A woman who committed the ultimate betrayal will spend her life behind bars. On Thursday, Judge Nathan Erasmus found Kelly Smith guilty of selling her 6-year-old daughter Joshlin Smith to feed her drug addiction, sentencing her to life imprisonment for trafficking. More than a year has passed since the little girl vanished. The community still searches desperately for the sweet girl who should have been safe at home.
Kelly didn’t work alone in this evil crime. Her boyfriend, Jacquen Appollis, and their accomplice Steve van Rhyn also faced conviction alongside her. The three planned something against every human instinct. Consumed by her craving for methamphetamine (locally known as “tik“), crossed every moral boundary. She sold her child for drugs.
A Disappearance That Shattered a Community
Little Joshlin disappeared from her home in Middelpos, Saldanha, South Africa, on February 19, 2024. Her mother told police she had gone missing while playing outside, and the community helped search for her. But officers noticed something wrong with Kelly’s behavior. Most mothers would be upset and worried, but she stayed strangely calm. Then came a TikTok video where she said her daughter was “beautiful with blue eyes and that it might be human trafficking.”
Everything changed when the police found out the terrible truth. She had sold her daughter to a traditional healer for drug money. Police arrested three adults and discovered an evil plan.