Three adults received life prison terms for human trafficking after courts found them guilty of taking six-year-old Joshlin Smith. Kelly Smith serves as the missing child's mother and faces the same punishment as her two partners in the crime. Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn also got life sentences for trafficking the young girl from her family. Each person must serve ten additional years for kidnapping charges related to the same case. Judges decided all prison terms will happen at the same time rather than one after another.
The little girl vanished from her family home at Middelpos informal settlement during February last year. Saldanha Bay police started searching for Joshlin when her mother reported her missing from their community. Court evidence showed the three adults worked together to take the child away from her neighborhood. The disappearance shocked residents who knew the family and had watched Joshlin grow up in the area. Search teams spent months looking for the missing girl before arresting the suspects.
The little girl vanished from her family home at Middelpos informal settlement during February last year. Saldanha Bay police started searching for Joshlin when her mother reported her missing from their community. Court evidence showed the three adults worked together to take the child away from her neighborhood. The disappearance shocked residents who knew the family and had watched Joshlin grow up in the area. Search teams spent months looking for the missing girl before arresting the suspects.
