Posted on 04/30/2005 6:35:35 AM PDT by kellynla
Duluth bride-to-be who vanished just days before her wedding turned up in New Mexico and fabricated a tale of abduction before admitting Saturday that she had gotten cold feet and "needed some time alone," police said.
Jennifer Wilbanks, 32, was in police custody more than 1,420 miles from her home on what was supposed to be her wedding day.
"It turns out that Miss Wilbanks basically felt the pressure of this large wedding and could not handle it," said Duluth Police Chief Randy Belcher. He said there would be no criminal charges.
Wilbanks, whose disappearance set off a nationwide hunt, called her fiance, John Mason, from a pay phone early Saturday and told him that she had been kidnapped while jogging three days before, authorities said. Her family rejoiced that she was safe, telling reporters that the media coverage apparently got to the kidnappers.
But Wilbanks soon recanted, according to police.
Ray Schultz, chief of police in Albuquerque, said Wilbanks "had become scared and concerned about her impending marriage and decided she needed some time alone." He said she traveled to Las Vegas by bus before going to Albuquerque.
"She's obviously very concerned about the stress that she's been through, the stress that's been placed on her family," he said. "She is very upset."
The scene at the house Wilbanks shared with Mason went from jubilant, with Mason hopping from one TV interview to the next and joking about meeting Sean Hannity, to more subdued.
Everyone but immediate family was told to leave the house, and the blinds were drawn and the front door closed. Police put up crime scene tape to keep people away.
"Having cold feet is a joy compared to what the alternative might have been," friend Melinda Larson, who had planned to attend the wedding...
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
Her parents, her fiance, her friends and extended family were put through three days of sheer hell of not knowing.
Law enforcement officials in Georgia were distracted from watching out for real crimes, though I'm sure they did their best in a bad situation.
Just as husbands and fiances have been main suspects for years because of past notorious cases, now this woman has thrown suspicion on female kidnapping victims in the future.
I hope she gets counseling. I hope her family welcomes her home with open arms. I also hope her fiancee runs for his life.
Where will this woman run to if she ever gets pregnant???
I would not look good in even the nicest wedding dress.
World's Shortest fairy Tale:
"Once upon a time a guy ask a girl to marry him.
She said no.
He lived happily ever after."
....I loved that My Side of the Mountain + Rascal when I was a kid. Now the idea of not having modern plumbing...well.
For that lie, yes. But she is not liable for the cost of the search. The official search had already been canceled when she told that story to the police this morning.
I would hope for the same. Unfortunately, after reading most of the posts on this thread, I don't think it did.
I threatened to run away once when I was 8. My mother's response... "Oh, what fun! Where are WE going? Let's go pack!! That did it for me. I never threatened again. LOL
I think if the two families weren't such prominent people, charges would be filed against this lady.
An any FReeper shed some light on this?
Thank you. As I wander through life with my lantern searching for truth.............sorry, wrong story.
Here is the rub. She bolts. She obviously planned the entire escape down to the point of leaving all her "personal" items behind (one doesn't carry such stuff on a JOG) as to lead the "authorities and her family" that she had been abducted.
This was her pat story to the police when they eventually questioned her. In other words, she purposely planned the entire episode with thought and careful preparation.
Any psychiatric resident would tell you that her "running" away is symbolic of her not only her need to reduce the stress in her life, but also a subtle expression of her disdain for the shlump she was supposed to marry!
When a 15 year old runs away, there are likely issues at home causing it. 15 year olds are still too immature to think things out. When found, an investigation should be undertaken to determine what caused the running away.
When a 32 year old educated woman (she was a nurse), disappears a couple of days before her wedding - what does she think that people are going to think?????
Believe me, there have been times in my life - when I've been driving & I've seriously thought about just driving on & not going home & going somewhere where no one knows me & starting all over. But what stopped me was envisioning my mother & father, crying & praying that I was OK. My husband's anguish at not knowing if I was alive or not.
I pray to God that if I ever turn up missing, that the police & my community will launch a huge search to find me, just like these people in Georgia did.
Also, I think to be shacking up for a year & a half - then going through all the motions of a big fairy tale wedding - along with the enthusiastic blessings of their preacher......to already have set up housekeeping & then invite all these people to give them big lavish gifts.....when they both have good jobs & can afford to buy their own household items.....to make people have to take time off from work to have to come & "share in their joy"....THIS IS SICKENING. Every friend I had that put their families through this obscene waste of money - every single one of their marriages ended in divorce.
Too much selfishness in the world today......
Makes you wonder if the cops took her picture down to the bus station and asked if anyone had seen her.
I am glad to hear she is safe. I dont reccommend any punishment this time, she is obviously a dingbat, The Fiancee is lucky a few more days and he would have been married to this dingbat. Wonder if I can return the gift to Walmarts?
Happy that the lady is safe, just maybe not sound!
As soon as it was reported that she was actually a runaway bride, and from GA......... "Smokey and the Bandit"
ROFLMAO!!
Headline: Nurse abandons her critical-care patients. 5 die" "I just needed some time to myself" moron claims!
i agree she should be held accountable, at least as an example to not cry wolf, especially if no other "extenuating" circumstances are found.
her initial call saying she was abducted was worse than the fact that she waited so long to notify.
but i still think there must be something else going on in her life that there was absolutely no one in her life that she could trust enough to say "i'm going away".
That should be on condition of paying all expenses incurred.
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