

No family should have to experience what Anna’s family has been going through for the past six months, and on top of worrying about where their wife and mother, Frank and their children are now burdened with the accumulating costs of hiring the security company and flying back and forth to Penang to search for Anna using every available resource. To help them fund the rescue party, Anna’s daughter has created a mycause campaign where friends and the community can donate.

The Jenkins family are doing everything humanly possible to find their beloved Anna.

Read more of the Jenkins’ story at Adelaide Now.