CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The mother of a 6-year-old girl who has been missing in South Africa for nearly three weeks was arrested and charged Thursday with kidnapping, selling and trafficking her daughter, but the case remains unclear. It was a shocking development. The incident attracted national attention and sparked deep anger in the small, impoverished coastal community where the family lives.
The girl, Jocelyn Smith, has not yet been found, and police are calling on “everyone, every citizen” to search for her, fearing she may have been taken to another city or abroad. We once again call for cooperation.
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Days after Jocelyn disappeared last month, local media reported that neighbors accused Jocelyn’s mother of selling her for just over $1,000.
Emotions ran high last weekend when the child’s discarded clothing was discovered near Jocelyn’s home.
Her mother, Kelly Smith (prosecutors’ full name is Raquel Chantel Smith), is currently charged with kidnapping and human trafficking along with three other people, two men and one woman. One of the men is Smith’s boyfriend. She left Jocelyn with him while she went to work on February 19, she claimed.
Jocelyn was reported missing that day.
Kelly Smith, mother of missing 6-year-old Jocelyn Smith, appears in court in Vredenburg, South Africa, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. In a shocking turn of events, Smith was charged with kidnapping, selling and trafficking her daughter. The incident captivated the nation and caused deep anger among the people of the small, impoverished coastal community where the family lives.
The four suspects did not enter a plea to the charges, and another court hearing was scheduled for next week. They will remain in custody, prosecutors said.
A massive search operation involving police, firefighters, city authorities and a specialist sniffer dog team was carried out around the home near Saldanha Bay, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Cape Town on South Africa’s west coast. Despite this, Jocelyn has not been found. The National Police Minister visited the area and met with Kelly Smith.
Police said the child’s clothing was found over the weekend near a community of small houses and shacks where Jocelyn lived. It was sent to a laboratory for forensic testing. Local residents who also participated in the search said blood was splattered on his clothes and a knife was also found. Police did not provide further details about what was found.
Prosecutors said in court documents released Thursday that Kelly Smith and others conspired to kidnap Jocelyn and intentionally sold, delivered and traded her. If convicted of the main charge of human trafficking, the suspects could be sentenced to life in prison.
The four suspects left the courthouse in Vredenburg, a town near Saldanha Bay, in an armored police van as a large crowd gathered outside and chanted “Justice for Jocelyn!”
Western Cape police chief Thembisile Patekile told reporters that while more arrests were possible, authorities needed to refocus their search for Jocelyn.
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“At this stage we don’t have any children,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is to find the child. We still hope to find the child alive.”
Authorities have given the girl’s name a different spelling. Her police identified her as Joshlyn, and prosecutors named her Joshlyn in her documents. She could not immediately confirm the spelling of her name.
