Latest / Lost: True Crime and Mystery. / Joshlin Smith: A mother’s betrayal.

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Joshlin Smith: A mother’s betrayal. · Lost: True Crime and Mystery.

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to Lost, the podcast where we navigate the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: shadowed labyrinths of human darkness, searching for those who disappeared
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: into the void. I'm your host. And today, we're traveling
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  Speaker 1: to the windswept coast of South Africa. Picture Saldana Bay.
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  Speaker 1: It's a town defined by contrasts. On one side, the
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  Speaker 1: deep blue Atlantic Ocean laps against sleepy fishing harbors and
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  Speaker 1: industrial docks. On the other side, Nestled among dusty scrubland
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  Speaker 1: and ironclad structures lies the informal settlement of Middleposts. It's
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  Speaker 1: a place of poverty, of hard lives lived on the
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  Speaker 1: fringes of society, where families scrape by amidst dusty roads,
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  Speaker 1: unpaved tracks, and makeshift zinc shacks. It was in this community,
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  Speaker 1: on a sweltering Monday afternoon, February 19th, 2024, that a
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  Speaker 1: six-year-old girl named Jocelyn Smith took her last steps in
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  Speaker 1: front of the world. Jocelyn was a bright-eyed grade one
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  Speaker 1: student at Diazville Primary School. She was known for her
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  Speaker 1: infectious smile, her striking green hazel eyes, and a spirit
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  Speaker 1: that brightened even the grayest corners of Middle Post. By
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  Speaker 1: 9 p.m. that night, six-year-old Jocelyn was gone. When a
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  Speaker 1: child vanishes, your mind instinctively turns to terrifying possibilities. A
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  Speaker 1: predatory stranger lurking in the alleyways, a tragic accident down
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  Speaker 1: by the water, or a sudden, chaotic snatching. You never
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  Speaker 1: want to look at the people inside the house. You
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  Speaker 1: never want to believe that the sanctuary was actually the trap.
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  Speaker 1: Because what unfolded over the next year in South Africa
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  Speaker 1: wasn't just a missing child investigation. It was a chilling
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  Speaker 1: revelation of greed, addiction, cold-blooded orchestration, and the ultimate act
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  Speaker 1: of maternal betrayal. Let's rewind to Sunday, February 18th, 2024,
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  Speaker 1: the day before Jocelyn disappeared. To understand how a child disappears,
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  Speaker 1: you have to look into the household dynamic. Jocelyn lived
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  Speaker 1: with her mother, Roxanne Kelly-Smith, her mother's boyfriend, Joaquin Apollos,
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  Speaker 1: and her siblings. To understand how a child disappears, you
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  Speaker 1: have to look into the household dynamic. Jocelyn lived with
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  Speaker 1: her mother, Roxanne Kelly-Smith, her mother's boyfriend, Joaquin Apollos, and
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  Speaker 1: her siblings. To the outside observer, it was a household
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  Speaker 1: struggling under the weight of severe drug dependency. In the
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  Speaker 1: internet forums and subreddits like r slash unresolved mysteries and
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  Speaker 1: r slash true crime discussion, locals would later detail the
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  Speaker 1: harsh reality of middle pass. Illicit substance abuse, specifically methamphetamine,
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  Speaker 1: known locally as TIC, ran rampant, destroying lives and fragmenting families.
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  Speaker 1: According to court indictments that would later shock the nation,
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  Speaker 1: something strange happened that Sunday afternoon. Kelly Smith took six-year-old
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  Speaker 1: Jocelyn by the hand and walked out toward a white
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  Speaker 1: vehicle parked near their informal dwelling. An unknown woman stepped
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  Speaker 1: out of the car, spoke briefly with Kelly, handed her
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  Speaker 1: an object, and Kelly walked Jocelyn back home. Later that evening,
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  Speaker 1: inside the tin walls of their home, a sinister conversation
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  Speaker 1: took place. Present were Kelly, her boyfriend Boeta Apollos, their
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  Speaker 1: friend Stefano Van Ryn, and a neighbor named Laurentia Lombard.
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  Speaker 1: They weren't discussing rent or groceries. They were discussing a transaction.
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  Speaker 1: They were dividing up the price of a child. Monday morning,
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  Speaker 1: February 19th. It was a school day, but Kelly kept
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  Speaker 1: Jocelyn and her brother home. Witnesses later testified that Kelly
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  Speaker 1: packed Jocelyn's small belongings into a bag. She then left
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  Speaker 1: for work, leaving Jocelyn in the care of Boeta Apollos.
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  Speaker 1: Throughout the day, Boeta, Stefano, and Laurentia hung around the house,
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  Speaker 1: smoking and hanging out while the children played. By late afternoon,
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  Speaker 1: Kelly returned from work. But Jocelyn wasn't there. When asked
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  Speaker 1: where the little girl was, Boeta gave a story that
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  Speaker 1: seemed reasonable enough at first glance. He claimed Jocelyn felt sick,
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  Speaker 1: or that she had gone off to play with a
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  Speaker 1: neighbor's child, and simply hadn't returned. Hours ticked away. 6 p.m.
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  Speaker 1: 7 p.m. 8 p.m. Finally, around 9 p.m., Kelly Smith
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  Speaker 1: walked into the local police station to report her six-year-old
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  Speaker 1: daughter missing. The moment news broke that little Jocelyn was missing,
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  Speaker 1: Middle Posse exploded into action. If you were following the
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  Speaker 1: case on Reddit back in early 2024, you saw the
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  Speaker 1: frantic updates live. Members of the Western Cape community were
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  Speaker 1: posting appeals, sharing posters, and rallying search teams. Hundreds of
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  Speaker 1: local residents, outraged and terrified, grabbed flashlights, sticks, and whistles.
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  Speaker 1: They combed through the surrounding sand dunes, scoured open velds,
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  Speaker 1: searched drainage pipes, and dug through piles of trash. South
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  Speaker 1: African police service, SAPS, deployed specialized canine units, drones, and
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  Speaker 1: helicopter search teams. Even the South African Navy joined the effort,
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  Speaker 1: sending divers to search the surrounding harbor waters and coastline.
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  Speaker 1: Every corner of Saldana Bay was put under a magnifying glass.
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  Speaker 1: Police searched hundreds of homes, interviewed scores of potential witnesses.
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  Speaker 1: and analyzed CCTV footage across the municipality. And right in
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  Speaker 1: front of the television cameras was Kelly Smith. Wearing a
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  Speaker 1: look of deep distress, Kelly did live interviews. She wept
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  Speaker 1: for the media. She pleaded for her daughter's return. She
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  Speaker 1: stood alongside community leaders, demanding that whoever took her precious
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  Speaker 1: baby girl bring her home safely. On subreddits like slash
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  Speaker 1: res slash South Africa, users initially expressed immense sympathy. It
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  Speaker 1: was every parent's worst nightmare. a small child snatched out
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  Speaker 1: of her own neighborhood while her mother was at work.
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  Speaker 1: But beneath the surface, seasoned detectives and observant neighbors were
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  Speaker 1: starting to notice cracks in the facade. First, there was
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  Speaker 1: the demeanor. Police officers noted that during initial formal statements,
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  Speaker 1: Kelly appeared strangely calm and detached, given the catastrophic nature
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  Speaker 1: of the event. Second, the timelines weren't adding up. Bota
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  Speaker 1: Apollos and Stephen O. Van Ryn kept changing their stories
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  Speaker 1: about the last time they saw Jocelyn, what she was wearing,
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  Speaker 1: and who she was with. Then came March 4, 2024.
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  Speaker 1: During a late-night search in an open field near the settlement,
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  Speaker 1: search teams found discarded pieces of clothing, stained with what
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  Speaker 1: appeared to be blood. Forensic teams swept in, bagging the evidence.
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  Speaker 1: The atmosphere in Saldana Bay turned from anxious hope to dark,
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  Speaker 1: terrible suspicions. 24 hours later, the investigation took a seismic turn.
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  Speaker 1: On March 5th, 2024, the South African Police Service didn't
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  Speaker 1: arrest a random stranger. They arrested four people. Jacqueline Buta Apollos,
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  Speaker 1: Stavino Van Rijn, a local woman suspected of being a
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  Speaker 1: traditional healer, and Kelly Smith, Jocelyn's own mother. The news
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  Speaker 1: hit South Africa like a thunderbolt. Outside the Vredenburg magistrate's court,
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  Speaker 1: Hundreds of community members gathered, shouting in anger, throwing rocks,
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  Speaker 1: and trying to break through police lines. Riot police had
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  Speaker 1: to deploy stun grenades and tear gas just to escort
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  Speaker 1: the suspects into the building. The community's grief transformed overnight
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  Speaker 1: into absolute fury. How could a mother be involved in
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  Speaker 1: the disappearance of her own six-year-old child? As the police
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  Speaker 1: interrogations intensified, the terrifying reality of what happened began to
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  Speaker 1: spill out. While initial charges against the traditional healer were
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  Speaker 1: eventually withdrawn due to insufficient direct evidence at that stage,
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  Speaker 1: another arrest was made. Laurentia Lombard, the family friend who
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  Speaker 1: had been in the house. And then Lombard did something
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  Speaker 1: that shattered the defense. She agreed to become a state
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  Speaker 1: witness in exchange for having charges against her re-evaluated. What
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  Speaker 1: Lombard told prosecutors felt like something out of a horror film.
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  Speaker 1: Lombard testified under oath. that Kelly Smith had intentionally sold
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  Speaker 1: her daughter, Jocelyn, for cash, allegedly for 20,000 rand. Why
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  Speaker 1: would someone buy a six-year-old child? In the online true
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  Speaker 1: crime space and Reddit threads discussing the case, the term
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  Speaker 1: Muti began to surface, a reference to traditional medicine practices
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  Speaker 1: in Southern Africa. While the overwhelming majority of traditional healers, Sangomas,
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  Speaker 1: use natural herbs and ethical practices to heal, there exists
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  Speaker 1: a dark, sinister underworld. In this shadow world, corrupt individuals
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  Speaker 1: perform horrific rituals using human body parts, believing it bestows power, wealth,
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  Speaker 1: or health. Chilling testimony offered during court proceedings pointed to
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  Speaker 1: a rumor so terrifying it chilled the country to its core,
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  Speaker 1: that Jocelyn had been requested by a buyer specifically for
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  Speaker 1: her eyes and skin. Others suggested the money was meant
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  Speaker 1: to pay off mounting drug debts or secure a long-term fix.
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  Speaker 1: Whatever the underlying transaction was, the core truth remained unchanged.
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  Speaker 1: Jocelyn had been treated not as a precious child, but
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  Speaker 1: as a piece of merchandise. The legal proceedings dragged on
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  Speaker 1: through late 2024 and into 2025. The interest in the
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  Speaker 1: case was so massive and public outrage so volatile that
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  Speaker 1: authorities converted a multipurpose center in Saldana Bay into a
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  Speaker 1: high-security courtroom so local residents could witness justice being served firsthand.
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  Speaker 1: In March 2025, the trial officially commenced under Judge Nathan
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  Speaker 1: Erasmus in the Western Cape High Court. The dock held
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  Speaker 1: three main defendants, Kelly Smith, Jacqueline Bota Apollos, and Stephen O.
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  Speaker 1: Van Ryn. All three pleaded not guilty to charges of
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  Speaker 1: human trafficking and kidnapping. Day after day, witnesses took the stand.
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  Speaker 1: Neighbors testified. about hearing arguments and seeing Kelly walk Jocelyn
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  Speaker 1: toward that mysterious white car on the day before she vanished.
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  Speaker 1: Former employers painted a heartbreaking picture of Kelly's descent into
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  Speaker 1: heavy drug addiction and neglect. Family friends recounted how they
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  Speaker 1: had once tried to adopt Jocelyn, desperate to remove the
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  Speaker 1: little girl from an environment filled with danger, substance abuse,
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  Speaker 1: and chaos. State Witness Laurentia Lombard delivered damning testimony. She
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  Speaker 1: described how Kelly promised her 1,000 rand to keep her
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  Speaker 1: mouth shut. She detailed the cold calculation behind the plan,
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  Speaker 1: revealing that as early as August 2023, Kelly had talked
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  Speaker 1: about finding a way to make her children disappear from money.
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  Speaker 1: Defense attorneys fought back fiercely, They accused police officers of
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  Speaker 1: extracting coerced confessions through intimidation. They pointed out inconsistencies in
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  Speaker 1: Lombard's earlier police statements, claiming she was an unreliable witness
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  Speaker 1: who changed her story under pressure. But Judge Nathan Erasmus
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  Speaker 1: looked through the web of deceit. On May 2, 2025,
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  Speaker 1: Judge Erasmus delivered his verdict. He ruled that the evidence
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: clearly demonstrated a pre-planned, cold, and calculated scheme of human trafficking.
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  Speaker 1: This was no tragic accident. This was not a child
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  Speaker 1: wandering off. Kelly Smith, Jachin Bota-Apolis, and Stephen O. Van
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  Speaker 1: Ryn were all found guilty of human trafficking and kidnapping.
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  Speaker 1: Later that month, on May 29, 2025, the hammer of
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  Speaker 1: justice came down. Judge Erasmus sentenced all three to life
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  Speaker 1: imprisonment for human trafficking, plus an additional 10 years for kidnapping.
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  Speaker 1: In his sentencing remarks, the judge condemned the utter betrayal
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  Speaker 1: of trust. calling it one of the most abhorrent crimes
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  Speaker 1: to ever come before the court. The mother, who was
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  Speaker 1: supposed to protect her child from the monsters of the world,
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  Speaker 1: had become the monster herself. The trial came to an end.
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  Speaker 1: The jail cell doors slammed shut on Kelly Smith and
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  Speaker 1: her accomplices. Legally, justice was served. But as the gavel
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  Speaker 1: echoed through the courtroom, one horrific, agonizing question remained unanswered.
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  Speaker 1: Where is Jocelyn Smith? Despite life sentences, Despite intensive police interrogations,
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  Speaker 1: despite international alerts issued through Interpol and searches spanning land, sea,
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  Speaker 1: and neighboring borders, Jocelyn has never been found. None of
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  Speaker 1: the convicted individuals reveal the exact location where Jocelyn was taken,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: nor who ultimately received her. They took the secret with
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: them into their prison cells. If you go to Reddit today,
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  Speaker 1: on forums like r slash MissingBIPOC or r slash TrueCrimeDiscussion,
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  Speaker 1: The thread for Jocelyn Smith is still active. People post updates,
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  Speaker 1: hold digital vigils, and share photos of her bright, smiling face.
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  Speaker 1: Users frequently comment on the agonizing nature of this case.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: When a suspect goes to prison for murder or kidnapping,
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  Speaker 1: there is usually a body to bury, a memorial to hold,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: a quiet grave where loved ones can place flowers. But
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: for Jocelyn's grandmother, her classmates, and the community of Saldana Bay,
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  Speaker 1: there is no closure. Was she smuggled out of the
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  Speaker 1: country on a cargo ship leaving Saldana Harbor? Is she
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: hidden somewhere across international borders? Or did she suffer the ultimate,
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  Speaker 1: tragic fate at the hands of black market buyers? No
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  Speaker 1: one knows. The story of Jocelyn Smith is a horrifying
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  Speaker 1: reminder of how fragile safety can be when those charged
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  Speaker 1: with protecting us turn against us. It exposes the dark
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  Speaker 1: intersections where extreme poverty, drug addiction, and criminal greed collide
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  Speaker 1: to devour the innocent. Jocelyn was just six years old.
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  Speaker 1: She loved playing outside. She had her whole life ahead
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  Speaker 1: of her. She deserved a mother who would shield her
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  Speaker 1: from danger, not sell her for a stack of cash.
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  Speaker 1: As long as Jocelyn remains missing, her story cannot end.
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  Speaker 1: If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Jocelyn Smith,
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: or if you live in Southern Africa and saw something
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: around Saldana Bay in February 2024, please contact the South
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  Speaker 1: African Police Service or your local authorities. Anonymous tips can
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: be submitted through Crimestop. Thank you for listening to Episode
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: 5 of Lost. If you found this episode meaningful, please rate, review,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: and subscribe on Spotify, Deezer, or wherever you get your
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: audio fix. Share Jocelyn's story. Keep her name alive. Because
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: somewhere out there, a little girl is still waiting to
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  Speaker 1: be found. Until next time, stay safe, stay vigilant, and
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: never stop searching for the lost.