Joshlin Smith Missing Case Update: Western Cape Police Hit Dead End
In a troubling update, police in the Western Cape have announced that they have reached a dead end in the search for missing six-year-old Joshlin Smith who has been missing for close to three months now.
Joshlin disappeared from her home in Saldanha Bay, and her mother and four others have been arrested and charged with kidnapping and human trafficking.
Also read: ‘Money for drugs’: Relative of Joshlin Smith Accused Breaks Silence
Update: Police Hit Dead End in Search for Missing Joshlin Smith
Provincial Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile expressed frustration over the lack of progress in the investigation, stating that all leads have been thoroughly pursued. At the time of reporting, the next steps in the case remain uncertain, although the search for Joshlin has been expanded globally.
“We followed every lead – but we have come to a dead end. Every lead that has been given to us, we extended our net countrywide, worldwide, not even countrywide, worldwide,” Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile conveyed.
Accused Remanded in Custody
Meanwhile, the case against Joshlin’s mother, Kelly Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen ‘Boeta’ Appolis, and two others has been postponed to July 15th to allow the state to conclude its investigation. The four accused are currently in custody.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, one of the co-accused, Lourentia Lombaard, has confessed to a crime related to Joshlin’s disappearance. However, authorities have not provided further details on the confession.
Also read: Heartbreaking Betrayal: Joslin Smith Allegedly Sold by Mother for R20,000 in Shocking Missing Case
International Tip-Off and Search Efforts
Joshlin went missing on February 19th from her home in the Diazville’s Middelpos informal settlement. Her mother told police she could not find Joshlin after returning home, and her boyfriend, who was caring for the child, could not account for her whereabouts.
In April, Interpol received a tip-off suggesting Joshlin was spotted aboard the Panamanian ship, Frontier Asuka. A search of the ship docked in Wales yielded no trace of the missing child after two days.