Lina Sardar Khil: $250k reward offered in search for four-year-old who vanished from San Antonio playground

Your support helps us to tell the story

Support Now

Find out moreClose

As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.

Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.

Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election

Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A $250,000 reward is being offered for information about a four-year-old Afghanistan refugee who disappeared from a Texas playground in December.

Lina Sardar Khil vanished from a park near her home in San Antonio on 20 December after her mother left her alone briefly.

She was last seen wearing a red dress, black jacket and black shoes and had her brown hair in a ponytail, police said.

The Islamic Center of San Antonio this week increased a reward for anyone providing information for her safe return to $200,000.

San Antonio Crime Stoppers has also offered $50,000 for help returning her to her family.

Police launched an intensive search for Lina after her “suspicious” disappearance, searching nearby dumpsters and vehicles.

An elite FBI underwater search and rescue team joined the search two weeks later, scouring a creek in January.

Police have since then continued to look for the girl, but with little progress.

On Saturday, San Antonio Police Department Chief Bill McManus tweeted their efforts to find Lina remained a priority.

“There’s been no pause in our efforts. SAPD continues to work with the FBI to find Lina Sardar Khil who went missing on Dec 20. The investigation is on-going. Pls report any info no matter how insignificant you may think it is. Call SAPD Missing Persons Section on 210 207-7660.”

More than 150 volunteers from the The Eagles Flight Advocacy & Outreach non-profit organisation have joined members of the Afghan community in searching for Lina.

Pamela Allen, the non-profit’s CEO and a spokeswoman for the family, told ABC News on Saturday: “Her light is missing from her family and community. Our continuous prayer is that she will be back in the arms of those that love her.”

Lina’s father Riaz Sardar Khil has previously told media the family fled Afghanistan in 2019 after receiving death threats.