New photo of missing 3-year-old Lina Sardar Khil could provide fresh clue
A potential new clue has emerged in the case of missing 3-year-old Lina Sardar Khil, who was last seen in San Antonio, Texas, nearly one month ago.
Pamela Allen, who is representing the Khil family, said that Lina's father, Riaz Khil, on Monday shared a photo of Lina taken the day she disappeared. The family hopes the photo may aid the investigation.
"The father sent that to me because so many people were asking about jewelry," Allen told ABC News in a phone interview on Tuesday.
Allen is the president of Eagles Flight Advocacy and Outreach, a local nonprofit that supports families experiencing crisis and trauma. It is one of the local organizations that has been assisting in volunteer efforts to search for Lina.
In the photo, which was obtained by ABC News, Lina appears to be wearing blue bangle bracelets on one wrist and gold-toned bangles on the other. She is also wearing small gold earrings and an article around her neck that Allen said is known as the Taweez, which is etched with verses from the Quran and is usually worn for protection.
"These are all the articles that she was wearing on the day that she disappeared. She's also in the red dress with the decorations on the front," Allen said. "That is the exact dress that she was wearing on the day that she disappeared. She did have on a black jacket that her mother said she put on her because she didn't want her to be cold."
Allen said that her organization shared the photo on its Facebook page and also shared it with police.
"Due to this being an active and ongoing investigation, we cannot confirm what evidence we have in this case," a spokesperson for the San Antonio Police Department told ABC News on Tuesday evening when asked if police have reviewed the photo and whether they believe the articles of jewelry or the photo could provide a potential clue in the case. "At this time, we have no updates to report. Our follow up unit continues to work tirelessly on Lina’s case."
Lina's family is part of an Afghan refugee community in San Antonio. They arrived in the United States in 2019.
Lina was last seen on Dec. 20 between 4:30 p.m. and 5:10 p.m. at a park on the 9400 block of Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio, according to police. The park is near the family's home.
The Amber Alert for Lina was suspended on Jan. 7, but police stressed that the investigation is ongoing and that Lina is "an active missing person."
"We will continue to diligently continue combing through leads in hopes of locating Lina and reuniting her with her family," the spokesperson added.
Allen said that the family believes Lina was abducted but is hoping that she will return home safely to celebrate her 4th birthday on Feb. 20.
"We believe someone has her," she said. "And so that this is what the family believes -- that someone has their daughter and hopefully keeping her alive."
"They stand on their faith to get them through these days," she added. "Her father is just relentless in the searches and trying to help us, and he's made it perfectly clear that he wants his baby home, he needs his baby home, and that he loves his little girl so much."
Before the Amber Alert was discontinued, police issued multiple alerts saying that the child could be in "grave danger."
The Islamic Center of San Antonio is offering a $100,000 reward for anyone who can help find Lina. The Crime Stoppers of San Antonio also has offered $50,000 for information resulting in the arrest or indictment of any suspect connected to Lina's disappearance.
Anyone with information on Lina's case is urged to contact the department's Missing Persons Unit at 210-207-7660 or Crime Stoppers at 210-224-7867.
ABC News' Kiara Alfonseca contributed to this report.
