MOSCOW – A U.S. Air Force officer stationed in Kyrgyzstan was reported missing yesterday after disappearing during a shopping trip Tuesday with fellow service members in the capital, Kyrgyz and U.S. officials said.
The officer, Maj. Jill Metzger, has been a personnel officer for several months at the Manas Air Base, which supports military operations in Afghanistan, and was in the final days of her tour of duty.
She was last seen on a security video taken at 4:18 p.m. Tuesday in TSUM, a large department store near the center of Bishkek, said Nurdin Jangarayev, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, which is investigating the case.
Members of the military stationed at Manas are allowed to travel off the base only with permission and in groups. Metzger, who is assigned to the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing, was on an approved trip with co-workers, said Capt. Anna Carpenter, a spokeswoman for the air base.
Jangarayev said the group had separated in the store but agreed to meet later. When the rest of the group gathered, the major did not appear.
Her disappearance perplexed local investigators and U.S. officials alike, who said they had not categorized the case beyond calling it a missing-person investigation. There were no immediate signs of foul play, authorities said, and as of yesterday no one had claimed to have abducted her.
Jangarayev said Metzger had friends in the city and that she was scheduled to leave Bishkek this week.
Kyrgyzstan, a small Central Asian republic, has allowed the United States to operate an air base at Bishkek's civilian airport since late 2001.
