SAN ANTONIO — One year has passed and there are still few answers in the disappearance of a young San Antonio girl. Lina Sardar Khil, the only daughter of two refugees from Afghanistan, went missing on Dec. 20, 2021.
Her disappearance from a northwest-side apartment complex has changed her family’s life forever. One woman who has searched miles of the city trying to find her says the family is holding onto hope.
“This is an overwhelming day,” said Pamela Allen, CEO of Eagles Flight Advocacy and Outreach.
Allen has walked alongside Lina’s family on their most difficult days. She’s organized searches covering more than 25 miles of greenbelts in San Antonio in the days and months following the young girl's disappearance.
“We believe someone has seen something," Allen said. "We believe a little girl just doesn’t vanish. And we are praying that anyone who knows anything will have the courage to come forward and end this misery their family is going through."
One year ago today, at around 5 p.m., Lina was with her family at the playground of their apartment complex, located at the corner of Bluemel Road and Fredericksburg.
Lina’s mom left the playground for a brief time. When she returned, Lina was gone. Her disappearance led to a massive search involving police, the FBI, volunteers from around the state and an AMBER Alert that was later discontinued.
On Tuesday, the San Antonio Police Department released new surveillance video from a neighbor on the day Lina went missing. The footage overlooked the playground at the Villas Del Cabo apartments.
“She was with her mother and her younger brother. At some point during the video, she walked off the screen and that was the last sighting we have of her on video,” Detective Jeremy Volz, SAPD’s lead detective on the case, can be heard saying over the video.
Investigators say the footage amounts to the last moments they have of Lina on video.
"Our determination in this case has not lessened at all over time,” SAPD Chief William McManus told KENS 5, adding his department and the FBI are still actively investigating the case.
Although the family and police have had little contact as time went on, Lina’s family believes she’s still out there.
“(Riaz Sardar Khil) says he strongly believes in God that she will return back," Essa Yousafzai said, translating on behalf of Lina’s father.
That determination to find and see Lina again is something Allen admires.
“He talks about his two children, his sons getting into the legal system so they can go find their sister. He talks about that day when he gets to hold her again."
Joined by McManus and members of the community, Lina's father spoke at a Tuesday-evening vigil downtown where he pleaded for anyone who knows anything to report it to police.
>Watch the vigil below.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP. A $50,000 reward is being offered for information. The Islamic Center of San Antonio is offering its own $200,000 reward for information.