Search for missing Afghan refugee, 3, who vanished from playground in Texas called off

The search for a missing Afghan refugee who vanished from a playground in Texas as her mother wandered away in December has been suspended indefinitely after the family was harassed and stalked.

Pam Allen, CEO of Eagles Flight Advocacy and Outreach, has been organizing search parties for Lina Sardar Khil with her family since she first disappeared from a playground in San Antonio on December 20 at age 3 years old. She is now 4 years old.

But during this research, she said KENS 5 “we have people stalking us, doing this research, filming us, taking pictures of us and making up different stories”, as the “keyboard warriors” point to his parents, Riaz and Zarmeena Sardar Khil, as suspects “because ‘they’re Afghani and because they are Muslims.’

As she explained to San Antonio Express Newssome people in the community claim that Lina’s parents “sold her”, “married her”, and that she is a “child bride”.

“All those mean, harsh things you would say to a father, really? Would you say that to a father crying for his baby? Allen said of Riaz, who she grew close with.

“What if he had blond hair and blue eyes?” Would you say that stuff? What if his last name was Smith? Would you say that stuff? Absolutely not.’

His family arrived in Texas from Afghanistan, where they were fleeing the Taliban takeover.

Some people online have accused Lina’s parents, Riaz and Zarmeena Sardar Khil, of “selling her out” and “making her a child bride” because of their Muslim faith and Afghan ethnicity.

She noted that Riaz helped American troops in Afghanistan and was brought to the United States to stay safe as the Taliban regained control of the country “so this is happening.”

Since Lina’s disappearance, she says, people have been knocking on the door of her apartment and throwing stones at it. A man, she said, even visited the family’s home day after day and knocked on the door, shouting at Riaz about Lina’s disappearance.

Riaz told the Express News he called police about the man, who arrested him, but later returned. Luckily, Riaz said, he was finally able to hold on and scare her off – and he hasn’t seen the man since.

Still, Allen said she has installed security cameras in her home and “we just don’t want to do that type of research anymore” as the family prepares for the birth of their third child despite the anxiety they still feels about Lina. disappearance.

“Life should always be celebrated,” Allen said. “But it’s so hard for them to celebrate anything when Lina is gone.”

Pam Allen, CEO of Eagles Flight Advocacy and Outreach, described how people joined their search teams only to film and harass Lina’s parents.

She said the family have now canceled search parties as a result

The family is now receiving help from a non-profit organization, Project Absentis, which includes a team of retired FBI agents, Border Patrol agents, intelligence officers and working civilians. voluntarily on the case.

Their goal is “to generate additional leads and to be able to get other people to talk to us who don’t feel comfortable talking to law enforcement,” according to Abel Pena, a private investigator with the group.

They are now working to develop a new timeline surrounding Lina’s disappearance, reports KENS 5.

“We’re not just looking at the day of, but we’re trying to go back at least a few days and see what anomalies were there, maybe in the neighborhood,” Pena told the news channel, suggesting that there might have been ‘people from the area that people didn’t recognize as being from the area.’

Additionally, Project Absentis is investigating any connection to the family’s home country of Afghanistan and forwarding any new information to the San Antonio Police Department – who continue to investigate his disappearance as a missing person.

Lina is described as 4ft tall and weighing 55lbs, with brown eyes and shoulder length straight brown hair tied in a ponytail.

She was last seen on December 20 at a playground outside the Villas Del Cabo resort, where she lived with her family. She wore a black jacket, red dress and black shoes at the time

team of retired FBI agents, Border Patrol agents, intelligence officers and working civilians. voluntarily on the case. They are forwarding any leads to the San Antonio Police Department, Abel Pena, a private detective with the group, told KENS 5.” class=”blkBorder img-share” style=”max-width:100%” />

The family is now receiving help from a non-profit organization, Project Absentis, which includes a team of retired FBI agents, Border Patrol agents, intelligence officers and working civilians. voluntarily on the case. They are forwarding any leads to the San Antonio Police Department, Abel Pena, a private detective with the group, told KENS 5.

The police department reports Lina was last seen in the 9400 block of Fredericksburg Road at a playground outside the Villas Del Cabo resort, where she resides with her family.

According to Chief William McManus, around 5-6 p.m. the girl’s mother left, but returned “a short time later”. McManus said there were other children with adults on the playground at the time.

When Lina’s mother returned, the three-year-old was gone.

McManus said Lina’s family did not contact police until around 7:15 p.m. to report her missing. It is unclear at this time why the child’s mother left at the time.

A lieutenant with the San Antonio Police Department’s Special Victims Unit told KENS 5 they are still receiving information about the case and are following up on any leads.

Meanwhile, there’s a reward of up to $250,000 for information on Lina’s whereabouts, with most of the money paid by the Islamic Center of San Antonio and the San Antonio Crime Stoppers offering the 50 $000 remaining.

Lina is described as 4ft tall and weighing 55lbs, with brown eyes and shoulder length straight brown hair tied in a ponytail. She was last seen wearing a black jacket, red dress and black shoes.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about Lina’s whereabouts to call the SAPD Missing Persons Unit at 210-207-7660.

And anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable speaking with authorities can contact Project Absentis on its anonymous phone line at 726-777-1359 or by email at info@projectabsentis.org.