Update: The discussion on this post has been closed and moved to a new thread. Click here to visit the new discussion thread.
Airforce Major Jill Metzger, stationed at Manas Air Base, was shopping in a Kyrgyzstan mall with friends when she disappeared.
From CNN:
(CNN) — A U.S. Air Force officer is missing after a trip to a shopping mall in Kyrgyzstan, a U.S. military statement said Wednesday.
Maj. Jill Metzger, with the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing, was last seen shopping at the Zum Shopping Center with others from the Manas Air Base when she disappeared on Tuesday, the statement said.
“Major Metzger was last seen wearing a green sweater and blue jeans,” the statement said.
“She has blonde hair and blue eyes. She is in excellent athletic condition.”
Military Web sites describe Metzger as a top-flight marathoner.
Both the Kyrgyz police and the US military are searching for her:
BISHKEK, September 6, 2006 (RFE/RL) — Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry and National Security Service say they have launched a joint operation to locate the U.S. air servicewoman who disappeared on September 5 in Bishkek.
The woman, who has been identified as Major Jill Metzger, is working at the U.S. Manas military air base, near Bishkek.
Manas air base public affairs officer Ann Carpenter told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service that Metzger disappeared while shopping at Bishkek’s main department store (TsUM) with other U.S. base members.
“The [U.S.] 376th Air Expeditionary Wing base officials are working with the U.S. Embassy and local officials to locate the servicemember as soon as possible,” Carpenter added.
The U.S. Embassy in Bishkek has issued pictures of a blonde woman as part of the search operation.
Let’s hope she’s found quickly.
Update: Maj. Metzger was supposed to return home on Thursday and went to the mall to buy souvenirs for her family.
Update II: We’re thrilled that everyone here is having a great time commenting, but since we’re approaching 1400 comments, we would love it if everyone could continue the thread here.
Update: The discussion on this post has been closed and moved to a new thread. Click here to visit the new discussion thread.
RS: I feel important! I wonder when the media is going to start asking questions of their own. Strange, very very strange……
Voices can be powerful when reputation is at stake. I own a couple of racehorses and an ENTIRE site of well, “horesey” people got together and slammed a bunch of politicians last week and the HR503 bill ended up being passed to stop horse slaughter. I know this is off topic, just showing what the site could do when we worked together…
Holy Flying Flatfish!!!!
That… is progress… (I sent TWO emails)….
OK… let’s get on with the next thing on the agenda… Uganda…. Somebody get on the phone with the UN.. We want that crap down there stopped NOW!!! OR Else…
(I don’t think these people know who they’re messing with)…. Fire up those afterburners……..
Wiz, ah my Wiz…..
Perhaps an email to ah, what his name in China will make him stop his nuclear progress…
In all seriousness, ya never know, our emails might have reached the right person at the right time and others might have written in as well. However, here is MY theory (smirking). I speculate that a co-worker or co-workers at the paper read the article and said something to the tune of “WTF do you think you are writing! You can’t possibly link Jill Metzger with heroes, POW/MIA honorees – are you kidding me? Take that crap off there!”….
———Deb G———–
Get the damn kevlar on woman… let’s get going..
Cuz when you’re laughing, there’s no time for crying, fearing, or cut and run.. Just kick butt, and keep going.
Com’on Lady… I don’t have all day ya’know!!!.
left right left right left right left right left right left right left right!!!!!
Man I am telling you……….. When all this is ova’ – we are all getting together.. I’ll have a box of cubans, somebody bring the beer, and we are having ourselves a party…. (Regardless of the outcome)
I haven’t had this much fun in a long time… Probably because this is the first real “action thriller” on-line killer that I’ve been involved in…
Well… may a couple of boxes of Macnudos… BUT I”M not buying the beer..
Email to Santa: Send more presents
Email to Bin Laden: Stop terrorism
Email to Pope: Stop all the killing done in the name of God
Email to Jill Metzger: Tell us the truth!
Wiz: I’ll buy the beer…..beer it is…..
and the wine and the peanuts and the lobsters!
RS: Seriously though. I would not doubt if our emails had something to do with it. I sent one!
Deb, I’m right there with you. Who knows if the e-mails had something to do, but the thing is that her name is out, and that they now know that there are a lot of people out there wanting more info on the case.
You guys are cracking me up though. I’m just trying not to spend my whole night here…we’ll see how that goes..lol
Wiz, I’ll bring the rum 🙂
RS: I was supposed to meet friends in Charleston, SC tonight and I stayed on this site instead! JUST KIDDING! I will head down there tomorrow instead. I have to tell you folks. A friend of mine, Air Force Major – pilot and I were talking today. He was in a school with Jill and stated she had a pretty bad reputation for her personal life being less than honorable. He never speaks poorly of anyone but completely agreed that what she has done is a disgrace to the AF and the only reason he could see SILENCE right now was that they might be preparing for punishment. He feels they KNOW what happened, but are not talking right now and are scurrying to try to save their butts from looking TOO BAD….
Deb,I was talking to a friend of mine about it today, and we were thinking the same thing about the AF. Maybe they are quiet because punishment is coming her way. I also went to the Moody website today and they didn’t have anything on her. AGHHHHHHH! not knowing what is going on is killing me…lol!
Does Shaw AFB ring a bell to anyone here??
Never been to Shaw…is there something going on there? Why do you bring it up?
Some good friends at SHAW!
RS: That is my presumption. They must know what is going on and are figuring how to deal wiht it publicly. An explanation is owed to the public……and to Krygastan and to the military….
Yup, we have become obsessed. Amazing what the human mind does to FIND OUT INFO. Kind of like slowing down or running to the scene of an accident to witness human tragedy – just a magnet for the human mind to KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON….especially something this international….man if the AF can be this quiet right now, imagine what the government and FBI, CIA, DIA, etc…can hide???? spooky. I am starting to believe in all those alien abductions. OH MY – I just had another speculation!! Perhaps after the AF moved their mountainside offices, which maintained alien contacts they disturbed the little people and they took Jill for retaliation and dumped her on the side of the road because they felt she was too skinny…..hmmmmmmmmmmm
Just wondering. I have a VERY GOOD friend who works with the Personnel people there…I was thinking about getting in touch with him to see if he can provide me some info… He would be privy to some info we can’t have.. but.. I’ll have to think that one over..
Wiz: Come on, get on it – you HAVE to get that info…..put on that kevlar!!!
I feel sad for people when they lose their way. I don’t know her at all and I don’t believe her story…haven’t from the first time I heard it. I was hung up on her having a boyfriend (one of her “friends in town” that she was reported as having–except I thought it was an SF guy, not a Russion pilot or local man). Regardless, I digress…I just feel bad for people when they are lost. I believe we make our choices and we live with the consequences of those choices, but whatever her story she is suffering right now…and her family is suffering. I thought (and maybe still do) that she was just arrogant enough to think she could have a few hours alone with a “friend” and something went wrong. Because of her choices, she couldn’t come clean and come home…maybe she was attacked, maybe she was hurt…or maybe she was just scared to death that she was all of a sudden AWOL… what do I know? I’m so surprised at myself though that I am so hooked on this though… I’m going through there in a few weeks, so that probably makes it more real to me also.
And yea, as a female AF officer, I’m furious that all of this is going to reflect on my country, my service, my gender… what was she thinking???
This post was more about me than her, I guess. Just my thoughts…
Hey Guys! I’m away for a few hours and look what happens! 🙂 Geez, we need a chatroom.
With regards to silence…a couple of things…if the USAF is going to punish her and NOT allow the “I’m a victim” card to be played, they’ll talk just like the Vice Wing Commander at Moody did when he was quoted upon her arrival (e.g. we’re glad she’s home, her well being is paramount at this point, etc.). Further, the fact that it was the VICE Wing Commander may also be telling in that it will be the Wing Commander who will be the officer who handles whatever mess may be out there. Admitteldy, it could also be that the Wing King was TDY (he’s gone A LOT since he has units at other bases) so we don’t know for sure.
WIth regards to Shaw AFB. Shaw is the home of 9th Air Force. the 374th Rescue Wing at Moody belongs to 9th Air Force. I think what Wizbanger is referring to is that any action taken at Moody will have to be ultimately blessed at Shaw. Am I close?
I’ll be checking in periodically. Don’t have a party with out me!! 🙂
Intrigued: Your thoughts are NORMAL…..I believe so many people are having them right now, especially military officers as I think most (including myself) believed her story in the beginning of being kidnapped (the bomb and instructions threw me after that)…..
She IS lost and that is sad and she should get help, however, she is NOT a civilian travelling in a foreign country. She has a certain moral responsibility and code of conduct, etc…..and this will reflect poorly. However, I do believe that people will see it for her OWN mistake and hopefully not determine or speculate that the entire military runs this way. Now, if NO explanation is offered in the media, by the military or even from her, then THAT is more of a problem then possibly falsifying her abduction….
SR6: Party? We’re buying the beer, wine, lobsters and peanuts (peanuts?) so ya better not be gone too long!
Deb—
I just left Charleston a few months ago… I probably know and flew w/ your friend there.
Maj. Scott B (forgive me, I don’t feel it appropriate to post the last name), but you would know if you know him….have been chatting with him all night! Good guy…
I think I do… at least the Scott B. I know is in the 300th AS. I’m Jeff D. (was in the 300th, 16th and then CP Chief). Tell him hi.
Deb G,
Oh, I’m here. I just don’t know what to bring. Oh, I know…I’ll bring the margarita fixins. 🙂
ikj: oh my Scott D. B?? Is that the right one you know.
SR6: You’re back! Yummmmmm I’d say we’re having a party in here tonight!
ikj: Scott D. B is in the 16th sos….
I promised myself I would be in my hot tub tonight and I am still stuck on this site – obsessed!
I’m not sure what Scott D B means. I might know him. There are, however, over 600 pilots at Charleston and about 60 of them are majors. I probably know him (or know of him) unless he is new to Charleston . No worries either way.
ikj: what the heck, it is not harming anyone, his last name is Berndt…..Scott D. Berndt
I left the 16th in May. I was attached since I worked on the wing staff so I’m not surprised if his name isn’t coming to me. The Scott B. I was thinking of originally is in the 300th.
I just told him you said HI (via text message), he did not know a Jeff D. Looks like you guys might have missed each other….
No, I don’t know him… probably would recognize him though. The C-17 world if funny in that you can be in a squadron for a while and never meet all of your peers because you are always gone. And since he’s a Major also, I’m assuming he’s an AC or IP and thus the chances of of flying on the same crew go down. I just checked him on the portal and see that he’s in the 16th safety office… I think he moved in there after the post deployment “shake up” in Feb-ish.
Tell him I miss the Moose… he’ll get it.
I was the CP Chief it that helps.. Roy took over for me. J. Scott H. and Patrick W. were my deputies.
IKJ: I don’t really know many other players in the AF down there. I am Army. Scott and I have known each other for a long time now through our families….good guy…..I will down in Charleston with him and crew tomorrow for some beach time and stress relief….
No worries. Enjoy Charleston. Well, it’s lunch time where I’m at so I’m outta here for a while.. check in later.
But, the whole story might be altogether different. After drinking bottle of vodka, and smoking a Chuy valley pot, one could come to the following conclusions.
Maybe Borat, Ali G (played by Sasha Cohen, the guy from England) knows the truth? 🙂 Let me tell you the story in his style.
First, Kant was offered by Kyrgyztan to US to deploy their airbase. After some considering
US refused to take up the place. (The places name sounds absolutely like C*t word.
Just imagine news in media on the front-pages “US airbase has been stationed in C*nt.” I would presume some embarrassment militaries would have had, when asked where they are stationed by their family.
But no harm was intended by Kyrgyz folks. Our officials do not speak English mostly.)
And Jill Metzger was found near Kant. Yes, precisely. Just imagine news in media hitting the front pages “Jill’s been found near C*nt, where Russian airbase is stationed. “ See here, subliminal message to the world from US?
Allegedly, Putin asked Kyrgyz folks, what does Kant in Kyrgyz mean? It means sugar in Kyrgyz language. So Putin’s reply was “Wow. Russia’s military was in bad shape. But, things are getting sweeter from this point. We are now sugar coated; just wait for the times we’ll be coated in chocolate.”
As earlier CGB suggested, it could be just the Cloak & Dagger game between US and Russia behind the backs of naive Kyrgyz folks. It is like probing someone’s air defense systems by entering someone’s airspace, and playing cat and mouse game. The story of Jill Metzger is absolutely bizarre and abortion theory has its faults.
Hi everyone! I have missed some serious fun tongiht I see!
Had to check back in – I was away all night at a wine party. Hence the broken grammar. First, kudos to all that wrote to the news. Check Mate…although I have a feeling it was AF Public Affairs that contacted and say “ummmmm, yeah, not so much the hero…could you kindly remove all references to Major Metzger from the POW article?” At any rate, lets keep it going until we get a statement. And a little BTW if anyone cares…the general public has already assumed she is guilty and in jail. I brought it up tonight and most people were like “what are you talking about…that crazy girl was arrested over a week ago”. So you see, the AF might be slow…but they are not dumb. There is NO WAY she will come out of this w/out telling the truth. The more we push, the more we push local news to push, the more this will not just go away.
Kuba:
So my original theory is correct! Jill Metzger can’t get enough C*nt (closet lesbian theory). It was right before our eyes all along.
Man this is just too funny. I was at Manas last year and I was home on leave this weekend and my mom was telling me about this Major getting kidnapped in Kyrgyzstan. Well, there were only two places we went shopping at while i was there, Tsums and some outdoor market. I was worried at first because that outdoor market is a pretty big place and alot of little alleys (or whatever you’d call them in a bazaar) and yeah it would be pretty easy to snag someone there quickly and without alot of attention. But then hearing it was at tsums it raised the red flags. Too many people. And to judge the relative safety of this place, i saw 9 and ten year old girls hanging out there by themselves on their way home from school, and regardless of nationality, parents are protective of their kids and wouldn’t allow them to go to a dangerous place like that by themselves. Being that Kyrgyzstan is a former Soviet territory, its fairly certain to say that the people there are very Russian in their protection of their children.
Then the whole bomb in my pocket story. Here is what I noticed that I’m not sure if anyone else has hit on. If she wasn’t aware of someone putting the bomb with the note in her pocket (someone mentioned if you felt it you would have automatically turned to find out what was happening) how did she even know the note was there? Strange.
I don’t even want to begin to speculate on what happened. For some reason Manas always seems to bring out the worst judgement in people. Maybe its all that wild Opium seeds blowing in the wind there. For you guys down here at Charleston, you probably can remember last years Manas scandal involving another Major. Anyway, its early and I just got off shift and I’m going to bed. Deb G, I love reading your posts and if you guys are having some Amstel, make sure to get some Stella to go with it. (Man, I’m having Manas flashbacks… Stellas, Amstels, number 3s…6s… you guys that were there know what i’m talking about. Ahhh memories.
Hey, Bored to Tears, what other scandal last year? I remember one about the Army Capt, but not about a Major. What happened?
I do remember the number 6s and threes and then number 9s — well, actually, not sure how much I remember, hee hee.
Yeah, I got the willies the first time I read this, because I was at the Zum all the time. But then the bomb story just made me laugh.
However, I can say there were some wrong things going on at Manas when I was there (officers doing things they shouldn’t) and nothing was done, they just went home on time, with a medal.
I’m not sure if anything will happen to her or not.
bored to tears—
Oh yes… I remember the routine:
– Land, check in w/ ops then head over to the flight line chow hall for a bowl of chili.
– Bus over to main base, change, shower and meet up on the porch at the “sports bar” (not the rec center where you play video games).
– Order a #6, get some popcorn and see what games are on ESPN or maybe get in on a Hold’em tourney.
– Then, I’d enter into a trance and wake up as I’m being escorted back to my room by SFS guys after trying to go over the wire.
…. memories…. Where’s Barbara Streisand when I need her?
IKJ
THAT’S IT!!!!!! It wasn’t the bomb in her pocket that started the trance… she must have been sippin’ down a #6 on the bus ride from base. Now THAT, I would believe.
The other scandal w/ a Major???? I’m a major and I’ll admit it….. I was caught without my reflective belt. The horror.
IKJ,
caught without the reflective belt? I’m surprised you weren’t sent home on the next plane. But what about your AF PT gear (although, if you roll up the legs like Major Metzger did, maybe it wouldn’t look half bad. No, wait, it still would)
I once had my PT shirt untucked AND wore socks that weren’t visible above my shoes. It was only 130 degrees outside. Shame on me, we all have our sins.
But back to our conjecture about Jill. I think the hair dye thing is a big clue but I can’t figure it out. Seems like we all agree she left the store on her own, though we have no idea what she went into Bishkek to do. Let’s suppose she went for some simple purpose like saying goodbye to friends, or buying EPO, or something we haven’t thought of, and then was snatched up as the victim of a crime. What would be the purpose of the bad guys dyeing her hair? If they were kidnappers who were going to demand a ransom, they’d want her to look like HERSELF, not someone else. The only reason to dye her hair would be to take her somewhere unrecognized. Her story was that she was held in a dark room. So why dye the hair? Were the kidnappers planning to spirit her out of the country? To where? Why would they have waited 3 days? Again, very odd if this was a crime of opportunity. Perhaps they did it to be cruel, though that’s so doubtful because dyeing the hair is quite a time-consuming process with at least 2 steps, and if you were going to be cruel you’d dye it red or some weird color. Much easier to just chop the hair off to be cruel. And then, of course, there’s the dye on her hands. When you buy hair dye, at least in the US, the package comes with plastic gloves you put on to prevent staining your hands. How did she get dye on her hands? If she was unconscious when the kidnappers dyed her hair, is it likely they actually went to the trouble to run her hands through the dye? Why? How would that serve any purpose they had? The kidnapping story also falls flat to my ears when she talks about her escape: punching a kidnapper who brought her food. Unbelievable on too many levels: she’s too small, she would have been secured better, where were the other 3 kidnappers when she escaped, why didn’t they just run after her and catch her, etc.
Then further thoughts on the hair dye. Where did it come from? If she was a victim of a crime of opportunity, are we to believe the kidnappers just happened to have hair dye in their van?
So “kidnappers” dyeing her hair just doesn’t sound right. I can’t make any sense of it. Let’s assume the alternative, that she dyed her hair herself. The claim could be made that the kidnappers MADE her dye her own hair, but again that seems weird to me. Time-intensive process, odd thing to make someone do, can’t imagine how it would benefit a kidnapper. If they were going to try to sneak her somewhere, they could just sedate her and stuff her under a seat or in a trunk. Odd, movie-like supposition that they’d try to change her physical appearance.
So if she dyed her hair herself, when and why? If she dyed her hair herself, it was because she didn’t want to be recognized while she was doing something in public. She must have realized she’d stand out like a sore thumb as a blonde, blue-eyed woman, but maybe slightly less as a dark brown haired, blue-eyed woman. Did she bring dye from the base with her in that big bag, and then dye her hair before whatever her planned activity was? THAT sounds odd to me too, since then she’d have to explain back at the base why her hair was all of a sudden brown after the shopping trip. If she DIDN’T bring hair dye with her in that big bag, and decided at some point later in her adventure that she’d better dye her hair, where did she get it? I don’t imagine there are lots of Walgreens dotting the countryside near Kant, though perhaps there was some kind of store. And what would make her want to dye her hair? Was she planning to slip out of the country? And if she did dye her own hair, why did her hands get so noticeably stained with dye? Why wouldn’t she have worn the gloves? Sounds as if she did it in a very rushed way, which would suggest a panicky situation, or perhaps having to dye the hair in a less-than-ideal spot like a car where it kept splashing.
I would like to hear other thoughts about the dyeing of the hair.
Love reading these posts: Bored to tears – absolutely, there will be Amstel for you and your note perception is right on. I can only picture it: Hmmmmm, I think, not sure, I felt something being put in my back pocket (even though I find it hard to imagine a bomb being able to fit in the pocket of a pair of jeans anyway), but wait, there is something else, paper! a note? hmmmmm dang it says to follow (falls into trance from ink glow) these instructions to our leader, etc…
VR: Excellent! I can’t help but think by reading your post that military officials and government officials are probably combing through receipts at several stores over there searching for a receipt which has her credit/debit card purchasing a bottle of hair dye or even a cash purchase on a specific date and time, maybe a camera catching her buying the dye….
cest le vie
You can buy hair day right at the Tsum, right at the main entrance. I haven’t seen the store footage, but for the 3 minutes she was in there, she could have walked in with the group — they would have all gone to the escalators in the middle of the store — and she could have said “catch you later” and not even turned 2 feet to her left and bought hair dye.
Do the cameras only show her leaving, now what she did for her alleged 3 minutes in the store?
I thought I read that she was in the store for at least 90 minutes. Wasn’t there a report that she made two very brief calls from her cellphone while in the store, one after about 90 minutes?
Does anyone know if Jill is running in the marathon today?