PATH TO REMAIN IN U.S. UNCERTAIN FOR AFGHAN EVACUEES IN SAN DIEGO

Hundreds who fled Taliban now must request asylum

BY KATE MORRISSEY

Ahmad Zamir Hussainzada was shopping for supplies for his engagement party with several members of his family in Kabul when they learned that the Taliban was approaching their city.

They heard that they might be able to get out on an evacuation flight, but they had to act fast.

Knowing that he and his mother were likely to be targeted by the Taliban, he and the family with him his mother, two brothers and one sister headed for the airport. There was no time to contact his father, his other two sisters or his fiancé They abandoned their car, leaving the goodies they had purchased for the next day’s celebrations inside. Now resettled in San

After heading the San Diego Repertory Theatre for nearly 50 years, Sam Woodhouse will retire. E1

Sharifa Mahbobi fled Afghanistan without her husband and two daughters.

Diego, they still have the car keys. Those were one of the only items that traveled with them as they crammed onto a cargo plane to Qatar relocated to a camp at a military base in New Jersey and finally reached the city where they’re hoping to piece their lives back together military, meaning they do not have an easy path to green cards. They will likely have to request asylum to be able to stay permanently in the United States. And without green cards, they have little hope of being able to bring the rest of their immediate family to join them.

But the family remains in limbo. That’s because none of them worked for the U.S.

“I am happy to be here, but day in and day out, eating food doesn’t feel the same,” said Sharifa

SEE EVACUEES A19

When two San Diego police coldcase detectives arrived unannounced at the front door of retired criminalist Kevin Brown’s home on a January morning eight years ago, he told them he wanted to help.

But his idea of help was different from theirs. He thought they were there for insight about an old case he’d worked. They thought he might confess to being a murderer

The detectives were investigating the brutal 1984 killing of Claire Hough at Torrey Pines State Beach. Brown’s DNA had shown up in the evidence during a new round of forensic testing.

After more than a year of looking into his background, the detectives showed up, ready to spring a trap. What happened that morning in Brown’s living room fueled a chain of events assumptions and accusations, misunderstandings and miscalculations that brought more tragedy to the already tragic death of a 14-year-old girl. It brought an outcome beyond anyone’s ability to help.

Part two of the series continues on A6

One Of Their Own The Series

Today: “I must have had sex with her.” Doubts creep in as a detective springs his trap. Sunday, Feb. 20: “They are not going to get away with this. A widow’s quest delivers a dramatic courtroom twist.

Last Sunday: A cold case. A DNA hit. And finally justice. Or was it? (Part I can be read online at sandiegouniontribune/cold-case.)