GEORGE TOWN: The son of the missing Aussie grandmother Annapuranee Jenkins (pix) has stumbled upon part of a shoe at the construction site near the Penang Turf Club which he believes may resemble the pair that Annapuranee was last seen wearing.
Steven Jenkins, who revealed this, said that his mother wears a black pair of shoes often.
A police spokesman confirmed that a part of a shoe was found but says the matter remains under investigation and it is uncertain if the item can be linked to the missing Aussie.
Annapuranee was 66 at the time she went missing some three years ago while visiting Penang with her husband Frank.
The couple stayed at a hotel here, and according to Steven, there was nothing out of the norm which may have prompted his mother to simply vanish from sight.
Steven was allowed to visit the site after several personal items such as a crucifix and rosary beads as well as clothing which many observers believed belong to Annapuranee was found 3km away.
The site, which involved landscaping, has since been cordoned off while police await the results of a DNA test on a skeletal remains of a pelvic bone that was also found near the apparel at the site.
Annapuranee was last seen at the Sri Ramakrisha Orphanage along the busy Scotland Road.
The mysterious disappearance of Annapuranee was compounded by the fact that her alleged belongings were discovered by construction workers inside a site which was previously a forest terrain three years ago.
Permission to clear the area was only granted last year and work only began in December.
Steven, who has been suffering from sleep deprivation for years as he anxiously represents his family in finding answers, is currently in Penang to help the police in their renewed investigations.
He was accorded permission to leave Adelaide where the family resides to fly over here where he had spent 14 days under quarantine at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base in Butterworth due to Covid–19.
“I will spend my entire life searching for answers over what happened to my mother. I cannot find closure if the investigation yields nothing concrete.”
Steven appealed to the public, hoping that by a stroke of luck, someone could have spotted his mother.
The family has crossed the length of the country for several months searching for Annapuranee, including hiring a private investigative crew from Australia.
The petite lady was from Parit Buntar in Perak before she came to Penang in the 1970s where she met Frank, who was attached to the RAAF.
They married and have two grown up children as well as two grandchildren.
On Dec 13, 2017, Annapuranee walked from the hotel in George Town to a dental surgery in Pulau Tikus after a ride sharing app driver failed to show up.
She underwent her treatment before she sought the clinic staff to book her a then Uber ride sharing ride to the Little Sisters’ of the Poor Home for the Infirm in Batu Lanchang.
Halfway through at Scotland Road she asked to leave the vehicle and was never seen again.
