Jill Kelley is the woman who complained to the FBI about harassing emails from Paula Broadwell, the mistress of General David Petraeus.
Jill Kelley, 37, of Tampa, Florida, is a State Department military liaison officer who appears to have a longstanding friendship with Petraeus, who quit as CIA director in disgrace last week.
He lives with her husband Scott Kelley, a surgeon, and their three children.
An online picture album posted by the family talks about meeting David Petraeus at the couple’s home.
Jill Kelley works in the Joint Special Operations Command, a section of the U.S. Armed Forces that deals mostly with counter-terrorism.
The Joint Special Ops Command was directly involved in the mission that took out Osama bin Laden and the drone strike that killed radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.
Details of the affair between David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell reportedly came to light during a FBI probe of the emails that she allegedly sent to Jill Kelley.
The new revelation raises the possibility that Paula Broadwell was growing increasingly jealous of a government employee whose job it was to keep in contact with David Petraeus.
Jill Kelley, a mother of three who feared for her safety, contacted the FBI.
A government official told the New York Post that the emails contained such language as: “I know what you did”, “back off” and “stay away from my guy”.
The official added: “[Paula Broadwell] clearly thought something was going on and thought she was in a <<lovers triangle>>.”
A person who knows both Jill Kelley and David Petraeus confirmed their friendship and said she saw him often.
David Petraeus broke off the steamy affair with Paula Broadwell before it was exposed by the FBI probe, according to friends of the retired general.
David Petraeus quit his post as CIA director in disgrace on Friday while offering an apology over the affair, allegedly with his biographer, Paula Broadwell – who allegedly sent a threatening email to another woman whom she felt was getting to close to him.
His apology came as reports show that the affair blew up in David Petraeus’ face after Paula Broadwell allegedly sent e-mails threatening Jill Kelley whom she accused of getting too close to him.
David Petraeus told friends that he had begun the affair with Paula Broadwell shortly after he had left the Army to begin his work with the CIA, according to ABC News.
Those close to Paula Broadwell are casting doubt over what she has been accused of.
David Bixler, a wounded soldier who met Paula Broadwell through a charity in 2010, told ABC: “I have some serious questions about who is connecting these dots… Paula Broadwell is not the type… she isn’t.”
Ed Williams, a neighbor who lives two houses down from the Broadwell family in Charlotte, North Carolina, neighborhood, told Reuters: “Everyone is surprised and shocked.”
Earlier in the week, Ed Williams, a retired editor, saw Paula Broadwell with her two children when she was voting in last week’s U.S. presidential election.
He told Reuters that Paula Broadwell appeared chatty and cheerful. Neighbors were working on putting together a belated party to celebrate the release of her book.
“She gave no indication all this was going on,” Ed Williams said.
Paula Broadwell is married to Dr. Scott Broadwell and has two young sons.
She had planned to celebrate her 40th birthday in Washington this weekend, with many reporters invited. Her husband Scott emailed guests to cancel the party.
It is also claimed that Paula Broadwell used David Petraeus’ own Gmail account to send the emails, and when the FBI began to investigate an obvious national security issue instead uncovered explicit messages between the two sent from the decorated war hero’s own account – indicating an affair.
Three senior law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case told the Washington Post that when David Petraeus’ name was raised in connection with the threatening emails, the FBI thought that security had been breached.
CIA officers long had expressed concern about Paula Broadwell’s unprecedented access to the director.
She frequently visited the spy agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to meet David Petraeus in his office, accompanied him on morning runs around the CIA grounds and often attended public functions as his guest, according to two ex-intelligence officials.
Investigating the threatening messages, FBI agents uncovered evidence that he and 40-year-old Paula Broadwell were involved in an extramarital affair.
FBI investigators first interviewed David Petraeus about what they had found two weeks ago and informed him that no criminal charges would be brought and no-one is thought to have discussed the possibility of his resignation.