This article has been updated.
A two-day search of a Northwest Side creek for 3-year-old Lina Sardar Khil, who was last seen 16 days ago, ended Wednesday without any “conclusive findings.”
On Tuesday, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said an FBI Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team, based in Washington, D.C., was in San Antonio to conduct a search of Huebner Creek for the young Afghan refugee.
The dive effort Wednesday “concluded without any conclusive findings,” and the next steps include widening the scope of the search for Lina, said a statement from the SAPD Public Information Office.
On Dec. 20, Lina was last seen by her mother at a playground at the Villas Del Cabo apartment complex, 9400 Fredericksburg Rd., where she lived with her family. At the time, she was wearing a black jacket, red dress and black shoes and is about 4 feet tall with dark, straight, shoulder-length hair.
“All we’re doing here is following up on leads,” McManus said Tuesday. “We don’t want to leave anything to chance, so everything that we get that has any kind of potential at all, we follow it up. And that’s what we’re doing here today.”
McManus refused to provide details on the tip, citing the ongoing investigation.
“I wish I could give you more uplifting news but there isn’t any,” McManus said Tuesday.
Lina’s family, who came to the United States from Afghanistan in 2019, was aware of the search, McManus said.
Since her disappearance, an Amber Alert was issued for Lina, and the Islamic Center of San Antonio is offering a $100,000 reward for “information that successfully helps find” the girl.
Anyone with information on Lina’s disappearance may contact SAPD’s Missing Person’s Unit at 210-207-7660.
