GEORGE TOWN – Penang police have carried out a thorough investigation in accordance with the stipulated standard operating procedure (SOP) into the case of Australian Anna Jenkins, who went missing four years ago and whose remains were found last year.
Penang Police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said they had investigated the case in detail, including obtaining information from witnesses and the victim’s family members.
The case has gained attention again after a member of the South Australian Legislative Council, Frank Pangallo, said he wanted the legislature to write a letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah claiming the case was not properly investigated by Penang police.
“Today I want to clarify that the investigation into the case has been conducted since the woman went missing in 2017. The investigation has been conducted thoroughly, including recording the statements of 15 witnesses and it was in June last year that we got new developments regarding the discovery of skeletal remains in a forest area near Jalan Batu Gantung,” he told a press conference today.
He was commenting on reports by several news portals that the case involving the 65-year-old grandmother from Adelaide, Australia, who went missing in Penang in 2017 and whose body was found last year, was the subject of a motion debated in the South Australian Parliament yesterday.
Pangallo was reported to have said that he would urge the Australian government to initiate investigation into allegations that Malaysian police may have conducted an incomplete investigation into the disappearance and death of Jenkins.
Mohd Shuhaily said that, so far, Penang police had not received any official application from the Australian Embassy regarding the case, adding that they were ready to help and cooperate with any party.
He added that even the victim’s family members were up to date with the progress of the case from the first day Jenkins was reported missing.
“Last year, the Australian Federal police team came to check on the progress of our investigation and were satisfied with our findings. Even the victim’s family was present, including her son, who came here (Penang) to match the DNA with the bones found,” he said.
On Aug 11 last year, the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test on the pelvic bone found in a bushy area near Jalan Batu Gantung here was found to have matched Jenkins’ DNA.
On Dec 13, 2017, Anna Jenkins was said to have left her hotel room to go to a dental clinic in Pulau Tikus, and had asked the hotel staff to book an e-hailing vehicle to take her to a welfare home in Batu Lancang after the dental treatment.
She then asked the driver to drop her off at the traffic lights in Jalan Scotland and for safety reasons, the driver let her off near a school. She was reported missing since and her husband had lodged a police report on the case.
