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'We have not lessened the intensity of this investigation' | SAPD, FBI still searching for missing 3-year-old

Lina Khil disappeared from the playground at her family's apartment on Dec. 20 and has not been seen since.

SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Police Department provided an update in the case of missing 3-year-old Lina Khil Tuesday morning. 

Police Chief McManus said while they continue to comb the web and try to get more leads, there isn't an advancement in the case. However, it was mentioned that the greenbelt is being searched by officials in the event that a tip or evidence is found. The search is near the apartment where Khil was last seen, near Hamilton Wolfe and Floyd Curl. Authorities said they are using canines to assist.

"It might lead us to something and we don't want to leave any stone unturned," McManus said. "So, we'll continue to go over those areas as we think there may be new evidence."

When asked if there were any suspects, McManus said they were looking at some people, but this still remains a missing persons case until evidence is found to indicate otherwise. 

KENS 5 spoke to the child's father who shared a photo of Lina in the dress she was wearing the day she went missing:

Credit: Lina Khil's family

Although there are no new leads, McManus said the intensity of the case has not lessened. 

Justin Garris, the acting special agent in charge, said the FBI has utilized several sources. 

On Monday, the FBI was seen searching the dumpsters. The reason was that last week, the dumpsters were searched. Since the dumpsters had been emptied since then, officials wanted to do their due diligence again to make sure that no one had thrown out evidence or anything pertinent to the investigation or search efforts. 

Since there was an 18 minute window last week where there was no visibility of Lina, a lot of the tips came after that window and the officials are asking that if anyone has any information that can be helpful in this case, to contact the FBI and SAPD. 

It's been eight days since Khil was last seen. The command post has since been shut down since police said they have searched the surrounding area thoroughly.

"There is no lessening of this investigation simply because the command post has shut down," McManus said. 

McManus expressed his sorrow in the disappearance of the little girl.

"There's nothing that we haven't done to try to find her," McManus said. "It's frustrating and disheartening and disappointing that we haven't come up with something yet." 

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