Cape Town - The father of missing Joshlin Smith said he would fight for custody of all his children.
José Emke, 34, who is the biological father of the Grade 1 learner who went missing while in the care of her mother’s boyfriend, Jacquin Appollis, travelled from the Northern Cape to Saldanha Bay to help find her.
Emke said his mother, Lorita Yon, called and shared the heartbreaking news that his eldest daughter was missing.
“I felt really sad hearing that. I didn’t understand how she went missing. I think that she has been trafficked. She is somewhere out there.
“When I came back, I didn’t get the time to speak to Kelly (Joshlin’s mother) to find out what happened.
“After hearing that Kelly and her boyfriend are busy with drugs, I want my children back.
“I have two children with her, including Joshlin, and I plan on fighting to have them in my custody.
“I’m worried that my other child is with Kelly.”
Just hours after Police Minister Bheki Cele addressed the Diazville community on Saturday afternoon, a tip-off led police to a field near the Middelpos area where Joshlin was last seen.
Bloody clothing items were found, which police said they would test.
Police spokesperson, Malcolm Pojie, said they expanded the search for Joshlin with the dispatching of drones, and search and rescue dogs to the area.
“Clothing pieces, allegedly stained with blood, were discovered in an open field during random searches conducted on an open field late on Saturday night.
“The investigation team descended on the scene where the pieces of clothing were seized as part of the ongoing investigation.
“The clothing will be sent to our forensic laboratory for analysis.
“The search continues. No arrests have been made.”
Police went back to the scene after the bloodied items were found, and collected more evidence.
Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie posted a video on Facebook in which Appollis described the clothes Joshlin was seen wearing, which did not match those found.
“According to the mom and her boyfriend the clothes don’t belong to the little girl. The bloody shorts belong to a child, the concern is whose child was hurt,” Mckenzie said.
“We want the police to update us about the clothing and the sheet that was found.”
Mckenzie said he believed Joshlin was trafficked by a crime syndicate.
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za