Search for Afghan Girl Missing in Texas Enters Third Week

The search for a missing Afghan child who disappeared in San Antonio is intensifying as it moves into its third week. On Wednesday, an FBI dive team began its second day of searching along a creek a few miles away from the apartment complex where the girl lived with her parents.

A 12-member dive team from the FBI’s Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team began its second day of work on Wednesday. The search for Lina Sardar Khil entered its third week after the young child disappeared from a playground in the apartment complex where she lived with her parents who moved to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2019, Fox 26 Houston reported.

Lina’s father spoke to KENS CBS5 in San Antonio through an interpreter and said he was unaware that the FBI search was going on. He also told the local news affiliate that he had been told his daughter was found dead. That report later turned out not to be true.

The dive team continued its efforts in the murky waters of a creek about two miles from the Villas Del Cabo apartment complex. They are searching along a quarter-mile section of the creek that runs parallel to Huebner Road, KSAT 12 reported.

San Antonio Police Department officials say they continue to treat the case as a missing person case and not an abduction.

“If it were an abduction, we could be looking for an individual or have evidence of a child being abducted,” SAPD Chief William McManus told reporters. “Right now, we don’t have any of that. That may change, but right now, it’s still a missing person.”

The search for the girl focused on the creek and green-belt area two miles from the apartment complex after investigative leads developed in the case, the news outlet reported. McManus expressed gratitude for the additional technology and manpower provided by the FBI.

“If we have video that’s not real clear, they can work on their end to clarify any video footage,” the chief explained. “They have resources, they have boots on the ground, here, that are helping us canvas the area.”

KSAT also reported:

Margaret Constantino with the Center for Refugee Services told KSAT that the child’s family is among the Afghanistan refugees in San Antonio.

At least 1,300 people from Afghanistan have come through the Center for Refugee Services for resettling here.

Lina disappeared from her apartment complex on December 20 at about 5-6 p.m. officials reported. Chief McManus said the mother left her on the playground for an undisclosed amount of time. When she returned Lina was gone. He said there were other children playing there at the time.