Social media reports surfaced yesterday claiming that the body of missing Joshlin Smith has been found. Joshlin was six years old when she disappeared from her home in Saldanha Bay on February 19, 2024, and remains missing to this day.

Police spokesperson Captain F.C. van Wyk says the latest posts have been ‘noted with concern’ and labels them as false.

“A plea is hereby made to social media users, to use these platforms responsibly and to verify the source as well as the authenticity of the information before sharing it,” Van Wyk adds.

Recent comments

One of these posts claims Joshlin’s body was found by a cadaver dog. The disturbing claims follow shortly after Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie’s comments last weekend at the launch of the Joshlin Smith Foundation at the Dial Rock Community Centre in Saldanha Bay.

The Citizen reports that at the time, McKenzie said he received new information that could lead to a breakthrough in Joshlin’s case. He claimed that he would’ve gone to Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia.

“I’m not going through cops, but straight to the minister because he’s an honest man,” McKenzie said.

It is unclear if the two ministers spoke.

Unrelated body discovered

Van Wyk meanwhile did confirm that a body was found by Saldanha police, but that it was that of an adult male and in a decomposing state. The body was found on Thursday at 13:30 in an open field in Jacobsbaai, roughly 15km from Saldanha.

“The extreme weather conditions the past few days made it currently impossible to identify the body. A postmortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death, age and race of the person,” he says, adding that anyone with information about this incident is requested to contact Saldanha police or the Crime Stop number on 08600 10111.

Case background

• Joshlin’s mother, Racquel ‘Kelly’, and her two co-accused were sentenced on May 29 last year.
• Judge Nathan Erasmus found Smith and her two co-accused — a boyfriend and a mutual friend — guilty on charges of human trafficking and kidnapping.
• Explosive details that played out in court included statements from the girl’s teacher and a pastor, who said the mother had told him of the planned sale of her child in 2023.

*The article has been amended to use the spelling of Joshlin and not Joslin, throughout the article.

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