Jacquen Appollis, the last person to see Joshlin Smith alive, went on a media tour to clear his name before police officially identified him as a person of interest in the six-year-old’s disappearance, doing very little to lower suspicion about his alleged culpability.
Jacquen Appollis speaks out: Did he contradict Kelly Smith’s recollection of events?
In an exclusive interview with eNCA, Appollis harkened back to Monday, 19 February 2024, to recount the timeline of events that took place from 08:00 that morning, when Joshlin’s mother Kelly left him in the care of the six-year-old, and 18:00 when she returned home to find her daughter was nowhere to be found.
According to Appollis, his last recollection of seeing the Diazville Primary School pupil was at approximately 14:00.
“She told me she was going to play with a friend. That is the last time I saw her. I am really, really honest,” he said.
We now know on that day, Joshlin was kept at home due to a developing illness. However, at this time, neither Appollis nor Kelly have surfaced with details confirming the six-year-old was taken to a doctor or prescribed medication.
Instead of recovering at home, Joshlin Smith — Appollis insists — was allowed to play outside.
Reports have surfaced that the six-year-old was last seen playing with an unidentified boy near the Diazville Clinic. However, police working on the case have yet to lend credence to this claim.
Coincidentally, during the interview, Appollis confirmed he was “at home like normal,” shortly before 18:00 on that Monday. This contradicts assertions made by Kelly that she had struggled to get hold of her boyfriend around the time concern grew about her daughter’s whereabouts.
According to Kelly, when she returned from work, neither Appollis nor Joshlin Smith was at home, and when the boyfriend finally turned up, he was without the six-year-old left in his care.
“When I left at home, it was like every [other] day. They like to go and play. They like to be around, just in our area. There wasn’t something different about that date,” Kelly recalled in an earlier interview.
Kelly told reporters that after searching for Joshlin for three hours, she contacted police to file a missing person case.
However, Appollis’s account was different. According to the boyfriend, he was at home when Kelly returned from work.
“Until her mother got home at 6pm, then we got concerned. Then we started looking and we didn’t find her, until we called the police,” he said.
Last week Thursday, the missing person case took a dramatic turn when searchers stumbled on a bloody ditch and a fresh, shallow grave nearby. However, the shocking discovery was quickly disassociated from Joshlin’s disappearance.
Appollis, who is yet to be formally named a person of interest in Joshlin’s disappearance claims the pressure from the Diazville community has taken a toll on his health.
““I can’t even leave the house and show my face outside. I can’t even get out of bed. I have no energy to do anything. All of this is making me feel confused,” Kelly’s boyfriend said.
