This episode contains graphic content that may not be suitable for all ages.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available.

Call or text 988 or chat with someone at 988 lifeline.org. Those outside of the U.S.

reach out to someone at your local crisis center or hotline.

Please do not suffer in silence.

In December of 2021, the world was worried about the spread of a new COVID-19 variant.

On the borders of Ukraine, the Russian army would begin mobilizing forces ahead of their

invasion just weeks later.

In Germany, Olaf Schultz replaced Angela Merkel as the nation's chancellor.

Here in America, a rare string of tornadoes would

tear through four states, destroying multiple towns and leaving at least 70 dead. While

the rest of the world was preoccupied, a tragic story was unfolding in San Antonio, Texas.

A three-year-old girl disappeared from just outside of her family's home and has not been seen since.

This is the story of Lena Sardar Kiel.

Lena Sardar Kiel was born in Afghanistan to her parents, Riyaz and Zarmina Sardar

Kiel, in the coast province. Her grandfather was an Afghan

military commander that was killed by a suicide bomber in 2009, and her father, Riyaz, had followed

in his father's footsteps by serving in Afghanistan's armed forces between 2013 and 19. There, he

worked alongside U.S. troops and served as a team leader for

the nation's security forces, a job he has described as primarily a desk job involving

a lot of paperwork, but one that put a target on his and his families back. In 2019, the family

...