[imagesource:dailyvoice]

The search for missing six-year-old Joshlin Smith has entered its second month.

Last week, Police Minister Bheki Cele revealed that the South African Police Service (Saps) were even working with Interpol to find the missing six-year-old Saldanha girl.

Joshlin went missing on 19 February from the Middelpos informal settlement near Diazville, when her mom Kelly claimed to have left her daughter with her boyfriend only to return to find she was gone.

The latest developments in this tragic disappearance case that has gripped the nation came to light on April 3 when Cele said on SABC 2’s Morning Live that the latest items taken for DNA testing could not be positively linked to Joshlin, The Citizen reported.

The discovery of a blue fleece shirt, Karrimor backpack, baby blanket and a piece of bone was made after residents complained to the Saldanha Municipality about a blocked drain at the back of Diazville High School in Noorddam Street.

Residents claim that the clothing – allegedly stained with blood – belonged to one of the accused who they say were spotted in their street, as well as at the drain.

Since this is such sensitive information, the truth of the matter will only be revealed in court once the investigation has been completed.

On 3 March, Western Cape police said they had found a child’s bloodstained clothes, a sheet and a knife the previous evening in an open field in Middelpos, three kilometres from Joshlin’s home. Again, no information has been released on whether the blood on these items is that of Joshlin.

Cele added that police had expanded their search operation beyond South African borders, working closely with Interpol and other “sister organisations”. An extensive search of a ship anchored in a London port, according to Cele, unfortunately, yielded no results.

“A week ago, a ship was searched in London because there was information indicating she could have been in that one. It took about two-and-a-half days for the ship to be searched. She could not be found there.

The Daily Maverick revealed more information about this failed two-day ship search, reporting that it was searched while docked in Port Talbot, Wales. Cele might need a geography lesson in addition to all the other things he needs to learn.

Apparently, a Gauteng couple, Mark and Anouschika Hageman, reported a tip to the international Human Trafficking Hotline Web Chat, which led to the search of the Panamanian ship Frontier Asuka, which left Saldanha Bay harbour days after Joshlin Smith’s disappearance.

The couple got involved when Rev June Dolley-Major, who helped to search for Joshlin when she went missing on 19 February, told them that the Panamanian ship Frontier Asuka had left the Port of Saldanha on 23 February.

Image: DM

The Hagemans reported this to the international Human Trafficking Hotline Web Chat and after the boat docked in Port Talbot, the police searched it on Saturday, 16 March and Sunday, 17 March.

Unfortunately, after a thorough examination of the vessel, no evidence was discovered of any missing person.

Mark said he downloaded a boat tracker app and followed the ship’s route to Port Talbot. He said he contacted the Royal Navy command office in the United Kingdom, Port Talbot and the Coast Guard before turning to the hotline.

“Although Joshlin was not found we felt relieved and it was as if a burden was lifted off our shoulders, because we, like all South Africans, want to know what happened to Joshlin,” Hageman said.

The reason for the Hagemans to be so freaked out about this specific ship is not clear, with some people asking what the probable cause was for the search in the first place.

Joshlin’s mother, Racquel “Kelly” Smith, her boyfriend Jacquin Appolis, 31, Steveno van Rhyn, 27, and Lourentia Lombard, 32, face charges of kidnapping and trafficking.

Smith, Appollis and Van Rhyn abandoned their bail applications in the Vredenburg Magistrates’ Court on 7 March, while Lombaard abandoned her bail application in the same court on 25 March.

The four accused will return to the Vredenburg Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 13 May.

[source:dailymaverick&citizen]