$75,000 reward offered for tips on missing San Antonio 3-year-old

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — The search continues for a missing 3-year-old girl in San Antonio and the reward for finding her keeps increasing.

Lina Sardar Khil and her family settled in San Antonio as refugees from Afghanistan in 2019, according to the Associated Press. The Islamic Center of San Antonio initially announced they were offering a $10,000 reward for tips leading to Lina’s recovery, but as donations grew so did the reward. The reward now sits at $75,000.

Police Chief Bill McManus spoke Wednesday afternoon, offering some clarity on the investigation as it has unfolded since Lina reportedly disappeared from the playground at a northwest side apartment complex Monday evening. Her mother reportedly left her with other children at the playground for a short time and was missing when she returned a short time later.

The Associated Press reported that Lina’s father said that the family initially thought Lina may have left the playground with another Afghan family but now believes she may have been abducted.

McManus said that while the FBI is assisting in the search in terms of available resources, the investigation is not being treated as an abduction.

“If it were an abduction, we could either be looking for an individual or we would have evidence of the child being abducted and hopefeully a tag number or a suspect to go along with that,” McManus said. “Right now, we don’t have any of that. So we’re treating it strictly as a missing person [case]. That may change, but right now, it’s still a missing person.”

Officers and canine units have searched the apartment complex on Fredericksberg Road in addition to a number of wooded areas close by and McManus noted that they have received “dozens and dozens and dozens of video footage,” but none of them have provided leads in the investigation.

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

Anyone with information is asked to call 210-207-7660.