The two week search is continuing for missing Afghan girl Lina Sadar Khil, 3

An FBI dive team has joined the search for a three year-old Afghan refugee girl who vanished close to her San Antonio home on December 20 while her mother allegedly left her unattended. 

Lina Sardar Khil was last seen in the playground of a northwest San Antonio apartment complex during the late afternoon of December 20.

The 12-member FBI Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team flew in from Washington, D.C., Monday night and searched water bodies near the girl’s family’s apartment all day Tuesday, Police Chief William McManus said.

Appearing downcast, McManus said the team was merely checking a lead, of which there have been few.

‘Anything we get that has any kind of potential at all, we’re following it up. I wish I could be more uplifting. I know this looks like we’re really onto something. But all we’re doing here is following up,’ he said at a briefing at the search site.

He refused to comment further on the lead that had led divers to the body of water.  

Law enforcement have also been searching a field a few miles from the apartment complex where the girl disappeared.

‘Anything we get that has any kind of potential at all, we’re following it up. I wish I could be more uplifting. I know this looks like we’re really onto something. But all we’re doing here is following up,’ Police Chief William McManus said at a briefing at the search site

Police in San Antonio looking for little Lina, who vanished from an apartment complex’s playground on the afternoon of December 20

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

The child’s family had reported that she was at the playground with her mother, who had walked away briefly and found the child missing upon her return. 

Last Friday, McManus spoke at a press conference at the Islamic Center of San Antonio pleading for anyone with more information on Khil’s whereabouts to come forward. 

‘We need your assistance, if you know anything, even if you think it may not help,’ McManus said.

An FBI dive team has now joined the search for the three-year-old San Antonio girl

Khil is four-feet-tall and weighs 55 pounds, with brown eyes and straight, shoulder-length brown hair tied in a ponytail. She was last seen wearing a black jacket, a red dress and black shoes

Appearing downcast, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said the team was merely checking a lead, of which there have been few

‘We want you to call us and give us any information that you may have.’

He also ensured their safety and protection of identity in exchange of any valuable information.  

As part of the search effort, the Islamic Center of San Antonio is offering a $100,000 reward and Crime Stoppers of San Antonio is offering $50,000 in exchange for information.  

The San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) also released a statement on Friday to publicly announce their continuing search efforts.

‘While there have been no substantial updates to report, we continue to deploy an all hands on deck approach to ensure no evidence, witness statement or clues are left undiscovered,’ the statement posted to Facebook read.

The child was last seen in the 9400 block of Fredericksburg Road between 5 and 6pm on Monday, December 20 

Over the course of the investigation, SAPD and other departments have refused to exhaust their attempts to find Lina as they have looked through other apartments in the family’s complex, utilized search dogs and have collected surveillance footage from surrounding areas.

Despite the consistent search efforts, McManus had said the department is becoming ‘less hopeful’ as the investigation continues.  

‘Unfortunately, I have to say that the longer the time lapses, the less hopeful we become,’ McManus said.  

The young girl’s father, Riaz Sardar Khil, and the rest of the family has still remained hopeful throughout the search.

‘I’m hopeful that my daughter will be back,’ he told the San Antonio Express-News.

Riaz Khil, the father of the missing three-year-old, says the family believe she may have been abducted

‘I know there is a good person among us whose prayer will be heard by God, and that will be the cause for the safe return of my daughter.’ 

The family moved to the U.S. in 2019 from Afghanistan after fleeing from ‘threats that were posed to us,’ Lina´s father, Riaz Sardar Khil, told KENS-TV. 

Although police say they do not have a description of a possible kidnapping suspect, they are investigating the case as a child abduction

Khil said through a translator that his wife, who is pregnant, was watching their daughter at the playground between 5 and 6pm that day, when the three-year-old walked over to a nearby path and suddenly vanished.

Lina’s mother initially thought she may have returned to the family’s apartment, but she was not there. 

The family then thought Lina may have left the playground with another Afghan family but now believe she may have been abducted.   

‘During our entire lives we have not been as saddened as we were yesterday and today,’ Riaz Khil said.

The father said that the FBI have questioned him and his wife for several hours.

Lina is four-feet-tall and weighs 55 pounds, with brown eyes and straight, shoulder-length brown hair tied in a ponytail. She was last seen wearing a black jacket, a red dress and black shoes.

Anyone with more information on Lina’s disappearance is asked to call SAPD Missing Person’s Unit at 210-207-7660.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk

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