Searchers 'leaving no stones unturned' in hunt for major

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Shad Eidson
  • Air Force Print News
SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) --  Air Force investigators and Kyrgyz police are still searching for Maj. Jill Metzger, who has been missing from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, since Sept. 5.

Major Metzger, deployed as the personnel chief at the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing at nearby Manas Air Base, disappeared during a trip to a shopping center in the capital city.

Since the major vanished, Manas officials have curtailed all off-base, non-official business for Airmen at the base, said Maj. Mike Young, a U.S. Central Command spokesman. In a Sept. 7 release, the Department of Defense listed her as Duty Status: Whereabouts Unknown.

The major said as the search continues there is nothing to suggest any one scenario or any particular thing can account for Major Metzger's disappearance.

"Our number one priority is the safety of Major Metzger and the security of everyone at Manas," Major Young said. "Returning her safely is our number one goal right now."

Investigators are working closely with the Kyrgyzstan government, the local police force and even the shopping center's security service. The major said U.S. officials have reviewed the center's security tapes and are interviewing people there.

"They truly are leaving no stone unturned," Major Young said.

At Moody Air Force Base, Ga., where the major is permanently assigned, she is a valuable member of the community, said Col. Joe Callahan III, the 347th Rescue Wing commander.

"Ensuring she returns home to her family is our top priority," the colonel said. "Jill and her family are in our thoughts and prayers and we are talking daily with her family to ensure their needs are being taken care of.

"We ask that everyone keep Jill and her family in their thoughts," the colonel said.

Major Young said the Air Force is doing everything it can to find Major Metzger. He said Air Force investigators have received "exceptional cooperation" from everyone involved in trying to find the major, even top government officials.

Major Metzger deployed to Manas from the 347th Mission Support Squadron at Moody where she is a personnel officer. The major is also an avid marathon runner. While stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, she won the 2003 and 2004 women's division of the Air Force Marathon, held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

After winning the second consecutive race, she told the U.S. Air Forces in Europe News Service she was able to finish strong by thinking about everyone on base and in the German community who came to her and told her how she inspired them by winning the first marathon.

"Even though there is a language barrier, it is amazing how well people can communicate when you share the same passion for running," she said in the USAFE article.

In a story released by the Associated Press on Sept. 7, the major's father, John Metzger, said he was waiting and praying for good news.

"We've got a prayer chain all the way across the nation, and it's our hope that God will return her safely," Mr. Metzger told the Associated Press.