Joshlin Smith’s granny shocked her daughter didn’t cry after granddaughter disappeared
Smith and two others are charged with kidnapping and human trafficking related to Joshlin's disappearance from Middelpos in Saldanha Bay in February 2024.
Joshlin Smith's mother, Kelly Smith, in the dock at the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town on 31 January 2025. Picture: Carlo Petersen/EWN
CAPE TOWN - Missing six-year-old Joshlin Smith's grandmother said she's in shock after hearing her daughter-in-law, Kelly Smith, showed no emotions when the little girl went missing.
Smith and two others are charged with kidnapping and human trafficking related to Joshlin's disappearance from Middelpos in Saldanha Bay in February 2024.
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The trial for Smith and her co-accused started in the Western Cape High Court sitting in Saldanha Bay on Monday.
The State's first witness, Constable Yanga Gongotha, said when he interviewed Smith on the day Joshlin went missing, she showed no emotions about her missing child.
Joshlin's grandmother, Lorita Yon, was at the trial.
"I was shocked. I was really shocked. I didn't expect this - for Kelly not to have feelings for her missing child," she said.
Yon said it's strange for a mother not to show emotions when her child is missing.
"I'm sad, yes, because I'm a mother, and as a mother, if your child goes missing, I'm already crazy if I don't see my child, so I'm in shock."
The trial will continue at the Saldanha multi-purpose centre on Tuesday.