Lourentia Lombard made her first court appearance, on Monday, charged with the disappearance of Joshlin Smith.
Joshlin Smith latest news: Fourth suspect appears in court
The 32-year-old was formally unmasked as the fourth suspect at the Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court, in front of a gallery packed with media reporters and Joshlin’s family.
Lombard, much like the six-year-old’s mother Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn, was officially charged with kidnapping and human trafficking.
After a brief affair, where the court registered her legal representation, her matter was postponed to Monday, 25 March 2024, for bail information.
Details about Lombard’s involvement in the disappearance of Joshlin Smith are still unknown at this time, with police careful not to reveal sensitive information amid an ongoing investigation.
“Be advised that it is normal practice that during such intricate investigations, people of interest will be taken in for questioning or will be interviewed with the aim to solve such a case.
“As such, in the interest of solving this case and finding Joshlin, we cannot disclose operational detail and give a blow to blow account as the investigation into finding Joshlin Smith unfolds as this can potentially jeopardise ongoing investigation,” police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Pojie shared.
A fourth accused, Phumza Siqaba, who played into the narrative around the six-year-old being sacrificed in a muti ritual was dropped from the case, when the quartet appeared in court, on Wednesday.
“We shall communicate with you should more people be charged to appear in a court of Law,” Lt-Col. Pojie said.
The main Joshlin Smith case will return to court on 13 May 2024.
Who is Lourentia Lombard?
Tracking down information about Lourentia Lombard was no easy task, partly due to the 32-year-old’s weak digital footprint.
However, from what we could gather, the latest suspect in Joshlin Smith’s disappearance is a known Diazville local, whose background is marked by adversity.
A native of Wolseley, a settlement situated near the Wittebrug Nature Reserve, Lombard left the farm life shortly after her father passed away 11 years ago and moved more than 125km west to Saldanha Bay, to seek greener pastures.
According to a source we spoke to, Lombard was raised in a stable home with three other siblings. She went to church, attended Sunday school and “never lacked money or attention.”
“She was very well mannered and beautiful , I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw how she looked now,” the source revealed.
However, based on police findings, which, at this time, remain under wraps, it appears Lombard may have attracted the wrong crowd and, ultimately, played a part in one of the most publicised child disappearances in South African history.
The degree of her involvement in Joshlin Smith’s missing person case could be unravelled if the 32-year-old files a bail application next week, as this will allow state prosecutors to present a truncated version of their case.
But with tensions palpable in the Saldanha Bay community, it’s very much possible that she too will rip a page from Kelly Smith’s playbook and rescind her bail rights.