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.
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123027266
AF Marathon results are in…guess who DID’T run? : )
Hmmm…the article didn’t mention anything about Lanssica. Wouldn’t they have mentioned the super-star is at home recovering from her horrible abduction and will run next year? Not a word said about our hero. Soooooo sad.
Deb – don’t you do triathlons? I do sprint tri’s because running distance bores me. However, I would be willing to run the AF Marathon next year if any of you would like to join me? We could be team Lanssica, and only we would know the hidden meaning of bloggers seeking the truth.
Happy: That is funny! Our Lanssica did not compete (pass the Kleenex).
I did two tri’s in my lifetime. I am not a die hard competitive marathoner. I have a good friend from NH who runs her little heart out and competes in tri’s often! I did two with her.
Sorry, I am not a big runner. I like to run, but not the competitive stuff….I used to waterski on a team in MA YEARS AGO, years years ago 🙂 Don’t go there, I am in my 30s….
In the ironically ironic department, I was just checking my trusty TV Guide to see what time Army was playing the Aggies tonight (2130 eastern, ESPN2 if anyone cares) and happened to notice what the NBC Saturday Night Movie was……
Runaway Bride
Ya just can’t make this stuff up! ;’ )
Shrink: lol Starring Jill Metzger
Ok, I am not going to SC – dang. It’s too late! So, 2 friends here have decided that we will have a hot tub party instead with appletinis! Pull up the table to the tub and watch a movie from the laptop! Have to stand up or get out after a while though or you’ll turn into a prune! Anyone want to join us???? Jill, u there??? Perhaps you could join us for some explanation time…..have a little drink, get a little tipsy and START TALKING. Oh yes, no worries, it is very private here, woods out back and around, you’ll be ok…..
Where oh where has my little Wiz gone – oh where oh where has he gone?
I truly feel that Jill staged this abduction for a few reasons:
1. She was scheduled to run in the AF Marathon, however, she most likely was not able to train appropriately while in Kryg. Thus, she probably knew she had little chance of finishing FIRST and knowing she bragged to be like Lance Armstrong (cough), she did not want to embarrass herself.
2. Thus, the kidnapping would get her out of the race and bring her attention she was not getting and her character suggests she needs a lot of attention.
I strongly believe this because one of the FIRST things she stated was that she wanted to come back and run the marathon. Why on earth would anyone say they wanted to run a marathon after being abducted, beaten and so on. That is a traumatic experience rendering you not wanting to participate in a marathon immediately upon return to the states….She could not just drop out of the marathon as this would render her a LOSER according to her terms and embarrassment due to her comments last year. Saying she wanted to run would be reverse psychology so noone would figure out she staged an abduction to GET OUT OF THE MARATHON – because she is saying she wants to run it…..
Of course, there is always the abortion theory…she had to stay SOMEWHERE for 4 days. I am sure she was not sleeping on the street…..
Deb, I knew you were not going to make it to Charleston…LOL Are you sure you are going to watch movies on the laptop? I’m thinking you’ll be checking the blog 🙂 I know I’m extremely addicted too.
I do like your marathon theory, I had mentioned that before and it makes total sense. She dissapears and now she doesn’t have to run and become a looser, but hey, I thought she was already a looser…did I miss something?
Oops! There I go again, I’m so cruel 🙁
Been away for a while, glad to see you guys are still here….
Since leaving the military lifestyle behind, I don’t see or hear from most of my Army friends much, but did hear from 2 guys at Victory (Iraq-NCO’s) and guess what they brought up???? Maj Jill.
If you think some of the ‘theories’ on this site have been “out there”, you should have heard some of theirs….. Apparently it has become the talk of the DFAC and she has a new nickname (of course)Maj. METZWHORE…….. and they have lots of IED in the pants jokes to tell now, pretty graphic involving coitus, marathon/longevity, bombs and the consequences of not finishing the ‘race’ at the appropriate time… Thought it was interesting the guys on the ground are following this and not buying the “bomb in the pocket’ story…
Had dinner with a Director (small time local)friend of mine who thought this would make a great movie or play… Comedy, in the vein of “Hot Shots part Deux”… He kept me in tears the entire time…..
If she truly wanted to become the center of attention, she got her wish….. I bet the new hubby is pissed!!!!
Let me premise this by saying I know that people can have their obsessions.
The idea that this woman may have set up an international incident to avoid having to run in a marathon is boggling. I’m sure the AF marathon is a big deal, but we’re not talking the Olympics here.
I’ve known people to do odd things when they felt backed into a corner, but she couldn’t have just pretended to hurt something? I mean, a hamstring, a groin pull, a sprained toe? She certainly wouldn’t have been the first runner to drop out of a planned race because of an injury. Heck, she could have just “tripped” getting off the bird on the ramp at Moody!
Unless she’s really got some serious issues, all of this seems a bit much to avoid running in a race.
Ok sorry for the delay getting back. Had to sleep and I’m about to head off to work. But no we had a certain major who decided to get alittle too close to a SSgt. Not sure whether anything happened or not, but needless to say the perception was out there. It made some waves in MSG last year when we got back. Needless to say the picture of Jill’s tearshedding reunion (my tears were from laughing too hard when me and a SrA were disecting all the visual clues of that and then comparing it to this week’s base paper here at Charleston showing a reunion between a couple people who I know do not care for each other very much, and there was alot more show of emotion in the latter than the former). I’ll get more into the picture in a minute.
As far as the scandal, needless to say the reunion here at CHS was very similiar to the reunion shown here, a very pissed off Officer’s wife and a very agitated and angry husband (the SSgts). If it wasn’t for the quick departure of the Major, I think it might have gotten violent. But needless to say, no one saw the Major’s wife after that and she was a around the squadron quite a bit. And a couple months later, the Major was out. I’m not sure, some of you guys higher up might know more about it, but basically the story that was going around the ranks was that the old Wing Queen basically gave him the option of quietly getting out or she’d make it public.
Now I know this iisn’t all that juicy and its pretty regular in the military, but usually common sense among the perps means very few people ever find out. We all thought it was rather stupid last year that they would so brazenly make it apparent something was going on, to the fact that the entire squadron and the entire wing at Manas was aware of it. Well, thats small potatoes to the whole world knowing about it in Jill’s case.
Ok, on to the picture. Someone was claiming that maybe they were disorganized from just getting off the plane, ect ect. Have you ever seen video clips of the Navy units returning off a cruise? My brother in law is a Navy F-18 pilot, and I’ve been there when he was with a Tomcat squadron coming off a cruise. I don’t recall faces so absolutely mortified like those of Jill’s homecoming. And that is organized chaoes on the Navy ramps with wifes, kids, ect running all over the place. So now, I can’t buy the whole they just got off a plane and trying to get organized. If your really happy to see someone, you could care less about that. Sorry.
Ok, so Jill didn’t run today? Hmm, probably too tired from running from her pissed off husband and dominating father’s questions to have the energy.
On another note, for those that have been to Manas in the last year or so, the new beer tent, did they keep all that sports stuff that we got for it during our deployment or did they get rid of it? Someone said they didn’t see anything up. If not, I want that Seahawks flag that was hanging up in the beer tent.
Well, after being one of the worst of the craven sexual deviant abortion theorists, I have to say that I feel a lot of sympathy for the PERSON Jill, as oppposed to the SYMBOL Jill (Air Force officer, career woman, athlete, boss.) I think she lied her noggin off about something, probably something pretty bad, but I also think she is suffering mightily for it now and is going to suffer more. I thought the photo of her uncomfortably taking the flowers from her mother after deplaning, with her stick-thin little legs and sawed-off hair, was sort of heart-wrenching. And the still video image of her from Bishkek, just about to walk out of the mall into utter disaster, was also hard to look at. (“Jill! Stop! WTF are you thinking???”) Yes, we all take a certain amount of pleasure in watching someone who has done something wrong get caught and self-destruct in such a spectacular fashion, but we have to remember there is a person under all of that.
A lot of people wrote in to this blog at the beginning stating that Jill is a wonderful person, a model officer, humble, a role model, a true friend, terrific athlete, etc, etc, etc. And then some talked about a completely different and sordid side of her personality. It’s hard to reconcile both, but I’m sure she HAS both sides. AS WE ALL DO, though perhaps not quite so dramatic. We’ve ALL had the experience of being caught in a lie (albeit not on such a grand scale) and know the abject misery of THAT. Now multiply that feeling by about 300 million.
I think we can feel some sympathy for her, while at the same time demand that she pay a severe price for what she has done to the military, to officers, to FEMALE officers in particular, to the US, to her family…
I agree with Liberty: her family certainly has done nothing wrong in this incident and deserves sympathy. Can you imagine if this were your sister, your daughter, your friend? Truly awful. Her parents seemed to me like kind, decent, upstanding people on that interview. Of course they would see Jill as a saint. This must be a horrific nightmare for them.
OK, now I will go back to craven theorizing.
RS: Ok, I admit, I’m hooked. Well, we don’t have the laptop hooked up yet, but we DO have the wine glasses flowing…. 🙂 Looks like this will be a sort of calm night here. We have not made it to the hot tub yet, but we are working on it!! Kudos to you for the marathon theory. I did not see your post, but I think you’re on to it….
I feel badly for Jill’s husband. Just married – imagine going through what he is going through – WOW…….
Shrink: I’m thinking ISSUES…..
Ya Think: ya think she caused the entire world to be talking about her like this?? This is international stuff….everyone is boggled and with good reason….officers in the military just can’t get kidnapped, escape and then “have their privacy and just want a “good” sleep” huh???
Bored to tears: LOL – Seahawks flag!
I read earlier on a foreign site somewhere that said Metzger’s two calls she were traced back to whom ever they and that AF authorities contacted and interviewed those people that same night.
So I believe that what ever she did, they (USAF) knew about it, even before they picked her up. Heck maybe that first night. That would explain why they got her to Germany so fast, so she couldn’t make the situation worse!
VR: Agreed. I am resentful of what she did to make other Officers look bad and also to put the integrity of our country at stake on foreign soil. However, a part of me feels badly for the obvious mental issues she is experiencing. I am also torn with the thoughts of: She was only harming herself with whatever motives and agenda she had. However, that is not true, she is harming our nation, our military, our honor, integrity, morals as she is a part of what we stand for. So, while being torn, I understand she is also a human being, a person with a soul (I think a soul) and most likely is suffering had. The statement of privacy though is not sitting well with me anyway. She OWES us, the country, Krygastan, the whole world at this point AN EXPLANATION…..As harsh as it sounds, she is the property of the United States Military and she has a duty to maintain honor and integrity and to be a role model. This is unacceptable and until I see an explanation, an apology and a punishment, a part of me will remain resentful…..
GH: Quite possibly one of the clinics?? Maybe at that point they knew she needed medical attention immediately for an abortion gone bad, but she was not talking to save her career and sticking by her kidnapping story. When they found out the truth – off she went??????? You have to admit – having an abortion is a HIGHLY personal topic and situation and the Air Force might indeed be offering her the respect and privacy until they figure out how to explain any of this…..Can you imagine some folks who might be irate and even pursue death threats against her for aborting a fetus?? If she had an abortion, that would be some SERIOUS stuff where even the Air Force would rallyed against for harboring someone who they feel KILLED A FETUS….Not something they would just come out and claim she did, they might never admit to that and truly come up with another story that she was just stressed out and faked the abduction story, however, would never relay the abortion part as that could prove disastrous….
So any speculations on when an announcement will be made? Or if there is even going to be one?
Deb G Your point is well taken. I really feel for her. Man what is hubby thinking right about now! Ouch!
I hope like we all do that when the news does come out she’ll show some class, step up to the plate and make a public statement. No press release! A personal statement. But she must be under tremendous pressure, for the very reasons and other you stated Deb G.
Wow this just blows my mind.
GH: Perhaps she is suicidal, which, at this point – is most likely and I am sure her family feels the same way. Again, torn with that too though – the type A Jill who has stated before that NOONE IS SECOND TO HER and compared herself to Lance Armstrong makes it hard for me to feel overly badly for her. She is obviously intelligent (or was, or we thought she was) enough to KNOW she should not have done this…..she did it to herself and along with crime – and this will be a crime if proven she has made false accusations against another country and along with other counts against her I am sure, come punishment….she knew her role, her duties, she needs to be punished, point blank….anyone who would do this should suffer the consequences. Allowing someone to get away with something like this is enabling others to do it as well….and I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want our military to be known as enablers….
LOL, just checked on 2 friends in the living room….nearly asleep on the couch!!! I wonder if we will make it to the hot tub! Aren’t we an exciting crew….
Considering how well wired the base was with cell phones and what i can only imagine the amount of money the air force gave the local cell company, i am sure within an hour of her dissapearance the people at Manas were on the phone with the cell company and I’m sure it didn’t take much for them to find out where she was.
This may be a little off, but given what I know from when I was there and with the MWR trips, there was always a someone from the services squadron on the trips to supervise it. These guys spent a couple weeks setting up a whole myraid of contacts in the local community and I have seen the list that they had when I was there as far as contacts, ect. And there were a couple hospitals, clinics, ect listed. So here’s my idea of what probably happened,
1. Jill wanders off to do whatever (or whoever).
2. Members of the shopping excursion all rejoin to get on the bus to head back to the base, hey we’re missing one. Chances are a quick search is done of Tsums and the surrounding shops to see where she is. At no time we’re members allowed to just walk off from the group, and regardless of her rank, I don’t think she could have wormed out of just leaving the group without some kind of disciplinary action happening. So whatever she did obviously was important enough for her to know she would be getting in trouble.
3. Trip coordinator contacts base to inform them that they have a missing member. Chances are the base dispatches the local OSI unit.
4. OSI talks to Tsum security and gets their hands on the tape showing Jill’s horrific walk to neverland or to fantasia. Right then they probably are aware that she wasn’t being held agaisnt their will. About this time I’m sure someone has already began checking with the cell phone company.
5. I think within 24 hours of her leaving Tsums the Air Force probably had a good idea where she was and for all we know probably were in contact with her. I think at this point the Air Force went into DC mode, knowing that this would turn ugly with the massive manhunt already being organzied and broadcasted on national TV.
At some point i feel she was in contact with someone from the base or something. I think she knew she was done and in an attempt to gain sympathy came out with this story of an abduction. I think the Air Force is staying miff on the subject right now in an order to keep ahead in Damage Control, but I think it will come out soon enough.
As far as people on the trip or at the base talking, most of that rotation is either already back home now or is in the process of coming home. I think you won’t see any of them going to the papers or the news, but they will be talking. Anyone in the military knows people talk.
Kinda like the TWA 800 conspiracy theory that the Navy shot down that plane, if that was the case, you’d have 300 guys from that ship talking to their families and friends about. And yet you hear nothing. Sorry, conspiracies within the military are hard to do, contrary to what civilians seem to think.
Bored to tears: She made two calls out and then two calls went into her phone and finally the phone was shut off around 8 – 9 p.m – maybe her calling the clinic and then ‘THE FRIEND’ to pick her up and bring her 30 miles to Kant to stay at a house of someone they knew……of course, who knows the real story…..I just feel that if it was an abortion, we might never know that for sure….to some, that is evil, killing, bad jujis….
Back to one of my original question, who has friends in Bishkek?? (No personal answers required…) But for those of you have spent time there in Manas, either in transit or deployed to that location, how many of you actually had the opportunity to make friends with the local populace??
Maybe b/c her husband is OSI, she could know OSI out and about…but they surely wouldn’t be involved.
Some thoughts below…any feedback?
Embassy personnel and their families? Not likely, but possible she could know someone assigned to the MILGRP or equivalent from her past assignments.
SF guys…they are out and about. They like the gym. Like girls. Won’t ask you whether they live on base or out in town there, but I know how it usually works.
Contractors…maybe, but not likely. But possible…
The ex-Soviet farm out of town… so weird.
Intrigued: You’re on it too – everyone is. I like where everyone’s head is at. My ex is SF (LTC/green beret, but mentality of an 18 year old). While in Saudi Arabia, he carried on an affair with a woman from South Africa who was a nurse at the training center at the Riyadh Hospital. Not many are aware of the fact many beautiful women are in that area for that kind of nurse training. Before I found out what he was doing, he had relayed that MANY married men carried on relationships there with these very women, even taking leave to go to Dubai with them and other places. Staying at their compounds with them at night and so on….SF is notorius for “hunting” women while deployed (as my ex stated)…..she could have easily left to join one and things got violent perhaps and she staged the kidnapping….man, wish we all knew
Intrigued: The ex soviet farm?? Well, that could have been a place SF might have been training…..
Hey…
Taking a poll.. Aye’s have it.. – please… sit down
———-VR—————–
Just wanted to quote you:
“A lot of people wrote in to this blog at the beginning stating that Jill is a wonderful person, a model officer, humble, a role model, a true friend, terrific athlete, etc, etc, etc. And then some talked about a completely different and sordid side of her personality. It’s hard to reconcile both, but I’m sure she HAS both sides. AS WE ALL DO,”
—————- End of quote——-
I wrote earlier… to FLYTRAP:
——quote—————
What comes to your mind when I mention the name “Albert Einstein”.. Genius, Jewish, Peace Activist, Physics, Relativity, Atom Bomb, Womanizer, and a person who practiced Incest. Right?…… Right!!!
You see, most people don’t know that good ol’ Einstein was a womanizer, that he divorced his wife because he couldn’t put up with her ‘depression’, and that he married his cousin.
————–End of Quote———–
You’re correct… WE ALL HAVE A “SIDE”… I do, you do, we all do…
I think what has gotten our attention, and I believe I am beginning to detect a certain sense of “buyers remorse”, is that “Jill is human”. We all are. So, which rock do you want to pick up?
What really torques me.. are all the little Cheer Leaders from St Thomas’ Hospital for the Criminally Insane, who came busting in here vindicating Jill based on her “past”, when in reality her past was just as screwed up as the present. They just didn’t want to admit it. Her past is, in fact, what led to the present.
As an officer in the USAF, she carries a bag of responsibilities which others don’t. Fact of Life. If we don’t want them… Get Out. If we want to stay in, try to live by the imposed code of conduct. Remember this?:
Article I
I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.
You ready to give your life?? Yes/No.. That is a Yes or No question! One either is, or one is not.
I know that people in the military get caught up in situations that are beyond belief at times. They need to face their mistakes and get on with it. BUT, I detest the fact that The Cheer Leaders come in and say IT CAN’T BE SO!!! And, don’t listen to anything else. From that point forward… FROM THAT INSTANT… they had me agianst them… to PROVE to them that what they were attempting to convince me of, was just not so! When it comes to stuff like that, I am like lion who has just gotten his claws on a zebra. I’m not letting go!!! They would have been much better off.. just leaving it. To commit an offense is not the end of the world… To commit an offense then lie to the world is ASKING for trouble.
I’ll close with this.. which I wrote to FLYTRAP:
————–Begin Quote—————-
So, Jill Metzger, may have some good qualities, but in this particular situation, she has been proclaimed innocent…. because no one has come forward with damning ‘evidence’. Well, I’m beginning to believe that you, and others like yourself and ol’ John ‘JB’ Fiske above, would not believe her culpability – even if she proclaimed it herself. It would force you to accept something that your mind is not ready to accept… and you know what happens to people like that?? They go insane FlyTrap.. insane.
——————End Quote—————————-
Furthermore… I haven’t seen too many of them in here lately saying …. “I told you so, I told you so”..
Unless, some of you have gone off, changed uniforms and joined this side….. hmmmmmm?
They won’t be in here either.. They are home trying to deal with their self-imposed insanity.
They’ll get over it.
I got curious about how available abortions might be in Kyrgyzstan. Turns out, VERY available. Check out this link if you’re interested:
http://condor.depaul.edu/~rrotenbe/aeer/v17n2/Stakeyeva.pdf
Here’s the gist. This is from an article presented at the Forum of Women’s NGOs (whatever that is) entitled “Reproductive Health in Kyrgyzstan”:
“…The total abortion rate for the Kyrgyz Republic for the period from mid-1994 to mid-1997 is 1.6 abortions per women (sic). This data is lower than recent estimates for other areas of the former Soviet Union, such as Kazakhstan (1.8) and Russia (2.8), but is higher than Uzbekistan (0.7) Every year, 55-60,000 abortions takes place (sic): this corresponds to 50 abortions for every 100 live births. There is a very high level of abortions among women younger than 18 years; about 10% of all abortions are for women in this age group. A very high death rate also is the result of teenagers’ abortions…”
As a comparison, in the USA in 2000 there were 246 abortions per 1000 live births. (Betcha didn’t know ours was that high, did you? But still lower by half than Kyrgyzstan.) So abortion services must be quite plentiful there.
Deb G –
My experience is limited but I spent a few months isolated with two different teams…they were all married and all but a few had girlfriends in country. Their girlfriends tended to fall into two categories from what I witnessed…(1) TCNs (stewardesses, nurses, etc) or (2) very fit, very pretty Americans. Often they met in the gym.
Of the few American women that I saw pass through the team house, all were civilians (e.g. Embassy, USAID) and none were military… maybe because of our location…there was no American base in country. Over dinner sometimes though, they would tell stories… I was told at their last location (not Manas) that the nighttime visitors into the SF compounds were typically AF girls/women…usually enlisted, but occasionally officers. They seemed to like AF girls but their comments were not necessarily flattering and I won’t repeat here. (I’m a female AF officer, too.)
Girls are drawn to guys like that. Even average girls get a lot of attention in a deployed location…we’ve all witnessed that. But I would think a girl like Jill would be drawn to someone who could appreciate all that she “is”…and someone who was “worthy” of her.
Don’t know…just speculating.
Those guys can move so freely in and off base…even if they are living off base. Don’t know about there and I wouldn’t want anyone to speculate about where they do live because I wouldn’t want to jeapordize a team’s safety because of a blog about Jill…
Here is another thing. Those guys are good at covering for each other and coming up with a story when needed. Witnessed that first hand, too.
They work hard and play hard and they feel the rules don’t usually apply to them. Not bashing them, I think they have earned some latitude to do their own thing to some degree. All of that testosterone (spelled right?) comes with good and bad traits.
I just keep coming back to how Jill had friends in Bishkek…and who has friends in Bishkek.
Enough though.
Forum of Women’s NGO’s (Non Government Organizations).
A group of non-profits, not attached to any government who work for women’s causes, usually in less developed countries. Very big into safe and effective contreception, abortion, safe childbirth, women’s right to equal education, marriage by choice only, fair and equal wages, you get the picture.
Given the circumstances making friends with the local population isn’t that hard to do. I still keep in touch with one of the ladies that worked in the linen exchange. And one of the KBR supervisors there (she is American though) so its not all that uncommon. And if your in a job or in a position where you can get off post alot, which given the job of being the PERSCO section leader, I’m sure she had alot of free time to go off base. So its not inconcievable that she could have met someone that could have helped her out with her problem (if the abortion theory is correct). An off hand comment to a TCN or a local working on the base could have hooked her up with someone. And as far as her being gone that long,
what if her supposed ride back had a Fast Times at Ridgemont high moment and couldn’t come up with his share of the dough and didn’t want to pony up? Who knows. I just find it amusing in some ways how she thought she would somehow get out of this. Hell i could have come up with a better excuse than her. As far as the phones go, two in, two out.
And as far as the people who don’t trust what the Krygyz government says, think about it like this though. If this happened in the US, by say a french or british officer, and it was this odd, I’d bet my entire paycheck that the governement would be going nuts bringing forth as much evidence as they could to show hey, something is wrong with this picture. But people are going to slam the Krygis for the doing the same thing. Double standards have become the norm now, well we’re america and they’re not, so we shouldn’t believe what they say. Please…..atleast their government is saying something at all. If this had happened in Saudi Arabia (another of our allies) you wouldn’t have heard a word about it because that government would have totally covered it up. The fact that the Air Force or state department is mum as to what to say tells you more than if they did say anything.
Wiz: Again, you the man…you the man…I’m keeping you in my foxhole. Judging from the recent blogs on here, I’m keeping all of you in my foxhole!!! Wiz: I agree with you. Although Jill is a person, a human being, I am not budging with how I feel about what she has done nor should anyone with integrity. Sorry, comes with the territory. If we back down to all who commit crimes, then eventually they will come back to spear that heart of yours to death….Kind of like the movie “Saving Private Ryan” where that German soldier is let go because suddenly they had “heart” for him. Then, at the end, he kills a soldier while the soldier who insisted he be let go watches his buddy die…..
VR: Excellent research. Sticking to my abortion theory….
Intrigued: Sooooo with you. I know some excellent SF guys, however, there is a “game” within them which consists of bedding women – just the way it is. My ex now dates enlisted women from Pope. He is a LTC – go figure. I have heard stories. Don’t care the least, just have heard stories. He is a very poor example of an Army Officer. Yet, his “buddies” cover for him and they cover for each other. I have to say, an SF guy’s wife ended up dead in a hotel room at Myrtle Beach. She was Korean. He was with her. Would you believe that was silenced and never heard of again? EVERYONE talks at the drop zone and KNOWS he must have done this – it disappeared…..I was in Pakistan and the SF guys were always looking for women. I have had MANY advances made from married men in the Army – no way, not my character. WOMEN do have a choice of YES or NO…..
Shrink: More good research…..I can’t help but think the AF will issue some type of statment eventually, but I don’t think they will relay the abortion, even if she really had one…..I just can’t imagine them saying that. As I said, that is highly personal stuff which can lead to protesting, death threats, etc…oh my, I can picture the outfall from announcing that one….
p.s. there is a group of Delta types in that area, I’m thinking – DADDY…..
Can you see some intel officers on here lurking: oh my gosh, yes yes yes abortion, why didn’t we think of that!!!!
Wiz: You are correct about those folks not coming in here any longer. What could they possibly say???? Gosh, we were beaten, battered, holding up shields, put down, yup even death wished upon us and yet, here we are, endured the waves and landed on dry ground….Now, if they come back – put those swords up and heave ho – stand your ground and never give up. Now that my friends is true courage, integrity and honor…
2VR:
“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.”
VR, trust me, this is a fallacy.
1) Kant town has largely Russian population. Most of real Russians (if not of Cossack or Ukrainian or Asian-Tatar stock ) tend to be blonde and blue eyed. Russians are Nordic folks.
2) Some of the Kyrgyz folks have blonde hair and blue eyes, probably 1 in a hundred, say, my grandmother and couisin are blue eyed, and cousin is blonde, but with oriental eyes. We came from Ural Mointains-Western Siberia to Central Asia centuries ago. Today’s Kyrgyzstan is not our native land.
She would draw an attention because of Western European looks, because of the fact that she is not looking like ethnic Russian. Even with dyed hair she would draw an attention.
Happy
“Kuba or Gogi (this is a long shot) – but is there perhaps a “drug” district in Kant where one could purchase erythropoietin (the blood doping drug, EPO)?”
Many of normally “prescription only” drugs can purchased in Kyrgyzstan over the counter in the drug stores. Just show the money. She would rather purchase erythropoietin in Bishkek, I cannot check that personnaly, but she would.
Happy:
What if, Jill went to Clinic in Bishkek to get a blood transfusion? The area, where she took the taxi, is mushroomed with clinics in close proximity. Cpecial Surgical Clinic, Cardiology Center, Urology Center, National Hospital, just to name a few.
She could obtain all required things directly from clinics, with no fuss.
2Deb G:
“LOL I feel she dyed her hair to make it look like a bridenapping as they tend to shave hair and make it black out of embarrasement for a woman not accepting a man…I don’t know all the details, but brown would more suit her than black!”
I know that you are joking, but in case if someone gets above story straight:
JUST for the sake of making things more clear about our Kyrgyz good auld bride-stealing customs,
just to clear out foggy misconceptions for folks around in this board, I’ll try to formulate following:
1)
That particular area, Kant and Bishkek is unlikely place to get bridenapped. Bridenapping is more likely to happen in rural areas with predominant Kyrgyz population, where those good (or bad?) auld traditions still survive.
2) As someone mentioned earlier, non-Kyrgyz women are not normally abducted for marriage.
(I could imagine the following scene:
Parents are anxious to meet the bride, and Kyrgyz Lad Almaz brings home Jill Metzger. Parents would be crying foul “Sonny, Almaz, what happened to you? What is your Agenda? Who is that? Are there not enough Kyrgyz girls anymore? And what villagers are going to say about us? And off the parents go, in procrastination.”
I think WizBang mentioned it.
3) And look at Jill Metzger’s age: she’s 33.
Kyrgyz women aged 18-23, residents of rural areas with tribal traditions still surviving into 21 century, are candidates for bridenapping.
Kyrgyz women older than 23 are considered hopeless spinsters in those rural areas.
Jill Metzger, even hardly pushed, squashed and squeezed, cannot fit no way into those criterion in item 3. PERIOD.
4) Women in Chuy region, where US airbase is located, are emancipated. Go try abduct them!
They and their parents would probably raise a hell. It will likely to end up in prison term.
“She would draw an attention because of Western European looks, because of the fact that she is not looking like ethnic Russian. Even with dyed hair she would draw an attention.”
Just to give a more ground to my statement :
Let’s look at Maria Sharapova’s pics, ethnic Russian ( I chose her, because it just amazes me that the way how Maria has very Russian looks about her. She is a model of typical Russian woman.)
http://www.webpark.ru/comments.php?id=11434
and Jill Metzger’s looks on the top of the Wizbang blog. The way of a difference between them. Although they both would presumably belong to Caucasean race. By the way, Jill is a model of very typical North Western Europen Woman.
Been there, and I know the place.
I almost unfailingly pick Westernen European out of the crowd of ethnic Kyrgyz or Russians or other natives of Kyrgyzstan walking on the streets of Bishkek. Piece of cake.
That is way there were so many eyewitnesses seeing Jill doing this, doing that. Jiil Metzger does stand out of crowd like sore thumb, but not because of her hair and eye color, it’s because of her looks, very Western European, it’s just inexplicable… I do not know what is that. Words cannot explain that.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
http://www.kub.kz/article.php?sid=14419
The movie, which opens in November, is a faux documentary that follows Borat on a road trip across the United States as he hangs with ghetto boys, tries to kidnap Pamela Anderson (aka Jill Metzger) and asks a car salesman to sell him a vehicle that will attract “a woman with the shave down there.”
Kazakhstan withdrew once upon a time the license for oil mining from British oil corporations, and now Brits are getting their revenge with their Borat. 🙂
Okay, call me naïve, but last night while simultaneously watching four football games (ain’t technology great?) I came up with a theory that gives Major Jill every benefit of the doubt as to character. Maybe a little arrogant, maybe a trifle stupid, but still the benefit of the doubt on most of the things we’ve been bandying about here.
She decides to go on the MWR trip to ostensibly buy “stuff” for family back home and just to get off the base. Rock fever has set in. She’s nervous, what with the marathon coming up, new marriage, needs a distraction.
While on the trip, she intends to join a friend for a cup of coffee, say hello/buhbye, who knows when they will see each other again, blahblahblah. Against the rules to leave the group, but hey, what’s going to happen in a couple of hours in a fairly safe city? (BTW, anyone whose been at Manas have any idea how long these trips last? I’m assuming based on experience elsewhere, an afternoon. Say, 3-5 hours in town?)
For some reason, friend cannot meet her (work, other obligations) near TSUM, so she takes a cab to their location. Totally innocent, maybe someone she has known for a while, perhaps from a previous tour in another of the world’s more interesting places.
If they haven’t seen one another on this deployment, perhaps they have been in contact by phone/email. “It would be great to get a chance to see you while you are here.” Any of us with a military/government background have “friends” we don’t see for years. It’s the nature of the beast. We also tend to have long and varied Christmas card lists.
The friend is either TCN or US type who is not stationed “on base.” Perhaps contractor, SOC, USAID. Probably male, because if it’s another woman, I can’t see the need for any subterfuge. They are “just friends” but perhaps brand new DH/others would not understand that. Appearance of impropriety and all.
I have no idea if Major Jill has any idea that she seems to have a bit of a “reputation.” It’s been my experience that the person involved is often the last to realize that little factoid. (Disclaimer—I do not know the woman, I have no idea if she does indeed have a “rep,” and if so if it is deserved or not).
As I said, this theory, other than breaking the rules on leaving the group, is totally innocent. This is a “buddy,” nothing more. She tells someone on the tour to “cover” for her if she is a few minutes late getting back. Say she didn’t feel well, she’s in the ladies room or she had to wait in line to buy a great Kyrgyz whatever for her mom…..but this doesn’t buy more than fifteen minutes.
Something unplanned has happened. She’s been in a taxi accident, driver got lost, she got mugged, lost track of time, can’t get bus/cab back to TSUM, add your own theory here.
The group goes into “pull the handles” mode, and assumes something “very bad” has happened. Calls the base/Embassy. Perhaps the coverer ‘fesses up that Jill asked him/her to do so, but has no idea why he/she was asked for the favor.
Suddenly, for Major Jill, it’s “Hotel Sierra!” time. She has been reported “missing.” State department types are involved. OSI is involved. Local police are involved. Perhaps even alphabet agencies are involved.
Now, instead of getting at worst an Article 15 and more likely no more than a “Major, are you completely stupid?,” a$$chewing, she’s all over the 24 hour news cycle and it’s an international incident.
Instead of just getting a cab back to the bases and saying, “Hey, cancel the alert, I just plain old screwed up,” she and her friend make up a story to try and CYA. It backfires because it’s too out there for anyone to believe.
The stay at Landshutl is more because she’s an emotional wreck than anything physical. The medical/psych types are afraid she’s going to go into complete meltdown if they don’t give her a few days to decompress before going home to questions from family.
We’ve all done really dumb things. We’ve all tried to cover up really dumb things we’ve done (even if we were ten years old and blamed our brother for breaking the antique lamp, forgetting he was at baseball practice at the time).
It’s a little more dignified than some of the other theories. At worst, in this one she’s dumber than dirt and probably shouldn’t be commanding anyone.
Shrink,
ENTIRELY POSSIBLE. Maybe even likely. But if so, it’s astounding that she would have gone to the extreme she did with her story.
1. She stayed away for 3 days! If she was just laying low and having her Sierra Hotel moments and planning out her story, surely she could have come up with a better one. And where did she go for 3 days? If it was something innocent (saying buhbye to friend, ride cancelling out) I would think the average person would endure their SH moments for perhaps 3 HOURS, and then decide the longer it went on the worse it was, and would then give up and call the base on the cellphone.
2. Why the hair dye? why? why? I am just stuck on this hair dye thing. Perhaps she did think it would look more like a bride-napping; Kuba has explained to us that this is wrong, but she would have the same dumb American notions we have about it.
3. If she went for coffee with a friend, if it was something that innocent, SURELY she would not have gotten so desperate as to make up the kidnapping story, even if she decided she’d try to avoid the Article 15/LOR/ass-chewing with a lie. SURELY she would have made up a less interesting lie, “I got lost and my cellphone wouldn’t work” or something like that. Perhaps you’re right, she just made the world’s most colossally stupid decision to make up the kidnapping story to cover up something relatively innocent, but it seems to me a colossal lie is usually told to cover up a colossal mistake.
Kuba: LOL, yup, I was kidding. I have very little knowledge idea about the rules of bridenapping. However, you’re right about the age thing….She is considered OLD to them….
Shrink: Theory sounds good, but the whole bomb in pocket, follow instruction thing……..and why would she disappear for 4 FOUR days??? Someone, other than herself, had to know where she was. I am thinking the AF knows exactly what happened and they are giving this a week or so before telling SOME type of story to the public – or heck, maybe not at all….eventually, SOMEONE will talk it and eventually facts are going to start coming out….kind of like that guy that raped that girl and then lit her on fire and also killed her family, the guys he was with covered for him for a while and then BANG all came out….
Dignity? Judging by this incident, the lack of facts, the asking of privacy, the lack of a homecoming given by the AF themselves for their supposed HERO who escaped kidnappers — at this point, she has shown no dignity…..and then to blame on the Kryg gov. at a time we are rubbing their feet for air space, etc….shameful
I’ve been catching up tongith… spent the day at Osan. Anyway, someone metioned (way up above) that they felt bad for Jill and her family. I do too. I think we all want justice from this. Many folks who’ve been affected by some of her previous affairs probably don’t mind seeing her house of cards fall. It’s human nature… it’s expected.
The Jill that I knew in college was a bit immature… but heck, she was 19. She was, however, very driven, very dedicated and very competative. Taken to extremes, I can see how some personality disorders can result. (Things like pursuing “taken” men for sport, egotism, feeling cornered/ trapped are easy to see in hindsight).
I really do feel bad for Jill. Not necessarily for what she “went through” in Kyrgyzstan but rather, I feel bad for Jill because of what she’s chosen to put first in her life or perhaps for how she measures her self worth.
I hope for three things… honestly: 1. That she is properly dealt with by the AF once the truth comes out. 2. That this experience changes Jill… that she can use this (whatever happened) to grow and refocus her life and better her character. 3. That her marriage can be reconciled (if, indeed it has been crushed).
You never know what caused this… although the abortion/ affair story is possible and appealing to the Jerry Springer in us, I think there is just as much of a chance that she felt trapped an then panicked.
This theory mates up with Jill’s character too: as a newlywed, she was on her way to finally facing her “till death do us part” committment. Jill doesn’t like being contained…never has.
——-Bored to tears——-
In which squadron at CHS did this occur (the cheating Major)… you said MSG? I don’t think I knew about that one… and I was privy to a lot as the CP Chief. You mentioned wing “queen”, so I know when you were talking about (summer ’04 to Nov ’05).
Well, yeah, I agree, my theory is out there on the edges of “Strange to go to this point to cover up something that innocent.”
However, I’ve seen people do things that defy any logic to avoid “getting in trouble” when the thing they did in the first place was something that wouldn’t have mattered all that much.
If she’s a real gung ho Type A personality (no clue if she is or isn’t), they have a very difficult time admitting mistakes. A ridiculous story like this would probably seem preferable to embarassment.
I’m with VR on the hair dye thing. She and whoever she was with did it to lend credence to the kidnap/bridenap theory. She wouldn’t know that was a highly unlikely, and probably figured gullible American’s would buy it.
My curiosity was peaked the first night when she disappeared. I saw a quick blurb about it on CNN and then really nothing. No real follow-up by the major Medias. I first thought, something like what happened to the Israeli solders and that started a little war.
So I was hooked in just trying to get info. I write short stories a hobby and when the MC trance story came out that’s when I got real interested.
But after seeing that pic of leaving the mall, I really wanted to be a fly on the wall when she told the authorities her ‘bomb in the pocket’ story and the reaction she gave when they showed her those pics. Hmmm priceless!
I’m like you, Gh. I’ve been lurking up until now. I have a friend whose husband worked with Ms. Metzger while stationed in Germany a few years ago. She sent me the link to the CNN article. She felt more worried b/c this time it was someone they knew (although I don’t know how well), so it hit a little more close to home for them. After the second day, I couldn’t find any new info, so I did a Google search and came across this site. I’ve been keeping up with it since then.
I live just south of Raleigh, and imagine my surprise when I found out that her parents (the Metzgers) live maybe 2 hours away. So then I was checking the local news (WRAL). Still nothing aside from the interviews with her parents. And my friend is now stationed at Wright-Patterson (her hubby ran the 1/2 marathon yesterday), and they don’t have any new info. And we used to live in CO a few years ago so I was checking into the Rocky Mtn News. AND I’m from GA (many friends and relatives still there), so we check that news often as well. So many connections, so little info. That’s another reason I stayed here. You all know of so many other news sources that I am not aware of. Really, I don’t live in a hole, just near one 🙂
I’ve been asking around to my other Mommy friends, and only 1 (I didn’t say that my circle was large) was familiar with the story. Both she and my AF wife friend think the story is bazarre and wonder what the truth is. I’m not sure how my other friend knew about this story. She’s got some AF friends, too, so I’m not sure if it is through them or the local media.
Anyhow, the results of her actions do worry me, most especially if she fabricated her tale (I’m really trying hard to take the wait-and-see attitude, not b/c I care if I am right or not, I don’t know her, just know of her). I have friends in Navy, AF, Coast Guard, and now my brother is in the Army. He’s finishing up his AIT in VA and will be heading to Germany (Storck, I believe) in a couple of months. Beings that this is a “female” thing, I’m not AS worried about him, but who knows when and how the state of the world may change.
Thanks for letting me share, even though I am probably naive on many levels and can’t offer much from my little spot in the world. I’ve enjoyed following this blog. Entertaining, insightful, thought provoking…
Oh, and where can I get an English-Military/Military-English dictionary? It would really help me out alot 🙂
Well, I don’t know where you get the dictionary, lol.
Actually, you sorta need four since there are four different dialects, AF, Army, Navy and Marine.
Now, AF and Army usually understand each other, so do Navy and Marines.
Hey, the NAVY even tried to complicate things by giving all their officers different ranks than everyone else. Talk about messed up! ;’ )
Bored to Tears —
I remember that scandal. I was just coming in but it was the talk of the bar (that one by the gym? But they moved it right after I got there to a big clamshell) I was confused why nobody was doing anything if it was that obvious.
Someone asked how long these off base trips were at Manas. Here is the deal — someone, like a commander, had to sign off that you were going off base. You got a driver and had to give your plans to both OSI and to PERSCO. Then you “checked out” of the base, and someone in charge had to have a cell phone. I don’t think they let anyone off base unless there was a Senior NCO or higher on the trip.
So it is possible that Maj Metzger was the highest ranking, and thus, “in charge” of that group of people. Doesn’t that just add a little something to her story? If she was about to go home, and these were her troops going out for a last hurrah, she was the highest ranking and that would mean she ditched them. Nobody flame me, I’m just drawing some conclusions. I just think it makes it worse.
I agree with everyone that it is weird we haven’t heard diddly since she came home. Nothing. No People mag interview, no Today show, not even a Larry King live.
Wonder why?