The San Antonio Police Department and the FBI are urging the public for leads as the search for missing 3 year-old Lina Sardar Khil enters its third week.
"Our Missing Person’s Unit is working tirelessly at receiving leads and tips on little Lina’s case,” a spokesperson for SAPD told ABC News. “We will continue to follow every lead, no matter how small, until Lina is located.”
SAPD
Lina Sardar Khil appears in an image provided by the San Antonio Police Department.
Reward increases to $150,000 for missing 3-year-old Lina Sadar Khil in Texas
Lina Sardar Khil was last seen on Dec. 20 between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. at a park on the 9400 block of Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio, according to police. The park is located near the family's home at the Villa Del Cabo apartment complex.
Lina has brown eyes and brown hair and was last seen wearing a black jacket, red dress and black shoes. Police issued multiple Amber Alerts and said she could be in “grave danger."
Lina’s family is part of the Afghan refugee community in San Antonio and speaks Pashto. Police have issued alerts in multiple languages to the community, urging anyone with information to come forward.
FBI joins 'aggressive' search
Asked if there are any new leads in the case on Monday, SAPD referred ABC News to Police Chief William McManus’ previous comments on the case.
“We really have no new updates as to where Lina might be,” McManus told reporters on Dec. 28, adding that at this point the case is still being investigated “as a missing person unless evidence would lead us to believe otherwise.”
He went on, “There’s nothing that we haven't done to try to find her. It’s frustrating, it is disheartening and disappointing that we haven’t come up with something yet.”
SAPD
Lina Sardar Khil appears in an image provided by the San Antonio Police Department.
As Deb Haaland creates unit to investigate missing and murdered Native Americans, a look at why it's necessary
The FBI said it is accepting any tips, video footage or insight on Lina's whereabouts.
Agent Justin Garris of the FBI’s Justin San Antonio field office told reporters on Dec. 28 the investigation into Lina’s disappearance is “aggressive,” adding that the FBI has utilized its child abduction rapid deployment team, behavioral analysis unit, intelligence response teams and forensic examiners.
Authorities are asking anyone who has information on the case to call SAPD Missing Person’s Unit at 210-207-7660.
Community rallies behind the family
As the search continues, the community is rallying around the family by joining search crews and raising money to help find the child.
The Eagles Flight Advocacy & Outreach organization, a nonprofit in San Antonio, joined the search over the weekend with about 150 people from the Afghan community showing up.
“We can't sit still. We have to do something,” Pamela Allen, CEO of Eagles Flight Advocacy and Outreach, told ABC News.
SAPD
Lina Sardar Khil appears in an image provided by the San Antonio Police Department.
Allen said the group has been in touch with police and was actively searching surrounding areas that are points of interest in the case.
Gabby Petito case example of 'missing white woman syndrome,' experts say
“Yesterday we had about 150 Afghani men and children come out and look for this baby,” Allen said, adding that seeing the community come together has been “the most amazing thing.”
The Islamic Center of San Antonio is also supporting the family by offering a $100,000 reward for anyone who can help police find Lina.
San Antonio Police Department/Facebook
A photo of 3 year old Lina Sadar Khil was posted by the San Antonio Police Department on their Facebook account. Her family reported her missing on Dec., 20, 2021.
The Crime Stoppers of San Antonio has offered an additional $50,000 for information resulting in the arrest or indictment of a suspect accused of any involvement in the disappearance.
Lina's family moved to the U.S. in 2019, her father, Riaz Sardar Khil, told KENS5 through a translator.
Khil said at first they believed that their daughter could be with another Afghan family in the community but now they believe she may have been abducted.
"During our entire lives we have not been as saddened as we were yesterday and today," he said.