Andrè Truter, the executive mayor of Saldanha Bay, has urged people to stop spreading false information about the disappearance of six-year-old Joshlin Smith.
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Joshlin, from Diazville in Saldanha on the West Coast, was last seen on Monday, February 19, around 5pm.
Police confirmed that a missing persons report was filed at the local police station on Tuesday, February 20.
She has been missing for nine days, and there are no solid leads on where she is.
Hundreds of people have descended on the small town to help find little Joshlin.
Truter took to Facebook yesterday to express his dissatisfaction with the spread of fake news about the girl’s disappearance.
‘It is early morning and I, like most of you are tired. I am tired because of a lack of rest. I am tired of people, that are not even from Saldanha Bay Municipality, causing confusion, misinformation, trauma, and ultimately also vigilante actions. I have news for you, you will be held accountable, but I leave that to SAPS (sic),’ the first part of his post read.
He has urged people to avoid sending police on a wild goose chase and wasting resources.
‘The sad news is twofold. One, Joshlin have still not been found. Two, the danger here is that the focus is no longer on finding little Joshlin, but rather sideshows. Well no more!! Our function is to support the TEAM of Detectives that are working 24/7 on this, not to waste their time and lead them on wild goose chase!(sic)’.
Truter requested that people refrain from asking questions or expressing their opinions, instead focusing on gathering hard evidence that will lead to Joshlin’s capture.
He urged anyone to provide any information to detectives for testing rather than sending it to social media platforms, which would only inform criminal elements about the stage of the investigation.
Truter has expressed concern that this could divert attention away from those who may be involved, allowing them to ‘make a new move.’
‘Our focus going forward is finding Joshlin. Nothing else,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis confirmed that the CoCT had received a request for assistance from Truter and would be obliging.
‘After the withdrawal of SAPS resources from the search, we got a request yesterday (Wednesday) from the Mayor of Saldanha Bay Municipality, Executive Mayor Andrè Truter, to see if Cape Town could help with search teams,’ he posted on Facebook this morning.
‘We will help search for little Joshlin Smith, and our teams will be on the ground in Saldanha this morning already! I pray she is found soon.’
Also read:
Mother of Joshlin Smith says police had to protect her from angry locals
Picture: Andre Truter / Facebook