An Adelaide family has been forced to bring home their mother's remains in a cardboard box after an inquest into her mysterious 2017 death was adjourned due to a "poor" police investigation in Malaysia.
Anna Jenkins, then 65, — also known as Annapuranee — went missing in Penang in December 2017 while on a trip with her husband, Frank Jenkins, to visit her mother.
The quest to find out what happened to Ms Jenkins has been led almost entirely by her family after her son, Greg Jenkins, found her belongings and skeletal remains in a nearby development site in 2020.
Today, Mr Jenkins touched down at Adelaide Airport carrying the precious cargo and was met by his sister, Jennifer Bowen.
They blame Malaysian authorities for not being able to bring her home alive.
"Personally, we hold them responsible for not finding mum – if they would've followed their procedures, we might not be bringing mum home in a box … she would be walking back with us," Mr Jenkins said.
He said after the coronial inquest was adjourned, police handed him his mother's remains before he asked they be placed in a sealed plastic bag for better protection.
Mr Jenkins said police responded that it "wasn't their job", and they suggested breaking the bones so they could fit in a jar.
"[I was] pretty disgusted and there was no empathy and there was definitely no mincing my words on what I thought of that suggestion," he said.
The Jenkins family have been pushing for a full police investigation and coronial inquest into their mother's death since her disappearance.
They believe she was murdered, and will now get a DNA test to confirm the skeletal remains do belong to Anna Jenkins.
SA Best MLC Frank Pangallo said he had contacted Forensics SA and the SA coroner to seek a formal inquiry into her death.
"I just don't have that much confidence in the Malaysian system," Mr Pangallo said.
Her daughter, Jennifer Bowen, was there to meet her brother when he arrived at Adelaide Airport on Tuesday morning.
"It's so tough. To have to bring mum home in the way that we did. And the way that poor Greg had to do, it's just not right," she said.
Ms Bowen said her brother was a hero to their family but their fight was far from over.
"This man moved mountains," she said.
Anna Jenkins was last seen getting into an Uber from a dental appointment in Penang, heading to her mother's nursing home in George Town, but she never made it.
However, less than three days into proceedings, the inquest held in Penang was adjourned until June due to a lack of evidence from local police.
