Woman resembling Annapuranee Jenkins seen in Pulau Tikus church on day of disappearance, witness says

GEORGE TOWN: A priest is said to have seen someone resembling Australian Annapuranee Jenkins at a church near Pulau Tikus just hours before she disappeared in 2017, a policeman told an inquest at a coroner's court here.

Sergeant-Major Stephen Ponnusamy, a supervisor at the police technical assistance division here, said someone who looked like Jenkins was spotted between 1pm and 3pm on Dec 13, 2017—the same day she went missing.

"She was in a prayer room at the church, according to Father Michael (who is a priest at the church).

"However, the priest was not cooperative when we questioned him," he told Coroner Norsalha Hamzah on Wednesday (July 20).

Stephen did not elaborate further on the encounter with the church priest.

In the earlier inquest, an e-hailing driver testified that Jenkins was picked up at the Goh Dental Clinic in Burmah Road and dropped her off at the Ramakrishna Ashram along Scotland Road at about 4.30pm.

That was the last time she was seen alive.

Later, Stephen said he had gone looking for Jenkins’ five siblings, all of whom he said were no longer in contact with her.

Khairul Anuar Abdul Halim, who is assisting the coroner in the inquest, asked if Jenkins was estranged from her family.

Stephen said the family appeared to have no more contact with Jenkins after marrying and moving to Australia.

Earlier, dentist Dr Lee Wooi Seng, who treated Jenkins before she disappeared, took the stand, saying he met Jenkins thrice.

Dr Lee said Jenkins was scheduled to have her dentures done but he had to extract two molars on each side of her lower dental arch before he could do so.

He said he had taken an impression of the mouth and filled a cavity on the day she was last seen.

Dr Lee said he had collected RM300 in deposit out of a total of RM1,400 for the dentures.

"She told me she’s in Penang for a while and has family here.

"She did not speak much and was quite quiet.

"She looked normal and healthy to me,” he told the court.

Then, Zalaluddin Japar, an assistant investigation officer at the Patani Road police station testified that he took 35 photos of the places where Jenkins was last seen.

He said the photos were taken on a digital camera without the timestamps imprinted on them.

"I was ordered to take photos without the timestamp function turned on," he said.

The Coroner's court then adjourned the case to Thursday (July 21) morning.

Jenkins, then 66, was reported missing on Dec 13, 2017 while on the way to visit her mother at a nursing home.

Jenkins, who was born in Parit Buntar, Perak, had returned for a routine visit to Penang with her Australian husband before she vanished after alighting from 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, 2020, 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 Jenkins.

The inquest, which has resumed, is being held from July 18 to 22 at the George Town court here.