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Reward Increased To $170K For Safe Return Of Girl Who Vanished From Playground
Lina Sardar Khil, 3, disappeared from a playground by her San Antonio apartment complex on Dec. 20.
The reward for the safe return of a missing 3-year-old Texas girl has been increased to nearly $200,000.
The Islamic Center of San Antonio has increased its reward for the safe return of Lina Sardar Khil by $20,000 on Wednesday, bringing the total up to $170,000, KSAT reports. Previously, they offered $100,000 for the safe return of the child, and Crime Stoppers had offered $50,000.
Khil vanished on Dec. 20 while on the playground of the apartment complex in north San Antonio, Texas, where her family — who immigrated to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2019 — lives.
The FBI joined the San Antonio Police in early January in trying to find Khil. They deployed a dive team to look for the child in an area located not far from the family's apartment complex, the San Antonio Police announced in January. However, there have been no apparent signs of the missing girl.
"Everyone please join us in praying for Lina’s safe return to her family,” the Islamic Center of San Antonio stated on Wednesday as they announced the reward increase.
Mike Martin of the Islamic Center in San Antonio told the New York Post that the reward increase means they are “serious.”
“The tragedy is that children go missing every day, but this is new to us in the Muslim community,” he said. “This has never happened to us in the 20 years I’ve been in San Antonio.”
In late January, the San Antonio Police Department reassured the public that their investigation for the child "has not stopped."
"We will continue to diligently comb through leads in hopes of locating Lina and reuniting her with her family," they stated. They noted that they recently made a decision to suspend an Amber Alert for Khil, but clarified that her disappearance is still an "active investigation."
Khil has brown hair and brown eyes and was wearing a black jacket, red dress and black shoes when she disappeared. Her mother had stepped away for a minute and, when she returned, Lina was gone. However, the toddler was never alone as other children were on the playground when she vanished. Her parents are cooperating with the investigation.
Anyone with information is urged to call the San Antonio Police Department Missing Persons’ Unit at 210-207-7660.
