So do con artists. I'm not impressed with manipulative people like this woman, anad I expect cops to be a bit more savvy.
I really think we need to not be mad. Our tax dollars weren't wasted. I imagine her father will pay for the manhunt in Georgia, and the New Mexico police already said they weren't going to prosecute.
I strongly doubt that her family or her will ever cough up a dime here, unless forced to. Her fiance has made it abundantly clear that he doesn't think she owes anybody any money for this search. And the people who bought her wedding gifts for her eight (!) showers won't ever get their money back either.
And I'm sorry, but I don't think this story is the least bit funny or cute or lighthearted. The next woman who goes missing, and is ignored by LEOs because of this case, may very well end up dead, in no small part because of hoaxes like this. That's no laughing matter.
I'll take that bet!
According to my Webster's New World Dictionary, a Virago is a "quarrelsome, shrewish woman; scold; a strong manlike woman".
(About how the next woman will suffer because of this).
If you make her pay for the search, the next time someone is abducted the family will have to decide whether they want to pay for the police if it turns out to be a runaway. That would be a bad thing. We want people to call the police. We pay the police for this.
Those who volunteered to look for her have a right to ask her for an apology, but I think making people pay whenever the police or ambulance of firefighters get involved and it turns out to be a false alarm is just asking for trouble.
I would think differently if it seemed she had taken purposeful action to make them look for her (like that college girl who reported herself kidnapped and then hid for several days).
how this "stunt" could potentially affect the life or death of another missing woman in the future is a serious question.
your comments were very well said.