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Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Joshlin Smith Still Missing: Mother and Co-Accused Sentenced to Life for Kidnapping and Trafficking

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Although her convicted kidnappers and traffickers were handed life sentences this morning, little Joslin Smith remains missing.

 

Judge Nathan Erasmus handed the little girl’s mother Kelly Smith and her two co-accused Steveno van Rhyn and Jacquen Appollis to life imprisonment at the Western Cape High Court’s circuit court in Saldanha Bay this morning.

 

READ MORE: Joshlin Smith’s human traffickers sentenced to life imprisonment

 

Erasmus also ordered that their names be added to the National Child Protection Register.

 

Speaking outside the packed court house earlier, Western Cape Police Commissioner Lt Gen Thembisile Patekile confirmed to journalists that the hunt for the missing child remains ongoing, as the missing persons case dock is still open for investigation.

 

“We are continuing day and night, looking for Joshlin, and we are still appealing to everybody, let’s work together to find the missing child, and all other missing children out there,” said Patekile.

 

The green-eyed girl disappeared from her home in the Middelpos Informal Settlement, on 19 February 2024, and has not been seen since.

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