By Thursday, six-year-old Joshlin Smith has been missing for 10 days, yet this has not deterred the community from searching for her.
Joshlin, from Diazville in Saldanha Bay along the West Coast, was last seen on Monday, February 19, at about 5pm.
She is a Grade 1 learner at Diazville Primary School.
Police confirmed a missing persons report was opened at the local police station on Tuesday, February 20.
Joshlin’s mother, Kelly Smith told police she asked about the whereabouts of the child, but could not find her. She later got hold of her boyfriend, Jacquin Appollis, who was supposed to look after the child, but he could not account for her whereabouts.
At the time of her disappearance, Joshlin was last seen wearing a light blue T-shirt and light blue denim shorts. She also has a birthmark located on her left arm.
On Wednesday, police confirmed they will be scaling down its search for the missing girl.
Western Cape police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Pojie said while teams are still working around the clock in locating the missing girl, the search has been scaled down, as no trace could be found, even though all avenues and resources had been exhausted.
“The investigation team are still working around the clock to follow up on all information which is received from various sources,” Pojie said.
On Thursday, IOL visited the area where residents were continuing with search efforts.
Before midday, searches at a local municipal holiday cabin area took place but this did not yield any success.
As a large crowd gathered to gear up to head to the next spot in search of Joshlin, deputy chairperson for the Patriotic Alliance (PA) in the Western Cape, Ashley Sauls, who was leading the crowd, said the search for the young girl was something that had to be done.
“I have an 11-year-old daughter. Yesterday, we could barely even sleep.
“When you look at Joshlin’s face, it’s like she is calling out to you. So, if I get asked why are we here, I will say firstly, she is a child, and secondly, she is calling out for us. And if she calls, we will answer.
“Joshlin is our child. And we will search for her as long as we need to until we find her,” Sauls told IOL.
Thereafter, a large crowd of community members got into vehicles and made their way to a farming area to follow a lead which may lead to the discovery of Joshlin.
Before entering the farms, a group prayer was conducted and chants for Joshlin were shouted as they readied themselves to brace the heat and the wind.
A group also found a freshly dug hole, covered by corrugated sheets which was searched and dug out even more in the hopes of finding something.
About two hours later people retreated from the farming area and the search continued.
IOL