"Wow, you're a tough one. Seems like there was a lot of pressure on this girl, with over 600 invited to this wedding. Why not cut her some slack until the facts are out?"
Why not some consequences, like a year in jail for using tax payer money to pay for the search she provoked? Fraud is punishable. People all over the place have done jail time because of fraud. If this is not now swiftly punished, we will get more and more of it. Also, she should lose her nursing license.
Omigod! She's a nurse??
What fraud did she commit? The only actual criminal act she's committed, maybe, is filing a false police report in Albuquerque when she claimed she was kidnapped for a few hours. And that's only a misdemeanor, one for which they've decided not to press charges.
I think this woman is a snotty bitch with narcissistic tendencies, who has had so much money that she's never had to face real life before (EIGHT wedding showers?!?), but it simply is not illegal to walk away without telling anyone. We have freedom of movement.
You're right, fraud is punishable. What fraud did she commit?
In a nutshell, to commit fraud, she would have had to make some representation. That representation would have had to be material; the person(s) she made the representation of the fraud to would have had to believed it and relied on it and been injured by it.
All right, let's think about her statement she was abducted. Now, this comes after the search and all the money is spent, and was obviously not relied on by anyone being arrested. (There were probably costs incurred in the investigation of three or four hours.)
But, so far as her leaving, that's not a fraud. As an adult, she has freedom of movement. She (or you or I or anyone over eighteen who's not legally incompetent) can walk away tomorrow.
Was it cruel? Yes. Inconsiderate? Yes. Criminal? No. We don't criminalize being inconsiderate, which is probably a good thing because the jails would be swamped.
In addition, take the argument she should be charged for leaving one step further. Imagine we start charging people who leave. What happens to the woman in an abusive relationship? We spent time looking for her when she vanished (possibly because of her safety), she should have left a note?
There was no indication from anyone who knew her that there was anything wrong. I would guess (and this is just a guess) she was confused about whether she wanted to get married and felt unable to stop the wedding. We may all see that it would have been so easy, but she did not. The stress of keeping these feelings submerged without talking to anyone about it must have finally gotten to her. I don't condone what she did, but I don't think it was criminal.
I think she ought to be rewarded with a year of room and board at my place for making the general public and media look like idiots.