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3-year-old girl still missing days after vanishing from Texas playground, police say

Lina Sardar Khil, 3, went missing Dec. 20 at a San Antonio playground, Texas police say.
Lina Sardar Khil, 3, went missing Dec. 20 at a San Antonio playground, Texas police say. San Antonio Police Department

Authorities are looking for a 3-year-old after she disappeared from a playground in Texas. Police issued an Amber Alert after she went missing on the evening of Monday, Dec. 20.

The Islamic Center of San Antonio has offered a reward of $75,000 to anyone who can provide information to locate Lina Sardar Khil, they said in a post. The Islamic center had initially offered a $10,000 reward on Dec. 22, but it grew to $75,000 within eight hours.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said that Lina was playing with her mother at a playground when her mom left for an undetermined amount of time.

“When she came back, the little girl was gone,” McManus said during a news conference.

Lina was last seen wearing a red dress with a black jacket. She is about 4 feet tall and about 55 pounds with shoulder-length brown hair.

Her family reported Lina missing at about 7:15 p.m. Dec. 20, McManus said.

KSAT reported that the Khil family is Afghanistan refugees.

Lina’s father spoke to KENS 5 through a translator.

“During our entire lives we have not been as saddened as we were yesterday and today,” Riaz Sardar Khil told the news outlet.

The father told KENS 5 that the family came to San Antonio in 2019 after “threats that were posed to us.”

The playground was located at an apartment complex. McManus said that officers are searching every apartment.

McManus said the department was “sparing no assets or resources” in the search for the child.

Anyone with information regarding the missing child is urged to contact the police department’s Missing Person’s Unit at (210) 207-7660.

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This story was originally published December 22, 2021 at 3:39 PM with the headline "3-year-old girl still missing days after vanishing from Texas playground, police say."

Mariah Rush
mcclatchy-newsroom
Mariah Rush is a National Real-Time Reporter. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has previously worked for The Chicago Tribune, The Tampa Bay Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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