Lina Sardar Khil

Case background and investigation

Lina Sardar Khil was three years old when she disappeared from the playground of the Villas Del Cabo apartment complex on the northwest side of San Antonio, Texas, on December 20, 2021. According to a KSAT timeline of the case, she was last seen between 5 and 6 p.m. and was reported missing at 7:15 p.m. She was wearing a black jacket, a red dress and black shoes. FOX 7 Austin reported that her mother said she had stepped away briefly and that Lina was gone when she came back.

Lina's family had come to the United States from Afghanistan. Wikipedia's summary of the case, citing local reporting, states that her father had worked with the U.S. Army and that the family arrived on a special visa. An AMBER Alert was issued, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and San Antonio police and the FBI carried out an extensive search of the area without locating her.

On the first anniversary, December 20, 2022, San Antonio police released surveillance video showing Lina at the playground shortly before she vanished. KSAT quoted the lead detective as saying that at some point in the footage she walks out of the camera's view. The Islamic Center of San Antonio raised a reward of $250,000 for information, KSAT reported; Wikipedia states that the total later rose to $280,000.

An age-progression sketch was released around her fifth birthday in February 2023. On April 20, 2023, her father, Riaz Sardar Khil, took a polygraph examination at the FBI's San Antonio office, which KSAT described as an effort to clear his name. No one has been named as a suspect or charged in connection with the disappearance.

On February 14, 2024, a tip led police to search a wooded area near Interstate 10 and Wurzbach Road, not far from the apartment complex, using drones and ground-penetrating radar. Two days later police said the tip was not credible. KSAT reported that the family subsequently asked for new investigators to be assigned. In March 2024 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an image showing how Lina might look at age six.

KSAT's coverage shows that in October 2025 the family announced plans to hire a private investigator, and that relatives and supporters gathered in December 2025 to mark four years since she vanished. No arrest, recovery or other resolution was found as of September 2026. Anyone with information is asked to contact the San Antonio Police Department's missing persons unit at 210-207-7273 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.