Missing Major's Story Raises Questions
Sept. 12, 2006 — -- Investigators are examining what may be inconsistencies in the story of an Air Force major who reappeared after disappearing while shopping at a mall in Kyrgyzstan, ABC News has learned.
Air Force Maj. Jill Metzger disappeared while shopping at a Kyrgyzstan mall on Sept. 5.
She surfaced three days later when she knocked on the door of a family's home 22 miles from the shopping mall.
Her disappearance sparked a massive manhunt.
Metzger, a newlywed, was preparing to return home to the United States for her honeymoon when she vanished, and her new husband, Air Force Capt. Josh Mayo, made an emotional plea at the time of her disappearance.
"Just be strong. Don't worry about whatever's happened to you," he said. "Just come on home, all right. We're here for you. Be strong, sweetie."
Now local police are questioning the story Metzger told them.
She told officials that she was kidnapped from the mall after someone placed a bomb in her back pocket and that she managed to escape her captors by hitting one of them when they were bringing her food.
Police say Metzger was "confused in her evidence."
Air Force officials are also investigating her story.
However, Metzger's family said to "Good Morning America" that any doubts about her alleged ordeal were unfounded.
Metzger's husband does not believe she would have disappeared willingly.
"Knowing my wife. … I would have to say to someone that she didn't take off, that she was too excited about coming home," he said.
Mayo and Metzger are now reunited in Germany.
Mayo's father says they are together and happy.
Air Force authorities are still trying to figure out what exactly happened to this star officer as she recuperates in a U.S. military hospital.
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