A mom from South Africa has just been sentenced after being found guilty of kidnapping and trafficking her own daughter.
The girl, six-year-old Joshlin Smith, went missing back in February 2024, right outside her home in Saldanha Bay, near Cape Town.
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Joshlin still hasn’t been found. But her mother, Racquel “Kelly” Smith, along with her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn, all ended up in court.
They were accused of handing Joshlin over to a sangoma, a traditional healer, who wanted her for her eyes and skin.
A neighbor says Joshlin was sold for money
One of the witnesses, a neighbor named Lourentia Lombaard, said she was told by Smith that she sold her daughter for 20,000 rand — about $1,100.
She told the court, “[The] person who [allegedly took] Joshlin wanted her for her eyes and skin.”
What a local pastor heard before the girl vanished
Another witness, a local pastor, said he’d overheard Smith talking about selling her children sometime in 2023.
He said she mentioned amounts like $1,100, but also said she’d take as little as $275.
A creepy claim about a shipping container
Joshlin’s teacher also shared something pretty disturbing.
She said Smith told her that her daughter was “inside a ship container” and was “on the way to West Africa.”
The court case lasted two months
The whole trial took place at the White City Multipurpose Centre. It lasted eight weeks before wrapping up earlier this week.
All three got the same sentence
Judge Nathan Erasmus didn’t hold back. He said there was no difference between the three of them when it came to blame.
He gave them each life in prison.
He broke it down, saying, “On the human trafficking charge, you are sentenced to life imprisonment. On the kidnapping charge, you are sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.”
Police are still trying to find out what happened
Joshlin’s still missing, and the search hasn’t stopped.
The Western Cape police commissioner, Thembisile Patekile, said, “We will not rest until we find [out] what happened to Joshlin. We are continuing day and night looking for her.”
Prosecutors believe this was a case of slavery
The National Prosecuting Authority said they believe Joshlin was “sold [and] delivered to the intended buyer” so she could be exploited.
They said this was for “slavery or practices similar to slavery.”
