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.
I think the key is when they decided to go back to the base without her. Who makes that decision, and how long did they stay before giving it up? If they just gave it 10-20 minutes and then went back, it means they all were in on it, or at least whoever was driving. If they stayed a while and panicked, or called the police from the store, then maybe they didn’t know.
Kuba Krygz, were there any reports that said the police responded that day to the store, or were they not notified until the group returned to base?
SAHM with NCM: I too am amazed at how little attention this story is getting in my area (huge metropolitan city in Texas). My colleagues at work say “Yeah, I heard something about that a week or two ago” if they heard anything at all.
My guess is the AF will release a very bland statement soon, something like “Based on our investigation we are confident that Major Metzger was not the victim of a kidnapping. We will continue the investigation.” And that will be the end of the statement and then they’ll hope all interest in the story goes away. She’ll be quietly disciplined. The only way we’ll hear what happened is if the popular media picks the story up.
The government generally has a “no comment” policy when questioned by the media about punishment choices with military members. I have prosecuted or been involved with several cases that generated considerable public interest (at least in the local community). While prosecuting, we never provide information to the media, at least not on the wing level where courts take place. However, stories will and do fly. Whether any one story or set of “facts” is true is the question.
Although I have a small amount of empathy for JM, I believe she most likely made the abberant choices that created this mess. I do, however, feel great empathy for her parents and husband who she has most likely shamed on an interntional stage. As I said in a previous post, the amount of hurt that one person can cause with a few stupid decisions is tremendous–lives and happiness cavalierly and selfishly destroyed.
Assume for a moment that JM did lie in an official investigation or did commit the offense of AWOL, two of the most frequest possibilities suggested on this board. Even at that, we are not talking about a repeat or career criminal–a serial molestor, long term embezzelment, repeated domestic violence. etc. So, the most intriguing aspect of this case, to me, is that JM was an officer who apparently had it all on a professional level (seemingly anyway). Although I am somewhat curious about what actually happened, I am far more interested in the why. What mental lapse caused her to throw “it” all away.
Also, do not forget that behind all this mess is a military member who has served at least 10 years of honorable service–we all poke and ridicule–I have gotten a few good laughs from this board. However, there is a human who is in all sorts of trouble right now ,both personal and professional–a tragedy really.
The government generally has a “no comment” policy when questioned by the media about punishment choices with military members. I have prosecuted or been involved with several cases that generated considerable public interest (at least in the local community). While prosecuting, we never provide information to the media, at least not on the wing level where courts take place. However, stories will and do fly. Whether any one story or set of “facts” is true is the question.
Although I have a small amount of empathy for JM, I believe she most likely made the abberant choices that created this mess. I do, however, feel great empathy for her parents and husband who she has most likely shamed on an interntional stage. As I said in a previous post, the amount of hurt that one person can cause with a few stupid decisions is tremendous–lives and happiness cavalierly and selfishly destroyed.
Assume for a moment that JM did lie in an official investigation or did commit the offense of AWOL, two of the most frequest possibilities suggested on this board. Even at that, we are not talking about a repeat or career criminal–a serial molestor, long term embezzelment, repeated domestic violence. etc. So, the most intriguing aspect of this case, to me, is that JM was an officer who apparently had it all on a professional level (seemingly anyway). Although I am somewhat curious about what actually happened, I am far more interested in the why. What mental lapse caused her to throw “it” all away.
Also, do not forget that behind all this mess is a military member who has served at least 10 years of honorable service–we all poke and ridicule–I have gotten a few good laughs from this board. However, there is a human who is in all sorts of trouble right now ,both personal and professional–a tragedy really.
Can someone tell me where to locate the picture of Jill leaving the mall? Enquiring minds want to know…
thanks!
Hi all!
I have enjoyed reading these posts today as we have changed course from speculating and theorizing the actual events to Jill’s motivation and our own interests in this bizarre case.
As IKJ stated, “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”. It is true that I have been directly affected by Jill’s past indiscretions; however, I am not sure if my interest is more due to vengeful feelings or the hope that Jill learns and grows from this experience. For my own sake, I am hoping my obsession is due to the latter.
I think most of you stated empathy for the person Jill – I find that interesting, as empathy is an emotion that in my opinion Jill lacked. Lack of empathy and remorse combined with her competitive and impermeable personality is the mentality that I believe allowed Jill to sacrifice a 10-year military career.
Personal feelings for Jill aside, I do feel empathy for her family and especially her husband. Perhaps this is why my obsession is due to hoping Jill grows from this incident. Had Jill accepted responsibility for what she did to others on this blog and me instead of feeling victorious and justified in her actions, then maybe her family would not be experiencing this pain now. Hopefully this incident is catastrophic enough for Jill to be given the gift of feeling empathy and remorse.
Picture link from one of the few people that really had anything useful to add to this forum (Gogi from KG):
http://delo.ktnet.kg/2006/30/images/0202.jpg
PAC: Can someone tell me where to locate the picture of Jill leaving the mall?
This blog, posted by Gogi from KG at September 14, 2006 09:45 PM.
One more post and then I’ve got to go do something productive before work tomorrow.
What I don’t comprehend is why she would have gone to Bishkek/Kant to have an abortion. Why the heck not wait until she got back?
Even if there are no services available in Valdosta, there are in Tallahassee. That’s not that far away. She could have told the DH she was going shopping for honeymoon clothes for heaven’s sake. Spa day, having her nails done, whatever. It doesn’t take that long if there are no complications. Up to 14 weeks, it’s pretty easy to arrange.
If she was under 9/10 wks, she could have used RU486 (forget the name they are using now) and literally NO ONE would have known. It’s like a very heavy period for most women.
I realize she and DH were headed off on a honeymoon, but after a surgical abortion (which is what has been alluded to here) you’re not supposed to have sex for 14 days. Somehow, I kinda think a new husband of all of ten days prior to her deployment would have wondered if she kept saying not tonight I have a headache.
When I was around the ADAF, TDY/Deployment babies were a normal phenomenon–some wings had unofficial pools to see which squadron had the most ‘new daddies/mommies’ nine months after a big return. Okay, that was back in the day before total PC and when it was mostly guys who were deployed. I can’t see a newlywed telling the DH ‘no sex’ after four months apart without a pretty good excuse.
Shrink:
True, true, true. None of it makes any sense. If, as I theorized a while ago, she had an abortion because a pregnancy would have made it difficult to run the marathon, she wouldn’t and couldn’t have expected to be able to run anyway due to the discomfort and bleeding. We did hear a report earlier of a doctor on Kyrgz TV verifying an abortion, but no one has been able to confirm it, so perhaps it’s time to put that theory to rest. (It’s not, however, hard to imagine that if that doctor DID say something, he’s been “convinced” to stay quiet now.)
It’s hard to come up with something else that would be so important she felt she had to risk everything to do it 3 days before she was scheduled to leave. The EPO/blood doping idea is interesting. But then that theory, like the theory that she was doing something totally innocuous, leaves us wondering why it took her 3 or 4 days before she showed up again. What could she have possibly been doing or thinking for DAYS??
Wow! A lot has been going on since I’ve been gone, unfortunately though no news. There are a lot of good theories out there; the abortion, going to visit friends, marathon theories, etc. All of them are a possibility, or it could that Jill was going thru some major depression and decided to take off for a while without thinking of the repercussions. I have no idea which of these theories is right, as I think all or non could have taken place. However, we do know that Jill must be going through a lot right now, and most be really scared. A side of me can’t comprehend why she would think that she could get away with whatever it is that she did. I know that Jill has been a Section Commander before (we were both Section CCs at the same base), and as a Section Commander you deal with Articles 15 and Court Martials all the time. Because of this I think that in the back of her head she had to know that she was heading for trouble, so what in the world could motivate her to do this? I don’t know, and we may never find out (though I hope we will). In some ways I feel that she is intelligent enough to have known this, and I don’t feel sorry for her. I also don’t feel sorry for her because she has caused a lot of pain to others just for the heck of it. As an officer, I’m mad at her because she has made us all look bad and may have stained the relationship between to nations. I also know that if she created this, every airman will pay for it, because I assure you they will all hear about it during their basic training…I’m sure that at least a coupe lesson plans will be on this. However as much as I’ve joked about her, in some ways I feel a little bit sorry for her but who I really feel sorry is her family and husband. They don’t deserve to be going thru this, especially her husband who just married her a few days before the deployment. Do you think he would’ve if he knew how messed up she was? I’m hoping they (the family) will get through this, cause I ‘m sure they are going thru hell right now.
Just some notes for additional thought.
This info is only as good as it’s sources, but they are local – Moody – sources.
Jill is home this weekend. No marathon. Wasn’t it suppose to be run in her honor? Guess they forgot to mention it?
Are you aware that Josh and Jill do not live together – as of the time she deployed anyway? They could not get joint orders. He lives in another state. I wonder how long he will remain in Valdosta before he is due back on his base? Another reason for backing out of marriage? Due to this fact, she probably does not know many of his co-workers.
When she arrived in Germany, she was ADAMENT that she did NOT want her husband to come to her. The AF brought him anyway. ??
Yes, her office and co-workers ARE under gag order. You hear NOTHING around Moody. It is not discussed.
Another note: when a “POW” or “Victim” returns to base – as is my experience – there is a huge celebration. Red carpet, band, high-ranking officials…she came in Under the radar. HOWEVER, the “club” did offer a free meal to everyone that came that night to greet her. Only 18 came – mostly family. Yes, I was told Col. Callahan was there along with 2-3 other military. Only 2-3 base personnel for a kidnapped hostage? Jessica Lynch got a parade didn’t she? There again, heresay from club staff.
And where is Josh’s mom? He does have one that is married to his dad. Is she supporting Jill?
Last point: trust me – they are not the sweet innocent parents that they appear to be. In s. Ga., it is not appropriate to call your mother “mommy” after about 1st grade –nor is it “normal” for parents to call her “jilly-Willy” at age 33. These are normal daily names for each other. A couple of other examples of control…. Jill picked out her wedding dress.. mom changed it to the one mom like when Jill wasn’t present. When “mommy” is present, she tells Jilly every item to wear – even down the shoes. Jill does exactly what she is told. In her work place, she is a Major and from what I hear, A good one.
It’ll be interesting to see if she come back to work – probably has about 2 weeks off.
Another thought: Thanks for that info..its amazing the kind of relationship that she has with her parents. Maybe it was them who made her crazy. I knew that Josh wasn’t stationed in the same place, he is in Panama City, and yes I do wonder how long he’ll be up there. Something here is just terribly bad….very bad.
Another Thought:
Wow, great info! Thanks.
I had heard the controling parents thing a few years ago and was shocked to hear it then knowing how strong-willed Jill is.
Josh is stationed in Florida and I think Jill has been stationed at Moody long enough to apply for joint-spouse. Can any AF confirm if Time on Station is still 12 months before applying? This would mean she applied right after the wedding and maybe was now reconsidering? What would Mommy say to a divorce?
Interesting that she didn’t want her husband in Germany. This might confirm “runaway bride” theory and an additional “runaway 33 year old daughter”.
Any female can feel empathy for a girl that is not allowed wear cute shoes! Is this why she always wore Birkenstocks? What about lipgloss? Could she wear lipgloss? If these are true facts, I would have given her a safe haven away from that madness if she had asked. No need to run away in a foreign land…and after shoe shopping I would have taken her to Jose for a decent color/cut and style!
I am wondering if the base hosted the “welcome back” dinner to make everything seem normal. Could they be concerned that she is depressed/suicidal?
Here is another tid-bit of the creapy info.
EVERYONE in Jill’s family has a first name starting with “J”. She once told a boyfriend (he was one of my good friends) that she could never marry him because his first name did not start with a J. Could someone remind me the name of her husband???
Strange.
Another Thought’s post reminded me of something else. Anyone ever watch The General’s Daughter? Has John Travolta in it and it came out 4 or 5 years ago. That story line ALWAYS reminding me of Jill. How extremely professional she was at work and her personal life was totally messed up. If you are completely obsessed with this case go out and rent it immediately.
It would seem to be a given that she would be depressed whether she was beaten/kidnapped/etc…or whether she has just destroyed her career, ruined marriage, and have parents upset.
With the control issue, I know for a fact, that she called her mom 45 minutes before her wedding rehearsal and asked mom what did she want her to wear. Her mom told her, in complete detail, down to the “cute little sandals.” A 33 Year OLD MAJOR? And she had not decided on this info days or weeks before? Just not normal for the south.
At another time, when I asked her about her mother’s control, she stated “I just want to make her happy.”
I’m not sure mom and dad have ever been happy. You know, the “A” student that should have done better?
Only 18 people went to her welcome home dinner??? Then for sure people who know something are talking. In the civilian world, hundreds would have shown up just for the curiosity factor alone. The military is big on “return with honor”, so obviously those at Moody knew she hadn’t. And the only way they knew was because people are talking. The story will come out.
Just Curious…thanks for the repost of jill leaving the mall…not sure how i missed it…is that Santa outside?
This is all starting to make a very creepy sort of sense now.
If this info from Moody is true, if Mumsy and Daddy are the nightmares portrayed, no wonder she has ‘issues.’
Not unusual for daughters with very controlling parents to have personal lives that are a bit less than pristine. Not something M&D can control, now is it? They just plain will not want to know about that part of darling daughter’s life.
Kinda makes me wonder if a few months back Mumsy happened to mention that Jilly wasn’t getting any younger, and it was time for her to produce a grandbaby or two for her to show off to her friends at the retired OWC bridge luncheons.
“Why don’t you marry that nice young man with the “J” name you are seeing, dear? You can have two children, eighteen months apart, and name them Joanna and Jacob. I’ll plan out the rest of your life after that.”
Maybe more like runaway daughter than runaway bride. Poor husband probably just got caught in the crossfire.
In the parent’s defense, the times that I have been around them, mom is very soft spoken – as on the tv interview. I’m sure they love her dearly and want the best for her AND for JILL to be her best – according to their standards. I would NEVER accuse them of abusive behavior BUT Jill desperately wants to please them. Most adults cut the apron strings. When they got married, I really felt sorry for Josh as I felt that he would never have a say in his marriage against in-laws.
ie: In tv interview, did anyone notice that mom stated that when Jill bought her house recently, mom came down and purchased accesories and DECORATED it. Of course, Jill paid them back – she also stated. Again, this is unusual. A women – or at least her future husband would like to have some say in the way and style that her home was decorated in. It’s not like mom has any great talent in this area. Parents were just “helping” her out.
Well I’m back. IKJ, it was SVS. Been there too, yeah I’m surprised how those on 7/8 were all too aware of it too. It was pretty blatant and the rumor mill was all over the place. First off, as a person i had great respect for the Major as a person when I would run into him. He really appeared to have genuine concern for his troops, which from what I have seen and heard isn’t all that common in services. But alot of his guys loved him and were not so much as pissed as just dissapointed by it. I think the general feeling I got by these guys goes along with the comment about the General’s Daughter (which is a great movie by the way) that he was married and willing to give up his wife and kids for a piece of patch? Kinda mind boggling.
Been there too, I left right after they finished moving the clamshell over. That was the original pete’s but it was right across from Persco and they wanted to bring it deeper into the compound so they had to move everything over to the little tent for a couple weeks. Being friends with those SVS guys was a blast when I was there, but from what i gathered the new SVS unit that took over for them absolutely nazi like. A couple of the maintainers that were left behind for a couple of months from McChord told me that Pete’s was absolutely boring after 5/6 left.
Ok, and since you were there and none of the guys here have told me anything, was any of that sports stuff still hanging up when you were there? The 5/6 guys at Pete’s went nuts getting a bunch of donations from different NFL and MLB teams and while not quite as elegant the old Pete’s had a real Sports Bar feel to it. Someone told me they didn’t see any of that in February so I was wondering what happened to it all. I guess if no one is using it, I would really like to have that big Seahawks flag they had.
Hmmm… I don’t know. Why would she run away in Kyrgyzstan? Why not wait until after the marathon and then hop a bus to Bangor? Or even sneak away at their planned military stopover in Germany (or Ireland, or wherever it was)? Perhaps if she had met a man in Kant…
I am going to have a long talk with my parental units about how they should never, ever, ever under any circumstances grant interviews or any statements whatsoever if I am captured, missing, arrested, or otherwise inconvenienced. I can only IMAGINE the pathological stories about MY family…and my choice in footwear…and my general lack of lip gloss awareness.
Another Thought:
Do you know if her parents put this much pressure on their other children? Just wondering.
I can not imagine any Mother thinking it is appropriate to decorate their daughter’s house when SHE purchased it. I didn’t see the interview.
I didn’t think you were suggesting abuse – those kids usually don’t care if they please their parents.
Thanks for giving us another perspective on her possible motives. I hope when everything is done Jill finally decides to live for her own happiness. Maybe she never even wanted to be in the AF?
VR:
I am with YOU! My family is full of whack jobs and I can only imagine the field day they would have! “well, she isn’t too bright so she could just be lost or busy checking for split ends and didn’t know she missed the bus…” I am suddenly grateful they could care less about my life let alone my shoe choice : )
a.t., I deal with abused children daily. Trust me, bruises and scars aren’t the only evidence of abuse. No matter how well meaning, excessive and unrealistic demands on a child can be emotional abuse.
Most people who make it to adulthood (especially when past 30) manage to cut the apron strings no matter if they had great parents or horrible ones.
A 33 year old woman with a seemingly successful career, a new marriage and even a well known talent for something outside her career, and her mother decorates her home for her (oh, and lets her pay the bill, I could almost accept this if it was a wedding gift)? Tells her what to wear? CHANGES HER WEDDING DRESS?
A NORMAL woman in those circumstances after a few “come to Jesus” conversations with Mom would say, “When you can learn to respect my boundries, I’ll be happy to interact with you. Until then, don’t call me, I’ll call you.”
This is NOT normal.
Shrink: Did you see the interview. It would be interesting to hear your prespective. Forgive me, it was dad who told about the decorating….
http://www.wral.com/video/9807496/detail.html
This interview was done BEFORE it was officially known that she was safe.
I just watched part of it. Hadn’t seen it before.
My first thought?
If Dad is such a military expert, and his daughter has been abuducted (at that point most would have thought by and I believe he mentioned TERRORISTS) why the heck was he running his mouth about all of his daughter’s accomplishments? Why was he giving any out information at all about her?
I kind of got the “Steel Magnolia” thing from Mom. Soft, quiet, but if you don’t do what I want, watch out.
Unless AF SOP has changed radically in 15 years I’m amazed that they did that kind of piece. Husband flew in GWI and in one of the many ops over the Balkins, forget what the heck it was called. GWI was of course the first ‘instant news’ war.
The SOP then was if anything happens, you keep your mouth shut. You refer any and all press inquires to the Wing. You say NOTHING except “I’m sure the military are doing everything possible. Please remember him in your prayers.” PERIOD. You give out nothing that could possibly be used by the other side, including you whailing and crying on camera.
So, imho, either Mom and Dad knew something before they granted the interview and it was an “It’s okay to come out now, honey!,” they thought might have been picked up by CNN International or whatever, or they are thicker than a plank. If they really thought she was missing and might be in the custody of really bad guys, that was stupid to the nth degree.
It’s really hard to say when you’re watching a staged, filmed piece and you have no first hand knowlege of the people.
That said, they looked fairly relaxed, the smiles–I wouldn’t bet the farm on it, but I’d put a few bucks on Mom and Dad having had a pretty good idea Jill wasn’t in any real danger by then.
Shrink; I find it interesting that you are thinking along the same lines as VR several days ago when the video aired.
VR: I hope you don’t mind if I repeat your comments to someone like-minded.
The interview with Jill’s parents deserves another look. It’s long but fascinating:
http://www.wral.com/video/9807496/detail.html
This interview was done BEFORE it was officially known that she was safe. Some things strike me:
1. Her parents CLEARLY know in this video that she is not in danger. They are extremely relaxed. Look at her Dad’s body position. When the reporter asks “What kind of a person is Jill?”, her Dad LAUGHS. I don’t think for a second ANYONE’s Dad would laugh when asked for personal information about a kidnapped daughter.
2. This video was clearly (to me) created FOR JILL, to convince her to come back home. They KNEW she was no hostage. They KNEW she had walked away on her own and wasn’t likely in danger. They emphasize over and over how much the family loves her, how much fun she has back in the states, all of her hobbies, her DOGS (close up on her dog’s face at the end), the extensive prayer circuit with “thousands of people reaching out to her”.
3. Dad talks very calmly about “terrorists and fatalities” as part of her military risks. Again, I just can’t imagine a Dad talking calmly and laughing about that if he believed his daughter was truly in the hands of an enemy.
4. Jill’s Mom has an interesting slip of the tongue when she’s discussing a wedding song sung to Jill’s new husband. She slips and calls the song “Why’d you do it, Jill?” instead of “Why’d you do it, Josh?” Interesting. And then she very quickly corrects herself.
5. They mention that Jill tends to think “I can do it myself”, but urge her to “realize that there is a lot of help out there”.
And I see from the recent link to the abc news story that her husband’s plea, again BEFORE he supposedly knew she was safe, was “Just be strong. Don’t worry about whatever’s happened to you, just come on home, all right. We’re here for you. Be strong, sweetie.” Weird statement to make if he truly believed she had been snatched by hostiles.
Clearly the family knew right from the get-go that she was not kidnapped and that she was probably safe but afraid to come home because of some transgression.
Her parents seem like the nicest people in the world. I feel guilty for doubting her, they’re so nice, but doubt I do.
Posted by: VR at September 12, 2006 11:08 AM
——————————————————————————–
Couldn’ta said it better myself.
Well, we’re either both right, or we’re both wrong, I guess!
Glad I’m not out here on a limb by myself. ;’ )
I just saw a very funny line in a branch to this blog, posted by Jim Addison on Sept 9, right after the bizarre story of the “abduction” broke:
“In the immortal words of Dr. Henry Lee, “Something wrong.”
Good point about the parents VR and Another thought!
A too relaxed for me. Dad’s posture made think he was going to grab a beer and starting telling war stories soon. Which also makes me wonder how stiff a penalty Metzger will receive. They’re clearly not worried.
Check this out. The last few parachraphs says it all. Mom would like Jill to get out of the AF if it means she can have kids.
http://www.hendersondispatch.com/articles/2006/09/09/news/news02.txt
sorry here it is.
That same news paper has an article by one of the writers talking about different things in the paper and it mentions Jill’s story; here’s what it says:
The disappearance and reappearance of Air Force Major Jill Metzger in Kyrgystan is an issue Home In Henderson has been following, according to Feingold.
Since the Henderson native is the victim, he said, “We are not going to blame her until we have some basis to do it, especially from half a world away.”
It be interesting to see if he keeps digging for info. Maybe we should start e-mailing him. Anyway, here’s the link.
http://www.hendersondispatch.com/articles/2006/09/16/news/news01.txt
From the article in the paper, it seems that one son-in-law and one daughter-in-law have first names not staring with a ‘J’. The respective Meztger children must have put their foot down ….
Just wanted to let you all know that I just logged in to an e-mail address that I barely use to e-mail that guy from the henderson dispatch. Well I found a message, sent to me on Friday from the news stationed that compared Jill to other POWs. Here’s what it said:
Of course, you are right.
We should not have done it.
Sincerely,
Dave Miller, Director
walb.com
229-446-4040 (Direct)
Did any of you who e-mailed get it too?
Just curious–I guess they did put their foot down as the kid in the picture (the sister’s son) doesn’t have a name with J either.
I e-mailed the Feingold guy. If he is “local” and is a rabble-rouser and is looking for publicity, he’s our man. I just e-mailed asking for more info, said I’d bookmarked his site, etc.
“Kuba Krygz, were there any reports that said the police responded that day to the store, or were they not notified until the group returned to base?
Posted by: Lurker at September 17, 2006 02:32 PM “
Kyrgyz Police demanded US airbase to submit a case after 2 days or so after Jill disappearing, when this kidnapping report already leaked to US media. Until then Kyrgyz police was totally in dark. They got to now about it from US TV broadcast!
PS:
Wow. This blog has grown so big that even my fast connection is taking 2-3 secs to download a page.
Is there any options to show this blog divided into pages?
If the Kyrgyz police were not informed for two days then this is beginning to look more and more like special ops gone wrong. Either official or an attempt to emulate Dad and Hubby. Silence from Base because they either knew where she was or negotiated her release.
Except for the silly bomb excuse, everything else would fit: leaves group – dyes and cuts hair to be less conspicuous (maybe with the help of a friend at the surgical center, leaves less of a mess) – gets to Kant (taxi and/or bus) – attempts mission – gets caught – gets interrogated – roughed up (black eye) – then dumped.
Was she wearing running clothes? She might have pretended to be doing a practice run in the country past the Soviet farm, which she supposedly had called earlier: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/world/09/08/8kyrgyzmissing.html ….
Intriguing ….
Jill was found with blood on her feet and in clothing too large for her. Special Ops would never allow a story of “bomb in pocket/note and following instructions”. Nor would covert/special ops EVER allow blame on another country for their screw up. She would have been given instructions of what to do/say should the mission go bad and NEVER involving another country.
Personnel Officer DO NOT do special ops….
I’m sticking to the abortion theory, but I find it fascinating to read all these blogs. Blood on feet seen by people in the house she went to and she was in clothes much too large for her. AF might not report this because they might have known about the abortion. The people in the house she went to might have relayed to police finally about a girl coming to their house claiming to be kidnapped. Thus, the story is out. AF would have kept abortion silent as again, this is a HIGHLY PERSONAL situation for anyone nevermind one of their officers, who should not be having sex while deployed AND she is married……
I was reading the report from one of the very recent links. It said the shopping mall was 35 miles from the base. Is that right? That makes it highly unlikely in my mind, if correct, that Jill had any casual friends in the local area around the mall. She was only at the base 4 months, couldn’t have had official business 35 miles away as a Personnel officer.
I think it makes perfect sense that the AF didn’t notify Kyrgyz police that one of their own was missing. If they had a good idea where she was, they were hoping mightily she just showed up back at the base without incident. I think the AF knew, because I think her parents knew. She has 2 sisters; anything highly emotional or personal (“I’m getting an abortion; I can’t do this marriage thing, I need time to think; I’ve met this wonderful man”) might have been shared with a sister.
I was thinking about the sinking feeling that the Embassy Official must have had when she called from the Kyrgyz police station. The embassy may have been clued in on where she was by the AF. Then she calls and says something like, “Hi, I’m Jill Metzger the missing AF officer, and I’m here with the Kyrgyz police telling them about how I was abducted after a bomb was put in my pocket.” I wonder just how they phrased the “don’t say another word, you fool” advice.
…and isn’t it a bit odd, come to think of it, that she called the American Embassy in the first place? Perhaps that’s SOP for the police, particularly if they needed a tranlator, but she was in the Air Force. One would think she’d have immediately called the BASE, not the embassy, if she had escaped an abduction. She probably knew she was in trouble if she called the AF, perhaps hoped the Embassy would take her away with less ass-chewing.
Embassy would have helped her, even with an abortion and she still might have been bleeding from abortion, thus, hoping the Embassy would assist her, rather than the AF finding out about the bleeding part. Thus, once the AF DID find out, they took her immeidately to Landstuhl for medical treatment, to stop her bleeding of possible perforated uterus, which can happen during abortions gone bad……Perhaps, in her wrong mind, she felt that she still had a chance to hide abortion from AF utilizing Embassy assistance KNOWING the trouble she would be in for the abortion part……grrrrrrrr, someone please tell us…..I find it shameful that the AF is offering NO explanation. Perhaps the AF truly does not KNOW the facts and are piecing them together…..
The AF is not going to release any details of what happened. By now, they know. It is not in their interest to give any information except “Don’t worry folks, there was no abduction and we are handling the rest.” They are probably smoothing things over with the Kyrgyz officials so that they don’t feel the need to broadcast any details either. The story will come out, though, if enough people are interested in it. I can imagine a People segment starring Josh Mayo…
VR: LOL “AF OSI Officer perplexed at wife’s abduction and well, folks, just can’t figure this one out”.
People: Mr. Mayo (reminds me of an Officer and a Gentleman) Sir, are you aware your wife went missing?
Josh: Well yes, I saw it on FOX news.
People: Do you have any idea where she could be?
Josh: Well no, either does FOX news.
People: Were you and your wife having any marital problems?
Josh: Well, uh, we just got married 10 days before she left. She was kind of upset with me for not getting her flowers before she left, but that is solved now, her mother got them for her when she came back, and well, said they were from me…
People: How you feel about her homecoming?
Josh: Well, I’m just really disappointed that we won’t be having any romantic dinners….
Hi Guys, Here is the email and response to it, that I sent to WAlB on their piece linking Metzger to MIA/POW recognition day. I was very surprised to receive any response, but apparently it did some good…
***********
From: Kevin
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 5:09 PM
To: All WALB News
Subject: Jill Metzger
How does the return of a Soldier who went missing of her own volition, ‘hit close to home’ at Moody becase it is MIA/POW Recognition Day?
Please don’t confuse the acts of brave soldiers and the selfish, childish story told by Major Metzger.
Sincerely,
Kevin
***********
Her reply follows:
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for the email. I sincerely apologize for putting her into my story. I was completely my mistake and was taken out immediately on Friday after your email. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Alicia
*************
This might be one person who will “dig” for the truth if you guys want to make the attempt…Same link posted by VR?? ( I think, might have been WIZ ) her last name is EAKIN.
To any/all of you AF officers that are at Moody or wherever the husband is, I found the Officers Club (in the Army anyway) to be the best source of info for what is going on behind the scenes…
My experience with these types of investigations has found that the military investigators start from the premise that EVERYONE is lieng except for the officer in question and it takes being beaten about the head and shoulders with the inconsistencies, lies, and questions for weeks in order for them to move from that position
Back to work now….
YaThink: WOW, that was excellent work! So, your email DID, in fact, provoke the sudden termination of Jill – impressive! Hopefully, Alicia will be provoked enough to start snooping….