A six-year-old girl who went missing last year was sought by a ‘healer’ for her ‘light eyes and skin’, a court has heard. 

Joshlin Smith disappeared in February 2024, and her mother Kelly Smith has been accused of orchestrating her kidnapping from their hometown in South Africa. 

The little girl, who has a fair complexion and turquoise eyes, vanished from outside her home in Saldanha Bay, near Cape Town, prompting a high-profile search mission according to the BBC.

Since then, Kelly, along with her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn have been charged with human trafficking and kidnapping. 

They have all pleaded not guilty and will remain in custody. 

In the days after Joshlin disappeared, local media reported that neighbors accused her mother, also known as Racquel Chantel Smith, of selling her for just over $1,000. 

During the first week of her trial, the court heard from a local pastor who said that he heard Kelly, who has three children, talk about selling them for 20,000 rand, which is the equivalent of $1,100. 

Lourentia Lombaard, Kelly’s friend and neighbor, said that in the days before Joshlin disappeared, the mother confessed to her that she had sold her child to a ‘sangoma’ – a traditional healer. 

Lombaard said she later saw Kelly pack some of Joshlin’s clothing into a black bag, which she was carrying when she met a woman she believes was the sangoma. 

Kelly climbed into a white car with Joshlin and the sangoma, according to Lombaard, and they drove away. 

Lombaard said ‘the person who took Joshlin wanted her for her eyes and skin’. It was unclear why the sangoma wanted a child with these features. 

A woman believed to be the sangoma was arrested alongside the other defendants last year, but the charges against her were dropped due to a lack of evidence.  

Sangomas are recognized in South Africa under the Traditional Health Practitioners Act of 2007.  It is believed they can access ancestral spirits who guide their healing. 

Joshlin is still missing despite a major search operation involving police, firefighters, city authorities and specialized sniffer dog units around the family home. 

Police said children’s clothing had been recovered last weekend near the settlement of small houses and shacks where Joshlin lived. It was sent to a laboratory for forensic examination. 

Community members who are also involved in the search said the clothing was spattered with blood and a knife was also found. Police didn’t give any more details on what was discovered.

Prosecutors said in court documents released Thursday that Kelly Smith and the others conspired to abduct Joslin and intentionally sold, delivered or exchanged her. 

The suspects face a sentence of life in prison if convicted of the main charge of human trafficking.

The four suspects left the courthouse in Vredenburg, a town near Saldanha Bay, in an armored police van as a large crowd gathered outside, repeatedly shouting ‘Justice for Joshlin.’

Western Cape province police commissioner Thembisile Patekile told reporters that more arrests could be made, but authorities also had to re-focus on the search for Joshlin.

‘At this stage, we do not have a child,’ he said. ‘Our ultimate goal is to find the child. We still want to find that child alive.’

Authorities have given different spellings for the girl’s name. Police identified her as Joslin, while prosecutors named her as Joshlin in their documents. It wasn’t immediately possible to verify the spelling of her name.