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| Six-year-old Joslin Smith has been missing for a week. (Photo: Supplied) |
Police have taken in four people of interest for questioning in connection with the disappearance of six-year-old Joslin Smith, who went missing in Diazville, Saldanha, on 19 February. The search operations are underway in refuse dumps and elsewhere, with sifting operations including more than 100,000 tonnes of rubbish and waste. Police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa confirmed that detectives are questioning two men and two women aged between 26 and 34, adding that with the investigation gaining momentum, arrests are on the cards.
Joslin's mother, Kelly Smith, said at the time that the last time she saw her daughter was when she left for work on 19 February at about 8am. She left the little girl with her boyfriend, Jacquin Appollis, and when she returned to her home in Diazville at about 5pm, Joslin was not there. This latest development comes a day after Daily Maverick was on the ground, accompanying police and law enforcement officers, wearing rubber gloves and masks, to the Saldanha Bay Municipality dumping site. They were tasked with sorting through refuse dumped over the past three weeks.
The Vredenburg landfill receives rubbish from Saldanha Bay, Langebaan, Hopefield, Laingville, and Vredenburg. The search team arrived at the site at about 10am and were shown an area about 50m wide and 100m long where rubbish from those areas had been dumped since February 19. However, the search by hand could not begin due to two layers of debris that had been compressed by a compaction machine. The layers had to be separated using a rubble removal machine before the search could begin.
At about noon, the dog unit arrived and the dog handler guided his dog through the designated area, but found nothing. Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm Pojie said that the search team will have to shift through the rubble of Saldanha Bay, Langebaan, Hopefield, Laingville, and Vredenburg dumped at the site the past three weeks. Since Joslin's disappearance, several people of interest had been taken in for questioning, but no charges laid.
As the investigation unfolds, light will be shed as to Joslin's whereabouts or what happened to her. With the investigation gaining momentum, arrests are on the cards.
