The State maintains it has a watertight case against four people linked to the disappearance of six-year-old Joshlin Smith from Saldanha Bay.
The accused – including the little girl’s mother, Kelly Smith her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis, Steveno van Rhyn and Lourencia Lombaard, made another brief appearance in the Vredenburg Magistrates Court yesterday where the matter was remanded until July 2024.
They face charges of kidnapping and human trafficking.
The courtroom was packed as residents and the media were eager to learn whether the police and the NPA have made any further progress in the search for little Joshlin Smith.
But nearly three months later, the child has not been found.
Blood-stained clothing items found in the bushes near the child’s home in Saldanha Bay, were sent away for tests.
The results have come back and the DNA found on the clothing items does not belong to the little girl.
The State has received cellophane data and will analyse it.
The report is likely to be presented at the next court appearance on the 15th of July.
And while the investigation continues the NPA’s Eric Ntabazalila says they are confident that the correct people are in custody.
“We believe that there’s a case for them to answer. A child can’t just disappear. The appeal again would be, to anyone who got some information please come forward and share the information with the police”.
