While most people have been reassuring, there are some who have accused the family...
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Lina Khil’s family harassed while awaiting new baby; 1 man arrested
Riaz Sardar Khil’s struggle with the disappearance of his now 4-year-old daughter, Lina, has been hard without any trace of where she could be, but skepticism and harassment have made it even more difficult.
Five months later, there is still no concrete evidence as to her whereabouts.
She vanished Dec. 20 after she went out of her mother’s line of sight for a moment, just feet away from the playground at Villas Del Cabo, near the USAA complex along Fredericksburg Road.
On Thursday, Khil sat in his apartment alongside Pamela Allen, a community advocate for children-turned-family friend, who called the last five months a “roller coaster” of emotion as tips have been followed and grassy lands have been searched.
One tip, Allen recalled, came from a man in Jordan who had been leading Khil toward a relative of his in California. Allen said the tipster gave a building unit among other details, but never an address. Abel Pena, a retired FBI special agent who runs Project Absentis, investigated the lead and found it not credible, Allen said. But the tipster got Khil’s hopes up, telling him that his daughter would be home by the time Ramadan — a month of fasting, prayer and reflection in the Muslim community — was over.
“It was just very riveting,” she said. “We want to believe that somebody is going to say something and bring this baby home.”
Allen, CEO of Eagles Flight Outreach and Advocacy, said it was heartwarming when Mayor Ron Nirenberg proclaimed that Lina was “San Antonio’s daughter,” a sentiment that reassured the family — themselves refugees of war-torn Afghanistan — and rallied the community to her search.
But other members of the community have not been so supportive. Allen said some have harassed the family and even Allen herself, accusing them of keeping Lina captive for some nefarious reason.
Allen has been appalled by some of the theories put forth by observers since the outset of Lina’s disappearance: “they probably sold her”; “they married her off”; “she’s a child bride.”
“All of these mean, harsh things that you would say to a father, really? You would say this to a father who’s crying for his baby?” Allen said. “What if he had blond hair and blue eyes? Would you be saying that stuff? What if his last name was Smith? Would you be saying that stuff? Absolutely not.”
There have been raps upon the apartment door — and rocks thrown at it — since Lina vanished, but Khil sees no one when he goes to check.
One man even visited Khil’s home day after day and pounded on his door, yelling out to Khil in regard to Lina’s disappearance. Khil said he called the police, who at one point arrested the man, but he later returned.
Khil said he eventually managed to stand his ground and scare him away, and he has not heard from him.
In a time when Khil and his wife should be happily preparing for the arrival of their third child — just two weeks away — the fog of mystery surrounding Lina’s disappearance is weighing heavily on them.
Khil says he has not recovered any sense of the security that disappeared along with Lina.
“I’m not sure how I’m going to keep my child safe,” he said in his native Pashto language, translated by his family friend and fellow community leader Lawang Mangal.
Khil said his mother, who lives in Afghanistan, worries so much about Lina that she wishes the rest of her family could return to their home country.
Pain of not knowing
It perplexes Khil, he said, that even with a reward of up to $250,000 still on the table for anyone to turn up information leading to Lina’s whereabouts, no one has come forward with credible tips. Most of the reward money is being footed by the Islamic Center of San Antonio, while $50,000 is from San Antonio Crime Stoppers.
Khil had a small moment of triumph as the custodians of his apartment repaired his A/C, which had been broken for some time. Being pregnant in the Texas heat is hard enough as it is, Allen remarked.
At the start of the search for Lina, Allen stepped in to aid the family in any way she could, whether it be dealing with potential developments in the case, or coordinating aid from members of the community.
In the past five months, their families have grown close. The Khil family even attended services last month for Allen’s mother, Lillie Espurvoa, after she died. Allen said her mother had a pin with an image of Lina on it. She, like many others, had been praying for Lina’s safe return.
“He came to my house, to love on me, because of my mother,” Allen said.
The pin now stands on Khil’s wall at his apartment in the middle of a strand of white lights that spell Lina’s name. Allen said she and the family have spent moments shedding tears together under the crippling helplessness of the situation.
To make sure his family stays safe, Khil hesitates to take on much work. He makes deliveries with Amazon Flex when he can, but just enough to pay the bills and make end met. The rest of his time is spent waiting for any hint as to where Lina might be.
Mangal said several members of the Afghan community had offered funds to help Khil and his family. Instead, Khil returned the funds, saying that they would be better put to help others in need.
Each time the 20th comes around, Allen and the family try to keep up awareness of Lina’s disappearance in the hopes that some credible tips arise. Nothing is planned this time around, but should Lina still be missing next month, Allen said she and Lina’s family will plan a small ceremony.
“Bottom line is this little girl is still missing and needs to come home,” Allen said.
San Antonio police have said Lina’s disappearance is considered a missing person’s case, but no new details were available as of Thursday. They have asked that anyone with information about her come forward and contact their missing persons unit at 210-207-7660.
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