The Misery Machine - The Case of Joshlin Smith

Episode Date: May 27, 2025

This week, Drewby and Yergy head to South Africa to discuss the case of Joshlin Smith, a beautiful little girl who live with her mother and siblings in a small one room shack in the village of Middelpos. But when Joshlin went missing on February 19th, 2024, her community was in shock and went out looking for her. But when rumor spread that her mother, Kelly, sold her to a "sangoma" or "witch" for her skin and eyes, that same community demanded swift justice be served. As of the date of this recording in 2025, Joshlin has never been found.  Support Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Join Our Facebook Group: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM #themiserymachine #podcast #truecrime Source Material:  

The harbour town of Saldana Bay took 35 miles away from the restlessness of South Africa's western cape is best known for its steel exports, fishing boats, and the long curve of coastline that draws locals out in the early evenings. It's a quiet place, mostly. And for the people who live in the informal settlement of Middleposs, nestled behind the industrial stretch of the port. Life moves slowly, one small routine at a time. That's where Joshlyn Smith was. born on October 23, 2017. The youngest of three siblings, Joshlyn lived with her mother, Raquel Kelly Smith, and her older brother and sister in a small shack, one of several hundreds in middleposs.

Joshlyn's father, Jose Emke, hadn't been a permanent figure in her life. According to family and friends, Jose had been in and out of Joshlin's life over the years, allowing Kelly to become her primary caregiver. It's unclear if he was also the father of Joshlyn's other two siblings, but what we do know is that Joshlin grew up in what can be best described as a volatile yet close-knit home. No, the family didn't have much. They lived in a one-room shack and a weathered settlement several miles away from urban living. Did Joshlin have access to everything a kid could ever dream of? No, but she was described as a happy child. The area was known for its residents' rampant drug use, and Kelly had unfurbed.

unfortunately fallen victim to addiction during her teenage years. Still, according to friends and family, she appeared to be a devout and loving mother, and she was particularly fond of her youngest, Joshelan. Best remembered by neighbors, friends, teachers, and family members as a bubbly, blue-gray-eyed blonde girl with a smile that could light up a room, Joshelan had a spark on her that was hard to deny. Despite the family's struggles, Kelly at one point seemed devoted to to giving her kids a better life.

In January of 2024, Joshlyn had just become a grade one learner at Diazville Primary School. A picture of her from her class's graduation photo, smiling and holding up a certificate, was framed in the family's makeshift living room. There is one person we haven't introduced yet, and that is Jackin-Boetta-Appolis.

At some point, Kelly brought home Joshelan's new father and announced that he would be sharing the family's already cramped shack with them. At the time, the family barely had enough money to get by for themselves, much less at another mouth to feed. Professionally, Boetta worked as a gardener, and Kelly made ends meet as a domestic worker. However, neighbors claim that they barely ever saw Boetta leave the home.

They claimed that he was always wandering off into the distance, fueled by drugs, or he was completely passed out somewhere. Yet this was the man Kelly felt comfortable leaving her child home alone with. You see, Kelly had never experienced much stability in her life either. In a Facebook post by someone claiming to be Kelly's brother, Kelly was the oldest of the bunch and was sent by their mother to live with their maternal grandmother in Sal Donna when she was young. Meanwhile, the rest of the family had relocated to Cape Town. Kelly's alleged brother claimed that this was because she was the only sibling who had

a different father, and things were just easier for the family this way. That being said, the man who made the post, known only as M&R Daniels, claimed that Kelly had been given access to everything they had gotten as well. From education to spending money, Kelly was well taken care of. But then something happened when she entered her teens. She discovered drugs. Kelly first entered the system when her grandmother called social workers in 2017, alleging that she had just witnessed her granddaughter hitting, swearing at, and threatening her son. The grandmother also claimed that when she tried to intervene, Kelly had reported. threatened her too before running out of the house. While she did ask for a protective order at the time,

Kelly's grandmother never really followed through with it and instead sent her granddaughter to a drug treatment facility while the two kids lived with her. Yes, this was back in 2016 when Kelly was still pregnant with Josh Lynn, so the possibility of her using drugs during that time is more likely than not. From 2018 to 2020, Kelly stayed in and out of drug treatment centers before eventually coming back to her grandmother's house to take back her kids and announced that she had reconciled with Jose. Kelly's grandmother had reportedly gotten sick of her attitude by then, claiming that she was not the bright, young girl that she had raised. Nothing she could do about the situation she gave the kids back to their mother,

as Kelly made her way back to Jose in Middleposs. Natasha Andrews and her husband claimed to have met Kelly at church back in 2018. Andrews could see that Kelly was struggling and they offered to care for young Joshlin while she looked for work. Kelly was thankful for all the help that she could get, but a few hours would soon turn into a few weeks. Natasha claimed that once Kelly hadn't asked about her daughter's well-being for weeks. Andrews had other reasons to be concerned as well. They saw bruises. Natasha revealed in court that she noticed bruises around Josh Lynn's arms and suspected that Jose had been harming her and Kelly.

Confronted, Kelly admitted that life with Jose was miserable and she lived in constant fear of him. Kelly reportedly had marks of her own from when Jose lost his temper with her. It's prompted the Andrews to begin a formal adoption process for Joshlyn, and Natasha claimed that Kelly was all for this idea. She stated that Kelly went as far as meeting with a social worker to begin the formal adoption process, but eventually she backed out when Jose contested it. The Andrews continued to be a fixture in Joshlin's life, and Natasha claimed that they couldn't, in good conscience, abandon the young girl they had grown to love.

While the formal adoption process never took place, Natasha claimed that Kelly would leave Joshlyn with the Andrews for several days on end. Kelly claimed that this was to keep her daughter safe while she navigated her relationship with Jose. Meanwhile, her two older kids were left in the care of friends and family as well until Kelly officially ended her relationship with Jose sometime before 2023. When Ranesh Sivnerane, Kelly's lawyer, asked if Natasha believed if Kelly could provide Joshlyn a stable and loving home on her own away from Jose, Natasha replied, yes. So, what went wrong here?

On February 19th, 2024, Kelly returned home to Middleposs after working at her employers, the Ziegers residence. According to what she told police, Joshua and her brother hadn't gone to school that day because their school uniforms were dirty in. Kelly didn't have the money for detergent to clean them. Kelly claimed that she couldn't find either Joshlyn or Boetta, but eventually managed to track him down, smoking in another shack. When asked about Joshlyn, Boetta looked her in the face with a blank expression and claimed that he hadn't seen her since 9 a.m. that day. As it was almost dark out, a panic Kelly ran to ask her neighbors if they had seen her daughter. A few hours later, the police were called and Joshelan Smith was reported missing. She was last seen wearing a blue t-shirt,

and blue denim trousers, identified by a birthmark on her right arm. The residents of Middle Paz had nothing except one another, so when news spread of a young six-year-old girl that hadn't been seen since earlier that morning, search parties began scavenging through the nearby dunes almost immediately. Namla Tinsie, one of Kelly's neighbors, claimed that she traveled with her all the way to Diazville searching for Joshlyn, but nothing came up. Namla later told investigators that Kelly was a nervous wreck, crying and yelling for her daughter.

Yet, she was somehow calm to the point of making jokes with her on the way back. Now, Nomla wasn't the only one who was unnerved by Kelly's behavior. In fact, police officers who traveled all the way from Cape Town to investigate Joshelan's disappearance on February 20th claimed that she was blasting music from her shack. Kelly recalled the sequence of events from the 19th again. She'd left her two kids and her boyfriend's care while she went to work at the Ziegher's residence. When she came back, Joshelan wasn't there. Naturally, the police assumed that the person who could tell them more about Joshlin's whereabouts was Boetta.

The police eventually found him smoking in a shed somewhere off in the distance. They were accompanied by Kelly, who immediately asked her boyfriend if he'd filled the gas tank and nothing else. The police claimed that Boetta was less than forthcoming with information. information when Aston, instead he seemed jittery. All he claimed was that he lost track of the day when he was meant to be taking care of Joshlyn and didn't know where she had gone. A week later, on February 27th, he was re-interviewed by the police. This time, Bowdoch claimed that, while he felt responsible for Joshlin's disappearance, he didn't know where she was. According to South African police service, a child goes missing every five hours in South Africa. And while every year,

case is critical and should have received the utmost attention. Joshlyn's case had blown up to an extent that Kelly couldn't have imagined or wanted. Residents of Middlepast searched far and wide and investigators from Cape Town came to assist with the search. Kelly was interviewed by local news stations and there were missing persons flyers for Joshelan everywhere you could look. People quite literally could not rest until that young girl was found alive and well and Kelly claimed that she thoroughly believed her daughter would come back to her safe and sound. At the same time, however, an investigator claimed that Kelly almost seemed giddy with all the

attention that she had been receiving from the whole ordeal, claiming that her daughter had made her famous. Kelly's estranged sister, Michaela Daniels, claimed to have received a voice note on Facebook Messenger from Kelly in January of 2024, a month before Joshelan's disappearance. Michaela was a police constable attached to the public order policing in Northern Cape, and she stated that Kelly randomly initiated a conversation with her one day asking about her well-being. Conversation was short-lived, but picked up again on February 21st, 2024, when Kelly informed her sister that Joshlyn went missing. Macaela was worried, naturally, and stated that she tried to ask Kelly for

more information, only to be left on read for several hours before eventually getting a response. It read, My sister, my child is here in the informal settlement. someone wants to sell my child, but Saldana is currently a hotspot. Michaela claimed that she tried to get a hold of Kelly over the next several days, asking her about Joshon's whereabouts and more questions about Boetta and his relationship with the kids. Kelly responded a week later, and I quote, My sister, the questions you're asking are what police already asked. I know you're a police officer, but I am not going to answer these questions again.

Kelly's grieving mother persona didn't stick for long, and police were called to take her and Boetta into protective custody after neighbors and middleposs began threatening the duo for acting callously about Joshlyn's disappearance. In the meantime, on March 1st, 2024, Jose M.K. called the police to reveal that he believed his ex had sold their child to pay off a bad debt that she'd incurred a few months ago. The search for Joshlyn Smith began to intensify,

as had now been over 11 days since the young girl was reported missing. Kelly and Boetta weren't of any help, with Boetta changing the testimony time and time again, claiming that Joshlyn left to play with friends and her brother was picked up by his godfather, at which point he left the residence to. And now, in the middle of it all, Jose claimed that Kelly sold Joshlin. Teresa Leroux, a member of local government and part of the search team looking for Joshlin, also raised suspicions over the whole ordeal. She told news teams they'd been searching for Joshlyn for days, yet nothing had turned up.

It was almost like the six-year-old vanished into thin air, but that's impossible. In an overcrowded settlement like Middleposs, during daytime, no less, how could a young girl just disappear without a trace? Kelly had been removed from Middle Poss during this time for her safety as her community started to suspect her a foul play in her daughter's disappearance. During this time, word got around the community that Kelly had sold her daughter to a Sangoma. Now, for those of you who might not know, a San Goma is a traditional healer in southern Africa, often viewed as a spiritual guide, herbalist, and medium. They communicate with ancestors through rituals, dreams, and divinations to diagnose and treat physical, emotional, or spiritual issues.

For believers, they're magical healers. For skeptics, they're delusional. On March 5th, 2024, two weeks after Joshlin's disappearance, police arrested four people, Raquel Kelly Smith, her boyfriend Jack in Boetta, Apolis, her friend Steveno Van Rine, and a local healer in the Middle Paz region, Fumza Sagawa. Kelly and Boetta for obvious reasons, and Steveno for the fact that several reports indicated he was at the Smith residence on the day Joshelan disappeared. According to an investigator, he had approached Steveno.

a day after Joshlyn was reported missing, and he was the first one to put forward the Sangoma theory, possibly because he was under the influence of substances, but the police couldn't rule anything out at this point. Now was Fumza the Sagoma they had sold Joshlant to? Was this case on its way to getting solved? Unfortunately, it can never be that easy. While Fumza was indeed regarded as a healer in that region, many suspected that she was used as a scapegoat. Fumza was in custody for one week during which she claimed that she was repeatedly assaulted into confessing that she had killed Joshlyn to harvest her skin and eyes.

When she denied the accusations, she was assaulted again. Eventually, after a week of no real evidence, the people of Middle Paz establishing an alibi for her, Fumza was released. In her place, however, police brought in another woman, someone they had some evidence against. Laurentia Lombard. Laurentia, a known drug addict and a friend of Kelly's, was reportedly named as a person of interest when Steveno claimed that she had been with them at the home when Kelly had sold her daughter. Lorencia initially denied the allegations, eventually turned state's witness in exchange for a lesser charge. The three other accused in Josh Lynn Smith's disappearance pled not guilty. It was now Laurentia's word against theirs, but first prosecutors had to establish a timeline.

On February 19, 2024, Kelly left her two younger kids, Josh. and her brother in her boyfriend Boetta's care. She took her oldest daughter to school and went to work at the Ziegers home later on. This was around 9 a.m. She then came back from work sometime around 1 p.m. Around 2 p.m. she returned home. She had taken money from her employer, Kelly Ziegers, claiming it was to buy detergent to wash the kids' uniforms. It wasn't. Kelly instead used that money to buy Tick, the local name for Coke in the Western Cape region. joined by Steveno, the couple used a substance before Kelly announced that she was due back at work. She claimed that her kids were in the shack during this time, bathing.

When she left, Boetta picked up the story claiming that Laurentia came over for a few hours and offered to smoke with him. The obliged while Joshlyn went out to play. After they were done, Boetta made his way into another shack where he passed out until Kelly woke him up, asking where Joshelim was. Detective Constable Raffawe Sekhope, a member of the Family Violence and Child Protection Unit, claimed that she interviewed both Laurentia and Stavano on the night that Joshlin was reported missing. Asked by the state's prosecutor about Laurentia's demeanor, the detective said she was jittery and scratching her arms and head. She said,

I had already learned that she was using drugs, so I asked her if she had used any drugs on that day. And her answer was, not yet. The detective claimed that Stefano brought up the theory that Joshlin might have been taken by San Gomas. She said Stavano claimed that Lorencia had left with Joshlin and did not come back with her while he was there. According to Detective Constable Sackope, I don't know if there was a question posed him about what he thought happened to the child, but he said he suspects Lombard's boyfriend Ayanda might have given the child to a Sangoma. In March of 2024, police found bloodstains

on a discarded bed sheet and pillow cover. It was later found that the blood was not Joshlin's blood. Kelly Zegers claimed that the day after Joshlin's disappearance, she noticed a shift in Kelly's demeanor. She claimed to have begged her mother's employee to share any information she had with the police. Mrs. Zegers claimed that she had a hunch that Kelly was protecting someone

and asked Kelly to consider the safety of her child. Mrs. Zegers claimed that she noticed inconsistencies in Kelly's behavior, not something she would have expected from a mother whose daughter had been just reported missing. She also claimed that when she pressed Kelly for more information, Kelly began talking about foreigners having Joshlyn, but wouldn't reveal any more information about the subject. Mrs. Zegers claimed that she watched Kelly sleep peacefully that night, questioning if it was actually her child that had just gone missing.

Edna Marr, a grade one teacher, claimed that Kelly had told her the date after Joshlin's disappearance that she received a phone call from a mysterious Nigerian man. Kelly appeared eerily calm as she claimed that the man had told her that a child, no specification that it was Joshlyn, had been shipped in a container and was on her way to West Africa. When Edna asked Kelly if she'd revealed this information to the police, Kelly claimed that she feared retribution from the Saltona people

and that she wasn't planning on it. Now, during this time, the rumor of the Sangoma began to spread, with former friends and associates of Kellys, claiming that she told them that Saldana would become a hotspot in January or February of 2024. According to Stephen Coetsey, a former friend who later took to the witness stand, Kelly would routinely joke about selling Joshlin for money.

The joke started all the way back in August of 2023. But why didn't anyone report it? This was the question that Judge Nathan Erasmus asked the court when he presided over the case of the Western Cape High. court. Joshlyn was still missing in April of 2025 when the court case commenced as more and more public interest developed in the matter day by day. Due to the number of people who had gathered at court to witness the testimonies and uncovered the truth about Joshlin's disappearance, Laurentius testimony, and the case of the San Goma. The case was actually heard in a community

center. The charges brought against the trio were for kidnapping and human trafficking, Although the prosecution claimed that they had over 90 witnesses who were willing to testify that Kelly was involved in her daughter's disappearance with Boetta and Steveno acting as accomplices. But people were only interested in one testimony. What did Laurentia have to say? And how involved was she in Joshelan Smith's disappearance? The trial against Kelly, Boetta, and Steveno spanned over nine days with several witnesses being called on the defense in prosecution's behalf.

Carl and Ziegers, Mrs. Ziegers' mother, took to the stand to testify on Kelly's behalf. She claimed that they were antagonizing a struggling mother who put her kids above her own needs, despite her many struggles. Kelly wept as Carlin described her as a good mother. She said, one day Kelly came to my house with her children. Circumstances made Kelly come to me. She had lots of troubles.

She had very lovable children, and she raised them well. I will say it again. I felt sorry for Kelly, and I saw what she was going through. I am also a mother. Even during difficult times, she was a good mother for her children. Meanwhile, Kelly Zegers claimed that she found it hard to believe that Kelly Smith wasn't involved in her daughter's disappearance in the slightest. She claimed that during a televised news segment at her home where Kelly was being asked about Joshlyn's disappearance, she had to be the one to instruct Kelly to appear somewhat grief-stricken over her child's disappearance.

The testimonies bounced between painting Kelly as an awful mother to being a godsend. A social worker testified that a few days into being taken into police custody, Kelly put in a request to meet with her other two children. The social worker was there during the meeting, claiming that her older daughter ran up to her mother while Joshelan's brother took a few moments to ease up to her. Despite this, the social worker claimed that Kelly appeared to show genuine concern for her kids, hugging them, asking them about their well-being, and telling them that she would be back with them soon enough. On day eight of the trial, Stephen Cotsey revealed that Kelly had concocted

her plans sometime in August of 2023, resolving to sell her children, all of them, by January or February of 2024. Kelly appeared on amused during Stephen's revelations, even yawning as he detailed her plans to settle for 5,000 Rand for the children if she wasn't provided the full 20,000 South African Rand. The revelation also detailed how Kelly claimed that in early 2024, everyone in Diazville would be searching for a missing child with no real clue on the child's whereabouts. And now it was time for Laurentia Lombard's testimony. In a shocking and heartbreaking revelation, she recalled a conversation she had had with Kelly right before her daughter's disappearance. And I quote, she said the person who was looking for Joshlin was looking for her because

they wanted her eyes and skin. Laurentia's testimony was the Hail Mary that the prosecution was hoping for. However, the court determined that the validity of Laurentia's testimony, someone who was once accused of taking part in the plot to sell Josh Lynn, would have to be determined as being truthful before being used by either defense or the prosecution in the case. On day eight of the trial, Laurentia took the stand and revealed that she had gotten acquainted with the trio through her boyfriend who would routinely sell drugs to both Kelly and her boyfriend. Boetta. She claimed that she had known Kelly the longest, almost a year, and became acquainted with

Boetta through her. She also claimed that she didn't know Steveno that well, only having met him about six to seven months before Joshel went missing. Laurentia eventually revealed that she had, in fact, been at the Smith residence on the day of Joshlin's alleged sale. She claimed that Kelly had packed a black cooler bag with a sweater and underwear for Joshlin and instructed Boetta to take care of the girl until two while she was at work. to Laurentia's testimony, Kelly had stated that a woman would be coming to pick Joshlyn up at two, at which point she would escort her daughter to the woman herself. Sure enough, according to Laurentia, the woman came to the residence at 2 o'clock in a white blouse, green skirt, and a green

head scarf with dots over her face. Laurentia claimed to have seen Kelly prepare Joshel them with the same black cooler bag and enter a car with her daughter and the other woman. The woman then turned to the remaining three adults at the home and instructed them not to tell the police that Joshlin had been taken and instead to file a missing person's report after a day. Kelly appeared guilty while Boetta seemed like he couldn't care less. Laurentia claimed that Kelly told her she had done something awful to Joshlin before handing her boyfriend $20,000. Hours later, when Kelly had reported her daughter missing

and had arrived at Laurentia's residence with the police, asking her if she knew where Joshelan was, Laurentia asked her why she wasn't telling the police about the woman, the sale, and whatever had just happened. Lorencia claimed that Kelly offered her 1,000 rand while she offered Steveno-1200-rand, and the remaining would be split between her and Boetta. Lorencia expressed remorse on the stand when asked how she felt following the incident and regarding her involvement. She said, I feel very hurt. I am a mother of four, and I didn't know

the plans Kelly and Boetta had. I only overheard them at a later stage about plans to sell the child. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen. Wherever Josh Lynn is, I appeal to whoever may have the child, please bring her home. I hope the child is alive. I am so sorry that I was involved. Kelly had no emotion throughout the trial. Her defense leaned on the lack of physical evidence, but never addressed her inconsistencies from the beginning. They said the case was based on speculation and rumors. Buetta's lawyer stuck to that story, saying there was no forensic evidence tying his client to anything. Seveno's defense was more direct. He blamed Laurentia and suggested she had done more than she admitted, but the court wasn't convinced. On May 2nd, 2025, Judge Nathan Erasmus

delivered the verdict in a quiet courtroom filled with reporters, families, and protesters waiting outside. He found Kelly Smith, Jack and Apollos, and Steveno Van Rine guilty of kidnapping and human trafficking. He said their behavior after Joshlin's disappearance was not that of distressed caregivers, but people trying to cover their tracks. Even though Joshelan's body had never been found, he made it clear that the evidence, including phone records, testimony, and behavioral pattern spoke volumes. The sentencing was postponed to May 23rd. The court stated that additional witnesses might be called and that forensic specialists were still reviewing Jack and's phone and vehicle, which hadn't been thoroughly examined earlier in the investigation. But none of the three

convicted individuals had offered any new information, shown any kind of remorse, or said where Joshlyn was, which was why justice had not been served yet for the people of Saldauna Bay. Joshlyn's paternal grandmother, Rita Yon, said she was satisfied with the judge's ruling, but urged Kelly to reveal where the child is, she said, The verdict is good, but Kelly hasn't told us where Joshlin is. That breaks my heart. The Western Cape Police Commissioner confirmed the case remains open, noting that police have even searched a ship in the UK for three days. He criticized Kelly for not testifying,

saying she chose to remain silent, but we will keep investigating. A few days after the trio were sentenced in Joshlyn Smith's case, the mayor of Saldauna Bay, Andre Truder, confirmed that the house where Joshlyn disappeared had been set on fire. He reported that no one had been injured in the suspected arson, but that no arrests had also been made. Joshelan's name still appears on South Africa's national missing persons database. The photo hasn't changed. Jail sentences will follow, but the question that matters the most,

where is Joshlyn, was never answered. Her case is still open. According to the Western Cape Police, investigators continue to follow every lead. If you drive through middle pause today, you might still spot a picture of Joshlyn Smith, bright-eyed and smiling, with the words missing,

written at the bottom. Joshlyn Smith Or on October 23, 2017. Disappeared February 19th, 2024. Never found.