Gone in a Blink
There are an estimated 8 billion people in the world. In the US, approximately 2,300 people go missing every day. While some of those cases may be of their own accord, others are because of something far more sinister. Gone in a Blink is a true crime podcast that dives head first into the most mysterious and terrifying missing person cases in existence. Hosts Heather and Danielle take a deep look into some of the most horrific missing person cases that will leave you on the edge of your seat and absolutely terrified at just how fast a person can be Gone in a Blink.
Gone in a Blink
The Playground Predator: Where is Lina Sardar Khil?
The playground should be every child's sanctuary - a place of laughter, freedom, and innocent joy. For three-year-old Lina Sardar Khil, it became the scene of an unthinkable tragedy when she vanished without a trace on December 20, 2021, from her apartment complex in San Antonio, Texas.
Lina's story begins far from American soil. Born in Afghanistan to a family with deep military connections, her grandfather was killed by a suicide bomber in 2009. Her father Riaz followed the same path, serving alongside U.S. troops until 2019 when concerns for his family's safety prompted their relocation to America. They settled among other Afghan refugees, forming a tight-knit community where they believed their children could play freely without fear.
The family had already survived unimaginable trauma. During a 2021 visit to Afghanistan, Lina was knocked unconscious by a suicide bombing at Kabul airport as they fled the Taliban takeover. They escaped with their lives, returning to what they thought was safety in Texas. Months later, during a routine afternoon at the playground where Lina played daily, she disappeared while running with other children around an apartment building. When the children returned, Lina wasn't among them.
What happened in those crucial moments? Surveillance footage captured Lina playing moments before she vanished, but mysteriously contains an 18-minute gap exactly when she disappeared. Was this a targeted abduction connected to her father's military service, or a crime of opportunity by someone who had been watching the playground? The family's struggle with English created additional barriers as they desperately tried to convey what happened to police and media, facing cruel speculation and victim-blaming from online commenters.
Three years later, Lina remains missing despite extensive searches, a $280,000 reward, and age progression photos showing what she might look like now. If you recognize Lina or have information about her disappearance, contact the San Antonio Police Department at 210-207-7660 or the FBI San Antonio office at 210-225-6741. One tip could bring this child home and end her family's unending nightmare.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Lina_Khil
https://unresolved.me/linasardarkhil
https://charleyproject.org/case/lina-sardar-khil
Music:
Crime Trap by Muza Production
Sad Trap Beat by BRVAN
Dark Ambient by Sharvarion
Gone in a Blink is created by Heather Hicks and Danielle E.
Written and produced by Heather Hicks and hosted by Danielle E. and Heather Hicks.
Gone in a Blink theme: Crime Trap created and produced by Muzaproduction
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There's nothing more innocent than a child playing on a playground. It gives them that freedom to run, to giggle loudly as they go down the slide or to swing as high as their little heart's desire. They are fearless, and why? Because that is their safe place. They feel that nothing can hurt them in a place that brings them so much joy. Little do they know that is the very place where predators hide those individuals with ill intentions whose sole purpose is to hunt these children, and in an instant, once they find the one, they will change everything that child thought they knew about the world and destroy the family that loves them. This is the case into the disappearance of Lena Sardar Kill. And this is Gone in a Blink. Hey, true crime fans, I'm your host, heather, and welcome to episode 39 of Gone in a Blink. This is actually the last episode of season 3. We will begin season 4 in September. If you haven't gotten caught up with previous episodes, now would be an excellent time to do that. What we are planning for season 4, we have a lot of really great stuff planned. We have a lot of awesome cases, cases that a lot of people probably haven't heard of, which is kind of. Our goal usually is to get those out there, and we also have some interviews scheduled, so it's going to be a pretty awesome season, season four, so I will keep things going on our Facebook page as far as letting everyone know what's coming up and what to expect. School is out also for most of the kiddos here in the US, and with that comes spending time at the parks or the local swimming pools, maybe going to barbecues or baseball games and other sporting events, and really just getting out and enjoying the warmer weather.
Speaker 1:Please, please, be vigilant of your surroundings when going out, especially when going out with little ones. It's so easy to get distracted, especially when you have little kids with you. Your babies, those are your babies. So you may be in a situation where you are buckling your children or child into their car seat in a crowded parking lot. I'm a mom. I've done this many, many times. You are busy trying to get one child in their car seat, and maybe you may have another child sitting all alone in the shopping cart that you originally pulled close to your car in an attempt at keeping a close eye on them as well, but you keep sticking your foot out there to stop the shopping cart that wants to keep trying to roll away because apparently, every parking lot ever made was built on a hill. Apparently every parking lot ever made was built on a hill. And meanwhile you may have your third kiddo or fourth kiddo that's still screaming and throwing a tantrum because of the toy that they were set on getting that you told them to put down in the checkout line. Believe me, I get that. It feels nearly impossible to keep a constant eye on your surroundings, especially as a parent, and it's very, very easy to let our guard down. That is exactly what happened to a mother in the case we're talking about today. Today, we are talking about the case of missing three-year-old Lena Sardar Kill, so if you're ready, let's jump right in.
Speaker 1:Lina Sardar-Kil was born on February 20, 2018, in Afghanistan, to parents Riaz and Zarmina Sardar-Kil. According to an article in Unresolved, lina's grandfather was an Afghan military commander who was killed in 2009 by a suicide bomber, by a suicide bomber. Lina's father, riaz, followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Afghan army, where he served as a team leader alongside US troops working for the nation's security forces. He served in the military between 2013 and 2019 and because of his position within the military. He felt as if he'd placed a target on the backs of both him and his family. By 2019, the family obtained their visas and made the move to the United States, where they settled down in the Villas del Cabo apartment complex, nestled along the 9400 block of Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio, texas. This area was close to the interstate. It was close to Interstate 10 and the Northwest 410 loop, and this was an area also known as the medical center part of town. Many of the residents here were Afghan refugees who had together formed a close-knit community within their neighborhood.
Speaker 1:After coming to the States, riaz found work as a driver for Uber as well as Lyft, and if any of our listeners are unfamiliar with either of those, they're basically a rideshare service where the driver uses their own vehicle to transport customers wherever they need to go. Basically so Riaz's wife became a stay-at-home mom and took care of Lina, who was the oldest and then also a younger brother of Lina's. By summer of 2021, zarmina became pregnant for the third time with another beautiful baby brother for Lina, and Lina was absolutely over the moon with excitement because she loved helping her mother take care of her little brothers. So, according to Unresolved, the same year that Lena's newest baby brother was born, zarmina decided to travel with the children back to Afghanistan to see her parents, who were sick. She wanted to make the trip before the Taliban took over control of the government. Riaz did not make this trip with his family due to safety reasons, according to the article and I'm not sure if it was because he had previously felt like he had a target on his back due to the type of military work he performed, or if there was some other reason that August, as US troops began to withdraw from the country, thousands of people made their way to the airport in Kabul in an attempt to gain access to one of the last few planes out of the country.
Speaker 1:During this time, a suicide bomber detonated a belt of explosives outside the airport's gates, killing over 100 Afghans and 13 US soldiers. Zamina, lina and her baby brother were among the crowds of people fleeing from the chaos. Lina was knocked unconscious from the blast. She was able to regain consciousness quickly and the family fled to a family member's house to escape. They were later evacuated by US military troops and brought back home to reunite with Riaz in San Antonio, and I think it's pretty safe to say that Lena had a childhood.
Speaker 1:Unlike most kids, she was a refugee, and to experience the horror that she experienced at that airport in Kabul at only three years old is absolutely devastating. Unfortunately, this was only the beginning for young Lena. Lena was described by her family as being a typical three-year-old girl who loved being silly and enjoyed playing with the other kids in her apartment complex. She also loved helping her mother take care of her baby brothers. Playing with the other children at the playground located on the grounds of their apartment complex was an everyday thing for Lena.
Speaker 1:Monday, december 20th 2021, was just like any other day for Lena and her family. As usual, lena's mother took her out to the apartment complex's playground that afternoon to run and play with the other kids. While Lena played, her mother sat with the other parents in the main area of the playground. Lena's mother was four months pregnant at the time, and so sometimes it was hard for her to keep up with Lena and her little brother while they played, often running at the time, and so sometimes it was hard for her to keep up with Lena and her little brother while they played, often running around the courtyard and apartment buildings that surrounded the courtyard.
Speaker 1:Around 5 pm, zarmina became worried when she lost sight of Lena. It was reported that she was running with a group of kids who had run around one of the apartment buildings. When the rest of the kids were again seen running on the other side of the building, lena was not with them. Trying not to panic, zarmina thought that maybe Lena had gone back to the family's apartment. She grabbed her son and hurried to her apartment, only to discover that Lena was not there by this time. Zarmina was extremely worried and she was hoping that maybe Lena had gone to another close friend of the family's and that they would find her soon. She called her husband, riaz, who was a short distance away, to help with the search. So Riaz raced home and together, along with several other families, they searched the apartment complex for Lena. But as the hours passed, with still no sign of their precious daughter, they searched the apartment complex for Lena, but as the hours passed, with still no sign of their precious daughter, they became more panicked. So at around 7.15, they decided to call the police and file a missing persons report. Police searched the entire premises of the apartment complex and at 10 pm an amber alert was issued.
Speaker 1:The days that followed were long and the nights were even longer. Police scoured the apartment complex and surrounding areas. K-9 units were brought in and police went door to door in the apartment complex looking for anyone who may have seen young Lena. They searched through people's cars and sifted through dumpsters young Lena. They searched through people's cars and sifted through dumpsters. They made note of license plate numbers of all the residents within the apartment complex and interviewed several of the families, even going as far as to ask if they would be allowed to search their apartment. Authorities begin viewing surveillance footage from nearby businesses, as well as doorbell cameras from various neighboring residents, and they talked with other families who had been at the playground that day and made notes of anyone who may have been described as acting suspicious.
Speaker 1:In the days leading up to, as well as on the day of Lena's disappearance, search parties were put together, as well as an aerial search to scour the wooded area around the apartment complex in the hopes of finding any sign of Lena. Unfortunately, the searches turned up nothing, and authorities suspected from the beginning that it was foul play. However, they couldn't seem to find any hard evidence to suggest that it was to find any hard evidence to suggest that it was so. Lena's parents were questioned the day after Lena went missing. They were extremely cooperative and they were ruled out as suspects pretty quickly. So since this case is classified as unsolved, unfortunately that leaves us nothing else but to theorize what may have happened to three-year-old Lena.
Speaker 1:Some believe that this was a targeted abduction, while others speculate that this was a crime of opportunity. I think the fact that Lena's father had mentioned that he felt that his family had a target on their backs due to his previous job in the military really raises some red flags for me. There were no reports that I could find of anything that could have happened prior to Lena's disappearance to make him feel this way, and there was no mention of any particular threats made. However, something made him feel that his family could be in danger, and whether it was just the general fact that his job placed him in that position or it was something more specific that happened as a result of his job, I don't know, but this being a targeted act is definitely a possibility.
Speaker 1:Now, on the other side of that comes the speculation that many have that this was a crime of opportunity. Maybe Maybe someone had been watching the apartment complex, or more specifically the playground, and spotted Lena. This could have been a situation where someone had been watching this playground for a while and had picked Lena out with the intention of taking her. Going to this playground was something that Lena and her mother did pretty much every day, and when you do something every day ritualistically, such as this, you can easily become a target. That's why it's best to kind of switch up your routine every now and then. But I'm sure this family and many others that lived in the apartment complex felt very safe at this playground Because it is where they live and because they are so close with so many of the residents. However, I don't think that the person who took lena was someone who lived there, and that's just my that's solely my opinion. It could be that there was someone visiting someone else who lived there, and maybe there was someone who lena had before, since there were no reports of anyone hearing a child scream. Or maybe this really was a targeted act as a result of Lena's father's previous military job. It's really anyone's guess at this point.
Speaker 1:At one point during the investigation, a popular sketch artist by the name of Lois Gibson, with the Houston Police Department, spoke directly with a witness who claimed to have seen Lena walking with two men on the day of her disappearance. The end result of Lois's sketches were of a dark-complected man of Afghan descent and one of a lighter-complected man. When shown these two sketches, lena's family recognized the darker-complected man and believed that he had nothing to do with. Lena's family recognized the darker complected man and believed that he had nothing to do with Lena's disappearance. They did not recognize the lighter complected man.
Speaker 1:So on December 20th 2022, police released surveillance video of Lena right before she went missing. In the video, lena is seen playing on the playground just moments before she disappeared. One of the residents of the apartment complex had a surveillance camera that captured those moments. At one point during the video, lena walks out of view of the camera. That is the last anyone has seen of her, and there were reports that during the surveillance footage, there was a gap in the video between 4.49 pm and 5.07 pm, and I find this incredibly strange because this was during the time that Zemina was frantically searching for Lena. I feel like this would have been right around the time that whatever happened to Lena was actually happening. This would have been 11 minutes before Zemina realized that Lena was out of her sight and 7 minutes after she realized that her baby girl was missing. I feel like this time frame was probably the most crucial, and there's a gap in the video. I'm unsure if anyone has since been able to explain that gap in the footage. However, if any of our listeners have found any reports that I seem to overlook, please let us know. So, by January of 2022, the Amber Alert for Lena was discontinued.
Speaker 1:However, the investigation continued, which now included help from the FBI. In April of 2023, lena's father, reyes, took a polygraph test from the FBI to once again clear his name, and I think it was more of the fact that he wanted to clear his name and show the public that he had nothing to do with Lena's disappearance, more than he was doing it for the police, because he had already been cleared as a suspect by police. However, the family endured much ridicule and victim blaming from a lot of people out there that felt that either they had something to do with their daughter's disappearance or that they were just being negligent From the beginning. Lena's family has faced many struggles during this investigation. One of those struggles was simply the language barrier. They struggled to convey the account of the events to the police in the correct way. And then they struggled again while trying to relay the events of what happened that day to the press. Their native language is Pashto and although they used an interpreter to communicate with the public, as well as the police, they felt that much of what they were trying to say was being misconstrued.
Speaker 1:This led to much criticism from the public towards Lena's parents. Some accused Lena's mother of being careless and just letting her three-year-old daughter run around the apartment complex unsupervised. Then there were the theories that Lena's mother being careless and just letting her three-year-old daughter run around the apartment complex unsupervised. Then there were the theories that Lena's family actually set up a deal to have her sold into sex trafficking. Then online commenters began stirring up theories as to why only Ria's would appear in public to talk about Lena's disappearance, speculating that maybe Lena's mother had something to do with it, when really Zarmina chose not to make public appearances because of her own cultural and religious beliefs.
Speaker 1:And I think what people don't understand is all this nonsense of trying to come up with conspiracy theories and things like that victim blaming really hurt the investigation. And don't get me wrong, there are situations where things like this happen and I get that, but this family was really struggling and they were already dealing with the fact that English was their second language and it didn't sound like they. They really spoke very great English. So to have to deal with that and to have to deal with the grief they're already feeling of their daughter going missing and they're trying to relay everything to the police and the press and everything like that, and then you have all these people coming at them making accusations that are just nonsense.
Speaker 1:On February 14th 2024, an inmate in the Bexar County Jail led authorities to a wooded area in northwest San Antonio between Auburn Creek and the Helix Apartments, about a half a mile from where Lena disappeared. The inmate was in jail for aggravated sexual acts involving a child who allegedly lived at the same apartment complex as Lena at the time of her disappearance. After an extensive search of the area, the inmate's tip was proven to be non-credible and police believed he lied in order to get more phone privileges, which is yet another crimp in the investigation. It really just takes a lot of manpower and a lot of time away from the actual investigation what could be the actual investigation, because now you've sent authorities off on a wild goose chase just to get more phone privileges. Not that this inmate really gave a crap what happened to lena he was only out for himself, clearly but it just screws up an investigation. It takes time away from them really following credible leads and it's sad that they that people do this, but they do so.
Speaker 1:Over the years, lena's family has expressed much disappointment with law enforcement. They feel that the San Antonio Police Department has stopped sharing any information with them and that the only time they hear about anything regarding Lena's case is when they call the SAPD themselves to check in, and that's usually whenever they hear about news on television of a trafficking sting operation or something of that nature, with the hope that maybe law enforcement found something. The family has been working with Eagles Flight Advocacy and Outreach, a program that organizes searches and public events. They created an age progression photo on February 20, 2023 of what Lena would look like at 5 years old. The sketch was released around her 5th birthday. The Islamic Center of San Antonio helped raise a $250,000 reward for info leading to Lena's safe return turn. The family has since raised that reward amount to $280,000, most of which has been raised by them.
Speaker 1:As well as the Afghan community in San Antonio, the FBI also have been working with Project Absentees, a local organization led by a retired FBI agent, who began his own investigation of the case. During his investigation, he uncovered that a resident living at the apartment complex that Lena and her family lived in had been arrested in September 2022 for possessing child sexual abuse material with the intent to distribute. It was reported that this individual was someone known to Lena's family, but his name has not been made public and he has not been charged in Lena's case, and this could be an excellent lead, because that could explain why it was likely that whoever she went with, she more than likely knew. In March of 2024, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children posted a new age progression photo of Lena that shows what she would look like at six years old. Lena was just three years old when she went missing. She was four foot tall and weighed 55 pounds at the time of her disappearance. She has brown hair and brown eyes, and her ears are pierced. She was wearing a red long-sleeved dress, a black jacket, black shoes, blue and gold-toned plastic bangle bracelets, gold earrings and a taweez around her neck, which is actually an amulet with verses from the Quran. She was born in Afghanistan and speaks Pashto.
Speaker 1:If you know anything regarding the disappearance of Lena Sardar Kill, please reach out to the San Antonio Police Department at area code 210-207-7660. You can also contact San Antonio Crime Stoppers at area code 210-224-7867 or the FBI San Antonio office at area code 210-225-6741. And I will also post these contact numbers on our Facebook page. Thank you for listening to another episode of Gone in a Blink. If you are interested in what's coming up with season four here in September, check out our Facebook page.
Speaker 1:And again, if you haven't heard all the episodes this far, go back and listen to them all and get caught up. And if you have an idea for a show. Also, please drop us an email at gone in a blink pod at gmailcom. And, as always, we love it if you give us a five-star review on apple podcast or on spotify, and we love when you follow us on any of our social media sites, and you could follow us on Facebook at gone in a blink, or on Instagram at gone in a blink pod. And last but certainly not least, please remember, be safe, be smart and try not to blink.
