Annapuranee Jenkins, 67, known as Anna, was last seen taking a Uber trip to the nursing home where her 101-year-old mother lived.

She never arrived there, said her daughter, Jen Bowen, in an interview with the 9 News television station in Adelaide.

Bowen said she remains hopeful of finding her mother alive, even after 684 days. “There’s got to be somebody who knows something, you don’t just disappear without a trace,” Bowen said.

But time may be running out for Bowen’s father, Frank Jenkins, who is 80 and suffers from dementia. He was recently diagnosed with cancer and a crippling spinal condition. Bowen is desperate to reunite her parents, before it’s too late, 9 News reported.

Anna’s children have travelled to Malaysia 15 times to search for their mother, and hired private investigators, to no avail. Twelve thousand posters have been spread across Malaysia. There have been reported sightings of Anna – but they’ve all led to nothing, the report said.

Anna and Frank met in Malaysia in the 1970s when he was with the Royal Australian Air Force, which has a base in Butterworth, Penang.

They moved to Adelaide and raised a family there. In December 2017 they flew back to Malaysia to visit Anna’s 101-year-old mother who was dying. “They had gone over to say their final goodbyes,” Bowen said.

Anna went to the dentist, as she usually did on visits to Malaysia and was to go from there to the nursing home.

She took a Uber but “half way there apparently she asked to get out of the car”, said Bowen. The Uber driver let her off outside an orphanage. “And that’s it, that’s all we know.”

Despite the fruitless search, Bowen remains hopeful. “I just want her to stay strong and just to know that we love her and will not stop looking for her,” she told 9 News.