SAFE

US AIR FORCE MAJOR JILL METZGER FOUND SAFE...
WAS COHERENT BUT DISORIENTED WHEN FOUND...
FAMILY OVERJOYED...
SAYS SHE WAS KIDNAPPED BY THREE MEN AND A WOMAN...
SEDATED AND BEING DEBRIEFED...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/08/world/main1985454.shtml
http://www.wral.com/news/9813036/detail.html
http://www.hendersondispatch.com/
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-09-08-missing-major_x.htm

I have not seen Jill Metzger since she was a senior, and I a junior at Northern Vance High School in Henderson. While it's been 15 years since we last crossed paths, the news of her disappearance this week struck a deep chord with me.

Jill has been portrayed fairly and accurately. She was an all-american girl. Lettering in 4 sports (the first and only Vance County female athelete to do so) she was always energetic -- vivatious.

Her family is close knit. I had her brother in several classes. Her father was the ROTC instructor and a teacher at Northern Vance/Vance Senior High.

And while I can't claim to have been a close friend of Jill's, I can attest to this: She's a neighbor, a citizen, a friend. When it's someone from your hometown, someone you saw practically every school day, someone who was always friendly, caring, compasionate -- it really hits home.

Like many other Hendersonians, I too was praying for Jill's safe return. We had our prayers answered tonight. It was a fortunate ending to a story that too often ends another way. And, most importantly, a stark reminder of the perils and dangers our military men and women face on a daily basis. It's not just in Iraq. It's not solely in Afghanistan. The dangers are real around the globe.

Lest We Forget.

DEVELOPING...
EXCLUSIVE HIGH SCHOOL PICTURES FORTHCOMING...

Randy Gupton, fivesecondstoair.blogspot.com