Maj. Jill Metzger back on active duty - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Maj. Jill Metzger back on active duty

Maj. Jill Metzger, the personnel officer who disappeared in Kyrgyzstan for three days in 2006 and became the source of endless speculation online, is back on active duty.

The former two-time Air Force Marathon champion began working Oct. 12 at Joint Base Andrews, Md., as the chief of community programs for the Air Force District of Washington, said Lynda Valentine, an AFDC spokeswoman.

Metzger, who is declining interview requests, oversees community events such as the Air Force Cycling Classic, Valentine added.

Metzger was 33 when she deployed with the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing to Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan in 2006. She disappeared from a shopping mall on Sept. 5 and reappeared three days later at a farm 15 miles outside the city.

At the time, her father told Air Force Times his daughter had been kidnapped and beaten and tortured by her captors.

"She was tortured to some degree," said John Metzger, himself a retired Air Force officer. "They beat her up real bad, had a rope put around her neck, her face black and blue."

The FBI and Air Force officials launched an investigation into the disappearance. The Air Force remained largely silent during the ordeal, citing the need for discretion because of ongoing investigations and privacy concerns.

In 2007, Metzger’s family told Air Force Times that Metzger had been granted an 18-month medical leave. She was planning on spending the leave with her husband, Air Force Capt. Joshua Mayo, then stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.

That same year, John Metzger told Stars and Stripes his daughter was scheduled to be temporarily retired from the Air Force after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Metzger’s name has repeatedly surfaced on blogs and online forums, with some people accusing the Air Force of covering up the truth. Her family has repeatedly rejected those claims.