Missing girl Joshlin Smith's family and Saldanha Bay community members welcomed the dismissal of her convicted kidnappers' applications for leave to appeal, but they can't find peace until they know her fate.

Each morning before the Joshlin Smith trial, Katriena Lamberts, a Saldanha Bay grandmother, stood with a small group outside the local Multipurpose Centre, where the case was taking place, to pray for justice. They prayed that Joshlin would be found and that her kidnappers would be convicted.

Last week, the group gathered again: "A day before the leave to appeal hearing was under way, the group gathered at the same Multipurpose Centre to pray for the hearing and a positive outcome."

Members of Joshlin's family and others in Saldanha Bay welcomed the Western Cape High Court's decision last week to deny Joshlin's convicted kidnappers and human traffickers, including her mother, Racquel "Kelly" Smith, her mother's boyfriend, Jacquen "Boeta" Appollis, and their friend, Steveno van Rhyn, leave to appeal against their convictions and life sentences.

Joshlin's February 2024 disappearance, however, haunts the family and community, who still hold out hope that the full story of what happened to the then-six-year-old will be revealed.

"Why are they silent? Why don't...