New Photo Shows Missing 3-Year-Old Lina Khil on Day She Disappeared

The search for a 3-year-old Texas girl continues four weeks after she vanished from a playground at her San Antonio apartment complex on December 20, as concern continues to mount over her well-being.

As previously reported, Lina Khil vanished at around 5 p.m. on December 20 after she had been at the playground, where other children and adults were present. Lina’s mother briefly separate from her daughter and returned to the playground to find the girl had vanished. Lina’s family searched for her themselves and when they did not find her, reported Lina missing to police later that evening.

Authorities initially issued an AMBER Alert, despite having no suspect or vehicle information, and the alert has since been cancelled in the absence of any significant leads. San Antonio police have said they are treating the girl’s disappearance as a missing persons investigation, but a police spokesperson told CrimeOnline earlier this month that investigators have ruled nothing out, including foul play.

A representative for Lina Khil’s family, who immigrated from Afghanistan in 2019, shared a new photo of Lina through family representative. The representative reportedly told KENS 5 that the photograph was taken the day Lina disappeared, and noted that she is wearing plastic gold and blue bracelets in the photo. It is unclear if the photo — shown below — was already shared with authorities, or why it was not released earlier.

Lina appears to be wearing the same or similar outfit shown in another photo that was released shortly after her disappearance; though elements of earlier photo, published with this article, suggests she was not in San Antonio when it was taken.

According to KENS 5, Lina was wearing an additional item on the day of her disappearance, known as a ‘taweez’ which was worn around her neck and includes versus from the Quran.

The missing persons investigation remains active, and volunteers have organized multiple searches, as recently as Sunday.