Posted on 09/06/2006 6:31:24 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2006 -- U.S. Air Force special investigators and Kyrgyz authorities are continuing search efforts to locate an Air Force officer missing since Sept 5, officials said.
Maj. Jill Metzger, personnel chief at the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing, was last seen by a group of her coworkers at the Zum shopping center in the capital city of Bishkek.
“We will not rest until we find Major Metzger,” said Col. Joel “Scott” Reese, the wing’s commander. “She is an extremely valuable member of our warfighting team, and we are doing everything in our power to locate and return her to safety.”
Reese said Metzger is an exemplary officer. Her well-known attention to detail and passion for excellence make her absence strongly felt, he added.
A 22-member task force of U.S. special agents and their support crew are working closely with local authorities using every available means to find information concerning her whereabouts. The shopping center’s security tapes were helpful in directing investigators to which shops Metzger visited the night she disappeared. The city’s police force combed public transportation and hospitals and distributed flyers with her photo and physical description throughout the city.
Local media has joined the search by posting and publishing her picture, description and contact information for anyone who has a lead or tip.
“The local law enforcement agencies are giving us outstanding support in our time of need,” Reese said. “We are all committed to Major Metzger and her family and ask for continued thoughts and prayers from our world-wide Air Force family.”
(From a U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward news release.)
PRAY! Pray for her speedy and safe return.
She inexplicably left her group and disappeared. I hope she is rescued/returned safely but will refrain from commenting about a soldier that would do such a thing.
In nearby Uzbekistan we could never understand all the tight security on local bazaar shopping trips. We assumed it was to restrict contact with foreigners a la USSR.
Maybe not. Prayers for this American. We got kicked out of Uzbekistan (no thanks to our State Department) and now Kyrgyzstan is seen as the only US ally in Central Asia.
That's the motive.
She's not a solider, she's an airman.
Perhaps she stopped to admire a rug or something, the group moved on, and she was snatched. I'd be squeezing everyone who works at that shopping center. Someone had to have seen something. Problem is the locals are Muzzies, they've pretty well squeezed out the ethnic Russians, Georgians, Ukrainians, etc, like my sister-in-law's family. They are mostly Urkranian, but her mother and brother now live in Russia, St. Petersburg, IIRC. The locals at the mall are probably scared spitless of the local Jihadies.
prayer bump
May G-d deliver her from evil and restore her to the Air Force soon.
If you think I'm wrong,tell me why.Saying that my post was "unnecessary" is unproductive,IMO.
Praying with you.
Wild and woolly place at the best of times, look at a map !
Hope she shows up unharmed but I think this stinks to high heaven.
Prayers for her safe return.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/07/world/asia/07cnd-kyrgyz.html?ref=asia
For those who haven't done the research...the last place in Bishkek you ever want to go...is the bus station. Its strictly corrupt cops and mafia around the place. Whatever reason she got drawn there...whether by accident or by some inducement...she is sitting in a basement now...and probably another white-slavery victum. Its a sad state...and one can only hope the AF realizes this and puts some special folks downtown to just take the cops to task. They are all liars...the tourist info on the net....is absolute about that comment. Never trust a single cop in the country...and just stay near your hotels with security. Not much else we can hope full...other than she overcomes the guard and escapes. A sorry position to be in.
We used either a hired driver or taxis. I never felt threatend there walking about even lare at night, but then I am good bit bigger than any of the locals.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
