Joshlin, who was six when she disappeared, is still missing following a nationwide police hunt. Smith — whose full name is Racquel Chantel Smith — was charged with kidnapping and human trafficking. Prosecutors alleged she organized the abduction of her daughter in return for payment with the help of her partner Jacquin Appollis and friend Steveno van Rhyn. All three defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges as the trial opened in a sports hall in the small coastal town of Saldanha Bay. The trial was moved to the hall to give members of the community an opportunity to attend. Smith won sympathy across South Africa in the early days of Joshlin's disappearance and neighbours joined together to help police search for the child in sand dunes near the impoverished settlement of shacks and small houses where they lived. Smith claimed she left Joshlin with Appollis on the day she went missing in February 2024 and hadn't seen her again.