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Runaway bride runs into legal complications
CFP ^ | May 4, 2005 | Michael M. Bates

Posted on 05/04/2005 7:53:08 AM PDT by MikeEdwards

I don’t purport to be an authority. But it seems to me having as many bridal showers as Elizabeth Taylor Hilton Wilding Todd Fisher Burton Burton Warner Fortensky has had marriages is an obvious red flag. Things are spiraling out of control.

Weddings have a way of doing that. Almost everyone, even those remotely involved, has a suggestion or two.

The bride and groom, trying to satisfy as many people as possible, often end up making arrangements they really aren’t happy with. The result is what should be a joyful celebration turns into a nerve-racking, embittering experience.

This week’s adventure of the runaway bride briefly diverted attention from Senate filibusters, Social Security reform, North Korean missile testing and those other matters that, while terribly important, cause our eyes to glaze over.

Most Americans may not know who the Supreme Court’s chief justice is, but they’ve all heard about the runaway bride. And have strong opinions about her.

The woman acted most negligently. For starters, she unnecessarily put her parents through days of torment. Most of us can only imagine the suffering to which they’ve been subjected.

Then there was the anguish suffered by other family members and friends worried about her safety. Hundreds of volunteers, many of them strangers, took time to help look for her. All of them must feel a sense of betrayal.

Moreover, she subjected her fiancé to suspicions that he was involved with her disappearance. Every time the couple’s picture was broadcast, you just knew viewers were wondering if they were looking at another Scott Peterson.

Not taking a police-administered lie detector test fueled the speculation. . . . .

(Excerpt) Read more at canadafreepress.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bride; duluth; georgia; jennifer; runaway; wilbanks
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1 posted on 05/04/2005 7:53:09 AM PDT by MikeEdwards
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To: MikeEdwards

Yup. She would have been better off if she'd been murdered.


2 posted on 05/04/2005 7:56:24 AM PDT by Brilliant
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To: Brilliant
She would have been better off if she'd been murdered.

do you really wish that on anyone ? - particularly a young lady with her life in front of her?

3 posted on 05/04/2005 7:59:41 AM PDT by Revelation 911
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To: Revelation 911

i'm just being facetious. These guys need to get over it.


4 posted on 05/04/2005 8:01:16 AM PDT by Brilliant
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To: Brilliant

I didn't think you were "series".


5 posted on 05/04/2005 8:06:08 AM PDT by dc-zoo
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To: Brilliant
I'm with you but I can't help but be a little upset with this Canadian reporter. He's so friggen condescending. "Most Americans may not know who the Supreme Court's Chief Justice is, but they've all read about the runaway bride."

Most Canadians need to stop paying so much attention to American runaway brides and start concentrating on building up your military.
6 posted on 05/04/2005 8:09:00 AM PDT by Arpege92 ("I am happy, be it yourselves." - Pope John Paul II)
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To: MikeEdwards

Yep everyone putting their 2 cents in is what is wrong with marrage today. A man should realize he is not marrying the women but he is marrying society. The only time two people stand a chance is during courtship after that everyone starts pulling this way and that way till there is a divorce.


7 posted on 05/04/2005 8:10:08 AM PDT by Judge Roy
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To: MikeEdwards

Oh come on! The pressure of a wedding is enourmous. Have ever tried to plan a seating chart for 600 people?

Hopefully, if they do get married and have kids, he won't let her bathe the kids alone.

Of course, she could blame anything that happens on some random Mexican.


8 posted on 05/04/2005 8:17:22 AM PDT by socal_parrot (Turn the beat around!)
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To: Judge Roy
Yep everyone putting their 2 cents in is what is wrong with marrage today. A man should realize he is not marrying the women but he is marrying society. The only time two people stand a chance is during courtship after that everyone starts pulling this way and that way till there is a divorce.

Given the disdain that the left heaps upon the institution of marriage, it makes you wonder why they think it's such a fabulous idea for gays and lesbians. Unless of course the point is only to further undermine the institution....

9 posted on 05/04/2005 8:18:38 AM PDT by The_Victor (Doh!... stupid tagline)
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To: Arpege92

The runaway bride is getting too much attention. To me, though, the interesting thing is that the media made this woman into a national figure, and now the media is all over her because they got duped. Who says she had any clue that the media was going to make her into a 24/7 news item? It's the media's fault, not so much hers.

Of course, she did lie, but that was after the fact. And I sincerely doubt that anyone believed her. They certainly did very little to act on her lie. The worst that they can claim is that they spent an hour or so interviewing her, when they could have been doing something else.

The days of searching for her were a waste of time, but were not the result of any crime that she committed. It's not a crime to leave without telling anyone where you are going, even if you're on the verge of getting married, and even if you know that people will be worried.

I think that the authorities are really doing a lot of barking because they want to discourage others from doing the same thing. But once the media stops jabbering about it, they'll probably forget all about this woman, and conveniently close the file.


10 posted on 05/04/2005 8:23:20 AM PDT by Brilliant
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To: Arpege92

I believe the author is American.

As to Canada's military, when Danish scientists visit a Canadian artic island without authorization and raise their flag to claim it as Danish terrory and to claim the natural resources in the area and there is nobody to stop them . . . maybe Canada does need to have a military after all!


11 posted on 05/04/2005 8:24:39 AM PDT by MikeEdwards
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To: Brilliant
i'm just being facetious. These guys need to get over it.

no sweat - hard to convey inflections in electronic characters

12 posted on 05/04/2005 8:30:06 AM PDT by Revelation 911
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To: Arpege92

I don't think the author Michael M. Bates, is Canadian.


13 posted on 05/04/2005 8:31:49 AM PDT by CharacterCounts
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To: Brilliant

I agree with you that leaving isn't a crime, but I do think that any reasonable person would have known that the manner in which she left was going to make her family think she was in danger. If someone disappears mid-jog without any of their possessions, of course their family is going to get the authorities all over it out of the terrifying belief that she was taken and could be raped, killed, or both. The media coverage wasn't her fault, but misleading her family to call in the authorities was something anyone should have anticipated.


14 posted on 05/04/2005 8:33:01 AM PDT by VRWCisme
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To: Brilliant

Totally agree. The woman is at fault and has issues but the media is pissed because they give this stuff way to much attention and they wanted to make this case another obsession.


15 posted on 05/04/2005 8:34:30 AM PDT by Reagan79 (Ralph Stanley Rocks!)
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To: MikeEdwards

I *think* this author is a freeper... not sure, though.


16 posted on 05/04/2005 8:37:22 AM PDT by beaureguard
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To: CharacterCounts; Arpege92; MikeEdwards
I just double checked and, yes, I am a U.S. citizen.

One who's not all that happy that many of us don't know who William H. Rehnquist is.

Thanks for posting and taking the time to read the piece.

17 posted on 05/04/2005 8:38:57 AM PDT by Mike Bates (Irish Alzheimer's victim: I only remember the grudges.)
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To: Revelation 911

Here's a revelation for you: he was joking.


18 posted on 05/04/2005 8:40:36 AM PDT by rabidralph (My truck appreciates the rest of you driving fuel-efficient vehicles.)
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To: VRWCisme
If someone disappears mid-jog without any of their possessions, of course their family is going to get the authorities all over it out of the terrifying belief that she was taken and could be raped, killed, or both. The media coverage wasn't her fault, but misleading her family to call in the authorities was something anyone should have anticipated.

I agree. But she had no legal obligations to any of her family and friends and she had the absolute right to run away at any time without telling anyone. People have the right to run away and control their own destiny.

Now, lying about a kidnapping is something she did not have the right to do and I think that she should be prosecuted on that.
19 posted on 05/04/2005 8:41:07 AM PDT by BikerNYC
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To: MikeEdwards

Before our wedding someone gave us the advice; "It's not about you having a good time, it's about your guests." If you have a good time out of it so much the better, which we did.


20 posted on 05/04/2005 8:41:51 AM PDT by stevio (Remember 9/11 by buying a 1911)
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