Joshlin Smith, 6, went missing in South Africa last year. Her disappearance stole the hearts of thousands of people across the globe – prompting a national search
An evil mother has been convicted of kidnapping and trafficking her daughter so her eyes and skin could be sold for around £750. Joshlin Smith, aged 6, hit headlines after a photograph of her smiling with her bright green eyes and two pigtails was released to raise awareness of her disappearance.
She vanished from plain sight in February 2024, with her mother, Kelly, initially managing to gain sympathy. Kelly, whose full name is Racquel Chantel Smith, received overwhelming amounts of support as dozens offered their help with the police search. Members of the public volunteered to scour through deep sand dunes by their neighbourhood close to the west coast town of Saldanha Bay, about 75 miles north of Cape Town.
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Smith said she had left Joshlin with her boyfriend on the day she disappeared, but the case took a shocking twist when Smith was arrested. Smith’s neighbour, Lourentia Lombaard, exposed her lies and said she had told her she “did something silly” and “sold my child to a sangoma.”
Lombaard testified in court and said that Smith offered her and locals money to keep quiet about what had happened, reports the BBC. Joshlin’s teacher also revealed that Smith had told her she was “on a ship, inside a container, and they were on the way to West Africa.”
The judge’s verdict did not make any conclusions on who the child was sold to or exactly what happened to her. Smith, her boyfriend Jacquin Appollis, and their friend Steveno van Rhyn, face life in prison and the judge said sentencing hearings will begin next week.
People attending the trial cheered and applauded when Judge Nathan Erasmus read out the guilty verdicts. The trial was held in a sports centre that had more space than a court so that members of the community could attend.
