I’M PRETTY SURE THAT JOHN FRANKENHEIMER DIDN’T INTEND FOR THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE TO BE A HOW-TO GUIDE: Chinese tennis star who accused party leader of abuse has disappeared and now (allegedly) recants by email.

Earlier this month, Peng wrote a post on the Chinese social media site Weibo accusing a senior member of the Communist Party named Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her:

In the 1,500-character post, Peng gave a detailed account of her encounters with Zhang, now 75, which began a decade ago. Peng claims, in her post, she had an on-again, off-again affair with Zhang, who was married, starting before he rose up the party ranks and became vice premier.

About three years ago, after Zhang retired from his role, he invited her over to his house to play tennis with him and his wife. She said he then sexually assaulted her while his wife stood outside guarding the door…

“I know that for someone of your eminence, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, you’ve said that you’re not afraid,” Peng wrote, according to The New York Times. “But even if it’s just me, like an egg hitting a rock, or a moth to the flame, courting self-destruction, I’ll tell the truth about you.”

That post Peng put up was deleted about 20 minutes later, but not before people saw it and copies were made. That was on November 2 and since then it appears no one has heard a word from Peng. Her social media accounts have gone dark and efforts to contact her have all failed.

It was radio silence until yesterday evening when a state media outlet published an email Peng allegedly sent to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). As you can see, the email is retracting the #MeToo allegation against Zhang. Actually, it’s not retracting the allegation so much as claiming she didn’t make it in the first place even though it was released on her verified account. Adding “I’m not missing, nor am I unsafe” to a sketchy email from someone no one has seen or spoken to for weeks is a nice touch.

“Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.”

Related: Serena Williams speaks out for missing tennis star Peng Shuai: ‘Devastated’ Williams hopes missing tennis star Peng Shuai is found quickly.