Joshlin Smith trial: Detective says blood-stained bedsheet and pillowcase were retrieved from a shack
Joshlin's mother Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appollis and Stevano van Rhyn are charged for allegedly selling the six-year-old to an unknown woman in Saldanha Bay.
Kelly Smith (right), Jacquen Appolis and Stevano van Rhyn appeared in the high court sitting at the Saldanha Bay Multi-Purpose Centre in Saldanha Bay on 3 March 2025. Picture: Carlo Petersen/EWN
CAPE TOWN - A police detective says a blood-stained bedsheet and pillowcase were retrieved from the shack Joshlin Smith was living in shortly after she disappeared.
The state's fourth witness took the stand on Thursday in the kidnapping and human trafficking trial related to the little girl's disappearance.
Joshlin's mother Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appollis and Stevano van Rhyn are charged for allegedly selling the six-year-old to an unknown woman in Saldanha Bay.
Family violence, child protection and sexual offences (FCS) detective Sergeant Meyer Milstein told the court he briefly interviewed Kelly Smith and Jacquen Appollis at their shack in Middelpos on the 20th of February a day after Joshlin disappeared.
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He said both Smith and Appollis showed no emotions when he spoke to them about what happened to Joshlin.
Milstein told the court he had investigated at least twenty missing children cases since joining the FCS unit in 2020.
He said Smith showed no signs of stress or trauma during his first interview with her.
Milstein told the court a dog from the K-9 unit also retrieved a blood-stained bed sheet and pillowcase from the shack, during a search of the premises.
The detective will continue his testimony in the high court sitting at the Saldanha Bay multi-purpose center on Friday.