Posted on 04/28/2005 10:13:06 AM PDT by varina davis
Hundreds Search for Missing Bride-To-Be
April 28, 2005 10:40 AM EDT
DULUTH, Ga. - A 32-year-old woman disappeared just days before she was to be married, and authorities said Thursday they were expanding their search for her.
Jennifer Wilbanks' fiance told authorities she left home Tuesday night to go jogging. When she did not return in a couple of hours, he began looking for her, then notified police.
On Wednesday, more than 250 people searched for Wilbanks, including volunteers and police using helicopters and tracking dogs. Authorities called off the volunteer search but continued canvassing door-to-door for clues in this northeastern Atlanta suburb. They were treating the disappearance as a criminal investigation but did not elaborate.
"It's a very real possibility she did get cold feet. I mean, how many husbands have gone out for a pack of cigarettes and not come back," Duluth Police Chief Randy Belcher said.
Earlier, police Maj. Don Woodruff said friends and family believed "this is totally uncharacteristic of her. We don't believe it was a case of premarital jitters."
On Thursday, about 100 police officers expanded their search a quarter-mile deeper into woods near her home. Police had not asked anyone to take a polygraph test, but her fiance has volunteered to do so, Belcher said.
Friends and relatives have told police Wilbanks seemed happy and was looking forward to her wedding Saturday. Her keys, cash, credit cards and identification were found in her home.
"She left out of here with just a radio and the clothes she has on," said Wilbanks' fiance, John Mason. "Everything she owns is in the home. If this is cold feet, it is the weirdest case of cold feet I have ever seen."
Wilbanks and Mason were to be married in a large ceremony. Six hundred invitations had been mailed, and the wedding was to feature 14 bridesmaids and 14 groomsmen, according to Mason's mother, Vicki.
Investigators checked the banks of the nearby Chattahoochee River, and the state Department of Natural Resources planned to search the river, Woodruff said.
Wilbanks was described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, about 123 pounds, with shoulder-length dark brown hair. She was last seen wearing a gray sweat shirt and blue sweat pants, police said.
I'd bet if this were ture one of her close friends would be aware of it in some fashion.
Exactly!
If her wedding was a remake of the Zigfield Follies, then her ring probably wasn't a dainty little chip.
I can see leaving it at home for a run.
Perhaps. When my ex-wife was "doing" half the men and women at the health club (OK, maybe not half, but it seemed that way), everyone in town knew it except for me.
Whenever I'm in my vehicle and see a young woman jogging with a radio headset on I shake my head at her like - no, no, don't do that. They usually don't see me since they aren't paying attention to their surroundings. Not very wise.
I don't know if EH was ever executed... Were any of the others put in jail?
You're lucky she's an "ex". Sheesh, consider yourself lucky to be sans that.
I think we're both a lot happier now.
I don't know about the girlfriend who was an accessory, but the other guy did go to jail. I don't think he got the death penalty because he made a deal with the state to testify against Hammond.
Did I hear that they had not lived in the area for very long? If so, where did they live before?
Besides...fingers swell when running and if you are wearing a ring it is very uncomfortable and hard to remove until the swelling has gone down. Doesn't surprise me she would leave her ring at home. A lot of people jog or exercise less their jewelry.
Plastic flowers arranged by my florist mother in law. A couple hundred bucks, tops. The only way to go. You couldn't tell from the seats whether they were real or fake, anyway.
If he killed her, then why wouldn't he just agree with the cop about the (convenient) possibility that she got "cold feet"?
Didn't she speak to her mother that evening about the last minute preparations for the wedding?
I don't think that's dispositive. Far too often, weddings become an event for the bride's parents, and in particular the bride's mother. For all we know, her mother might be a control freak and the daughter was afraid to tell mommy dearest to call off a wedding for 600 of their closest friends and relatives because she is in love with someone else. Of course I'm just speculating, but I would rather think that she eloped with her true love than become the victim of foul play.
that could be.
Anyone old enough to remember Anjette Donovan Lyles? As I recall she was abducted from Lenox Square back in the late 60's. Did she ever turn up?
I heard this afternoon that LE is checking DNA on a clump of hair found along Jennifer's jogging route. I don't think she was avoiding her wedding.
I have not heard of her.
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