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Who Was Lina Sadar Khil?

Lina Sadar Khil was born on February 20, 2018 to her parents, Riaz and Zarmeena Sadar Khil, in the Khost province of Afghanistan. Both Lina’s grandfather and father served in the Afghan military; her grandfather was killed by a suicide bomber in 2009, and her father served from 2013-2019.

As part of his duties, her father worked alongside US troops, serving as a team leader for the security forces. Although his job was described as being a desk job, it soon put a target on him and his family. Amid ongoing threats from the Taliban, the family received visas to come to the United States in 2019.

Once they arrived, they settled into an apartment complex in the 9400 block of Fredericksburg road in San Antonio. This was located in a neighborhood that had a large Afghan refugee population, which had developed into a close-knit community. As the family settled in, Riaz obtained work as a truck driver, with Zarmeena staying home to care for Lina and her younger brother.

By 2021, Zarmeena became pregnant with the couple’s third child, a baby boy. Even though the family was settling into their new life in the United States, Zarmeena, Lina, and her younger brother would return to Afghanistan one last time to see her sick parents one last time before the Taliban took over. For safety reasons, Riaz did not go, choosing to stay behind in San Antonio.

Zarmeena and her children were in Afghanistan in August 2021, when the U.S. removed troops from the country. In a panic, hundreds of Afghans crowded the airport, desperate for a seat on one of the final planes leaving the country. A suicide bomber detonated a bomb outside of the airport gates, killing and injuring hundreds.

Lina was among the injured; the blast rendered her unconscious. Fortunately, she recovered, and Zarmeena and the children fled to a nearby home of a family member. From there, they secured transportation back to the United States, where they reunited with Riaz back in San Antonio.

Despite the close call, life returned to normal for the family. Lina grew and blossomed as her personality developed. She was described as a silly, goofy, playful child who loved playing, watching YouTube videos, and helping to care for her younger brother. Her father further described her as a “sweet,” “lovable,” and “playful” child who was a treasured member of the family.

Since they had such a tight-knit community, Lina and her brother enjoyed playing with the other children on the complex’s playground while Zarmeena sat and talked with the other caretakers. This was a near-daily occurrence for them, and until Lina’s disappearance, these trips were uneventful.

But one trip to the playground would forever change the lives of Lina and her family.

Disappearance

On the afternoon of Lina’s disappearance, Zarmeena took the children to the complex’s playground, like they had so many times before. Lina ran around with the other children while Zarmeena (who was four months pregnant at the time) monitored them.

Around 5 PM, Zarmeena lost sight of Lina for a short amount of time. Although there was some confusion about what happened, later reports determined that Lina had run around a nearby building, out of Zarmeena’s sight, with a group of kids. When the kids reappeared, Lina was nowhere to be seen.

When Zarmeena couldn’t find her daughter, she went back to the apartment, thinking she had gone inside for some water. When she failed to find Lina, she thought that she might’ve gone to another apartment.

Unsure of what else to do, she called Riaz to help her find their daughter. At the time, he was visiting a friend about a mile away. But when he received the news, he raced home to help search for the missing girl.

Once he arrived, the pair thoroughly searched for Lina in the apartment complex. But as the minutes ticked by, it was clear that their daughter wasn’t there.

Unsure of what else to do, they called the police at 7:15 PM.

Investigation

The police responded quickly, arriving at the apartment complex approximately 90 minutes after Lina went missing. They began an extensive search for the young girl in the complex, including going door-to-door to each apartment, searching for any signs of the young girl.

Meanwhile, the authorities released an AMBER Alert at 10 PM that night, detailing Lina’s physical description and the location where she was last seen. Although they were unsure if she had been abducted, they issued the alert anyway, as they believed she was in grave or immediate danger.

Over the next few days, the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) expanded their search beyond the apartment complex, utilizing K-9 units to track her scent. Authorities scoured the wooded area next to the complex, and they utilized helicopters to get a better view. They wrote down license plate numbers, analyzed security camera footage from local businesses, and even looked at footage from doorbell cameras within the complex. They also interviewed families who were present at the park that afternoon, and many residents were asked to provide alibis. However, they were unable to find any evidence that an abduction or foul play occurred, and they were unable to locate Lina.

While the search continued, Lina’s parents were questioned by the authorities. Although little has been released publicly about this, it’s noted that both have cooperated in her case, and neither of them have been considered suspects.

After two days passed with no progress, the chief requested help from the FBI’s child abduction rapid response team. They joined the investigation, bringing new resources into the investigation.

During this time, Riaz became the family spokesman, speaking to the media through an interpreter. It quickly became evident that Lina’s disappearance was taking its toll. In one interview, he broke down in tears when he was asked what he missed most about Lina.

Fortunately, the family had a strong support system. With the support of the local Afghan community, Crime Stoppers of San Antonio, and the Islamic Center of San Antonio, Lina’s parents raised over $250,000 for a reward fund.

On December 28th, Chief McManus of the SAPD and Justin Garris, the acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Antonio Field Office, hosted a press conference, detailing the status of the case. After over a week of searching, they were unable to find any definitive evidence of Lina’s fate, despite the fact that the SAPD and FBI were working together.

However, they also noted a gap in surveillance footage between 4:49-5:07 PM. As of this writing, this footage has not been located, and the authorities have been unable to determine what happened during this time. Because of this, they have been unable to conclude she was abducted.

With little to go on, the AMBER Alert was discontinued in January 2022, but the investigation pressed on.

A couple of weeks after Linda’s disappearance, the SAPD and the FBI’s Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team were spotted at a creek less than two miles from the complex. Despite the search, they were unable to locate Lina or any evidence she was there.

As time passed Riaz and Zarmeena struggled to keep Lina’s case in the spotlight for a variety of reasons:

• Neither spoke English, meaning they had to rely on interpreters to speak to the authorities and the media.
• It was also noted that the interpreters often struggled to convey ideas in English, leading to misunderstandings about the timeline, specifically about how long Zarmeena had lost contact with Lina. As a result, many believed early on that Zarmeena let her children run wild, and she was directly and indirectly blamed for her daughter’s disappearance.
• Overtly racist theories were spread online, such as Lina’s parents selling her or killing her and covering it up. Some even doubted that Lina had been at the playground that day until the SAPD released surveillance footage a year later, confirming her presence.
• Others were suspicious about why Riaz was the only one in front of the camera and not Zarmeena. This cast doubt and suspicion on her, even though she chose not to be on camera for religious and cultural reasons.

Although the racist behavior started online, it soon appeared in real life. The local Afghan community and activist groups organized searches throughout 2022, hoping to uncover new evidence. However, the same people spewing hate online showed up to the searches, hurling vile and racist allegations against Lina’s loved ones. These threats became so intense that organizers had no choice but to call off the searches.

A year after Lina’s disappearance, the family received a tip that she had been seen alive in Oklahoma, giving them hope that she would eventually come home. However, as of this writing, this tip remains unverified.

By April 2023, the family expressed disappointment and frustration with the SAPD, claiming that they had not received any new information. Around the same time, both Riaz and Zarmeena took polygraph tests, and they began to publicly call for new investigators to take over the case.

Their request was denied.

Fortunately, they began working with outside organizations, such as Project Absentis, a local group headed by a retired FBI agent. During their investigation, they discovered a man had been arrested in September 2022 for possessing child abuse materials with the intent to distribute. This individual has never been named, but they were allegedly known to the family. As of this writing, this remains one of the strongest leads, although it’s unknown if it’s been fully investigated.

One of the last developments came in February 2024, when the authorities conducted a search at an apartment complex about half a mile from Lina’s apartment complex. Reportedly, the police were there, along with an unknown man in a Bear County jumpsuit. He had been detained for aggravated sexual acts involving a child, and he was living in the same complex as Lina and her family at the time of her disappearance. Even though the search lasted for two days, nothing substantial was found.

To this day, Lina’s family continues to miss her dearly. They, along with their support system, are still fighting to bring her home and give her the justice she deserves. As of this writing, the disappearance of Lina Sadar Khil remains unsolved.

My Thoughts

The disappearance of Lina Sadar Khil tragic, heartbreaking, and baffling. A young girl left Afghanistan with her family and came to the United States, hoping for a better, safer life, only for her to go missing at a playground. On paper, it seems solvable. But due to language barriers, racism, xenaphobia, cultural insensitivity, and a lack of witnesses, she remains missing.

Normally, this is the part where I dig into the theories. But given the lack of evidence in this case, it’s much harder to do so; it would be little more than speculation. Because of this, I want to take time to dispel some of the myths surrounding her disappearance.

We know that Lina disappeared at some point from her apartment complex’s playground, but there’s a lot we don’t know. For example:

• How many people were at the playground that day? Depending on how many people were there, there might’ve been opportunities for Lina to slip out of view of everyone, which would explain why no one witnessed anything.
• Lina was reportedly playing with other children. Did any of them notice anything? Or were they unable to share information due to young age and language barriers?
• Did the police bring in interpreters? If so, did they accurately translate the information?

Unfortunately, these are questions we don’t have answers for. But they’re important to know, as the answers could reveal the quality of the investigation.

Tragically, this case never received the proper attention it deserved, likely due to language barriers. When someone goes missing, a family member or friend usually advocates for their loved one from the earliest days of the investigation. They’ll speak to the authorities and the media, hand out missing persons flyers, run social media accounts, and more.

But what if you’re from another country, and you’re not familiar with the justice system here? What if you don’t even speak the same language, like Riaz and Zarmeena?

The lack of familiarity with the U.S.  justice system, the language barrier, and rampant racism and xenaphobia created huge road blocks in this case.

As I researched this case, I became angry when people suggested that Riaz and Zarmeena (or another refugee family) had something to do with her disappearance. It bothers me because I know several visa holders, refugees, and asylum seekers. I’ve seen their experiences first-hand; they have strong motivations to follow the law and not draw attention to themselves. These are people who have fled from incredibly dangerous situations, to the point where their best option is to start over in a new country.

People like Lina’s parents have strong motivations to follow the law and not draw attention to themselves. Even something as small as a traffic ticket could jeopardize their status. Harming a child would all but guarantee their deportation, meaning that they would be forced back into the dangerous situation they fled from.

Another thing that stood out to me was that Lina was probably not taken for money. Refugees typically don’t have a lot of money. They’re typically starting over with next to nothing, and they’re dependent on others for help. A ransom demand never came, and her parents had to crowdfund the reward money, meaning that whoever took her probably wasn’t motivated by money.

Ultimately, this case shows the importance of culture-sensitive investigations. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an armchair investigation or an FBI investigation. We can’t always look at disappearances through an American-centric lens. Cultural nuances can absolutely influence outcomes, and racism has no place here.

If we’re unable to check our biases, more people like Lina will slip through the cracks. At this point, we can only hope that someone will come forward or new evidence will be uncovered. Short of that happening, the disappearance of Lina Sadar Khil will remain unsolved and cold.

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Recommended Reading: We Are Displaced by Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai’s memoir shares her own story of displacement alongside the experiences of other young refugees around the world. It highlights the struggles, fears, and resilience of people forced to leave everything behind in search of safety. Reading this book provides important context for cases like Lina Sadar Khil’s: it helps us understand the challenges her family faced as refugees navigating a new country, limited resources, and a system that didn’t fully protect them — all while trying to keep their daughter safe. You can find it here (I earn a commission from purchases made through this link, at no extra cost to you).

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If you’re looking for more information about the disappearance of Patrick Kennedy Alford Jr, there are a few resources available, but information is somewhat limited. The following sources helped me as I wrote this post:

• The Charley Project
• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• https://www.fox7austin.com/news/family-of-lina-sardar-khil-stalked-harassed-san-antonio-texas
• https://unresolved.me/linasardarkhil
• NCMEC: Can New Image Find Missing Texas Girl?

If you have any information about the disappearance of Lina Sadar Khil, please contact the San Antonio Police Department at 210-207-7273. You can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.

What do you think happened? Let me know in the comments.