The mom of a Saldanha Bay girl missing for three days says her motherly instincts tell her the seven year old is still alive.
Little Joshlin Smith disappeared from her Diazville home on Monday while her mother Kelly, 33, was at work.
According to Kelly, the Grade 1 learner was sick so she didn’t go to school and she left her in the care of her boyfriend. Joshlin’s biological father lives in the Northern Cape.
When she came home that afternoon and couldn’t find her daughter, she started searching for her, as her boyfriend also wasn’t at home.
On Tuesday morning, after the mother went to the police to open a missing person’s file, the entire community stieked out to help search for Joshlin.
Kelly tells the Daily Voice: “I was at work when she went missing. My boyfriend said he didn’t know where she went. He is cooperating with the police, as I am.
“My motherly instincts are telling me my daughter is still alive and in this area. We will find her, I will walk on foot to find her. I will look in every little shack, I’m going to do it by myself if I have to.”
According to reports, Joshlin was last seen walking with an older boy.
Kelly says: “People keep telling me that they saw her with an older boy. I also want to know who that is.
“I am distraught, I’m broken, I don’t know where my child is, I can’t sleep without knowing what is happening with her.”
The search for the little girl will resume this morning police spokesperson, Malcolm Pojie, says.
Pojie says: “Preliminary information reveals that Joshlin was left at home on Monday with the mother’s boyfriend to look after her as she was not feeling well.
“Later that afternoon, when the mother returned from work, her daughter was not home. She asked about the whereabouts of the child, but could not find her.
“She later got hold of her boyfriend who was supposed to look after the child, but he was unable to account for her whereabouts.
“At the time of Joshlin’s disappearance, she was wearing a light-blue T-shirt and light-blue denim shorts.
“Following the report by her mother, a full-scale search was initiated comprising the investigating officer attached to the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS), visible policing members, Disaster Risk Management (DRM) personnel and a magnitude of community members.”
On Wednesday morning when the Daily Voice arrived in Saldanha Bay, a group of about 200 people were looking for Joshlin including Mayor, Andre Truter, and the DRM team armed with drones.
Truter says: “There’s no concrete direct evidence except that the girl was last seen on Monday. After that she disappeared into thin air.
“We have our whole law enforcement, Carol Ferris, DRM manager, she coordinated the civilians, councillors, neighbourhood watch members, even business people have stepped forward to help find the child.”
Angry community members vowed to search people’s shacks to find Joshlin after the search was postponed on Wednesday afternoon.
One woman says: “We are going to take the law into our own hands if they do not want to give us answers, we must do something.”
Anyone with information about Joshlin is requested to contact Sergeant Millstine on 079 879 8588 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111.