Family of Annapuranee Jenkins wants construction worker who found her remains to be protected

GEORGE TOWN: The family of missing Australian Annapuranee Jenkins wants the construction site worker who first spotted her remains to be protected.

The worker was given an undisclosed monetary reward from Annapuranee's family over his discovery of the bones, and to remain anonymous until further investigation, he donned a mask and did not speak to the press during the press conference.

Representing the family, lawyer S. Raveentharan said the man, a Malaysian, was now a witness in the case.

"We do not want him to face any harassment by third parties or any untoward incidents," he said at a press conference held at Kebun Bunga assemblyman Jason Ong's office here at Solok Jones in George Town on Wednesday (Aug 19).

Raveentharan said he (the worker) looked up missing persons on the Internet, where he found news articles about the missing woman and identified some of the items he found which matched the photographs.

"This has helped because now there is a confirmed DNA match, which means the next step is the cause of death.

"We will now leave it to the police to independently investigate the case," he said.

Annapuranee, then 66, who was born in Parit Buntar, Perak, had returned for a routine visit to Penang with her Australian husband before she vanished after getting off an e-hailing ride on a busy street in 2017.

Banners and posters of the missing woman were put up by the family member with contact details.

On June 24 this year, police found human bone fragments and personal belongings in a bush near the Penang Turf Club in Jalan Batu Gantung, believed to be linked to Annapuranee.

Penang police chief Comm Datuk Sahabudin Abd Manan had said then that the DNA samples acquired from her family members matched the remains found at the site.