NEWS: Missing Bride-to-Be Found in New Mexico (Update: Abduction a Hoax)

Originally posted by Valhall
NO! Look to the right of her picture.

LMAO.

Bwahaha! Personals ad! Peeeeerfect!

Is anyone other than me annoyed by the fiance and the Pastor etc with their reaction. The fiance says he made a vow before God when he gave her the engagement ring. And everyone is "Praise God" she is ok etc....... Isn't anyone angry or upset at all???

This wasn't a momentary panic and needing time to think -- she planned it out -- she deceived people into believing she was kidnapped or worse and when she called 911 she sounded frantic and gave a description of 2 fictional people who kidnapped her.

If she had disappeared and gotten on a bus and called the next day and told people she just needed some time to think things over and she was scared -- I would stand behind her all the way -- but what she did was dispicable.

I'm not privvy to the specific violations of the law with which she may yet be charged. It is my understanding that only when she made the 'abduction' statement from the payphone did she break a law.
It is also my understanding that the jurisdiction from which the call was made is not pressing charges.
The jurisdiction from which she fled however, is quite upset with her, as multitudes of caring friends (and strangers) devoted considerable time and effort to finding her.
Things that are thoughtless, cruel and immature are not necessarily illegal, however hurtful they may be.
The glee of her family at her safe return is completely understandable, I hope they will also understand the ire of the community that now feels 'used'.

various snippets from this news article
CNN News

Late Friday, she called Mason from a pay phone in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and said two people had abducted her, then retracted her story during questioning by the FBI and police. Albuquerque police said they will not file charges.

Whether authorities would accept an apology is another matter, and Wilbanks may face charges in Georgia.

Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said he is considering criminal charges.

"I think I'm going to have to wait till all the reports are in," he said. "The real tricky part is I want to look over all the facts to try and determine what her state of mind was so I can select the appropriate charge."

The city of Duluth may also take civil action to recoup about $40,000 to $60,000 from Wilbanks for costs incurred in her hometown's search for her, Police Chief Randy Belcher said at a Monday evening news briefing.

Wilbanks could face a charge of making a false police report -- a misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail -- or making false statements to authorities -- a felony that carries a maximum of five years imprisonment.

Duluth police chief Randy Belcher said spoke to Wilbanks when she made her call from New Mexico.

He said he "clearly identified" himself to Wilbanks as the chief of police.

"At this point, she did violate Georgia law by advising me of this situation -- that she was kidnapped," he said.

So it sounds like she may face charges yet -- but what I don't understand is that everyone is so lovey gushy about her -- I'm sorry butI would be beyond ticked off if I were the fiance who was suspected of killing her. I might be able to work thru it over time but you can be sure that engagement ring would sit in my safe deposit box while we were working things out. And I think that if I were in the wedding party I would pull out if this went along as if nothing happened. AND if I were invited to the wedding and it happened right away I might not go.

Wilbanks made a statement to the Duluth Chief of Police, who identified himself to her as such, over the telephone that she had been abducted and taken to Albuquerque. That statement is what will be used to prosecute her for making a false statement to a police officer or one of other related charges. To my knowledge, at this time, there has been no decision to prosecute her.

Possible counts include the false reporting of a crime, which is a misdemeanor, and making false statements, a felony, says Gwinett County (Ga.) District Attorney Daniel Porter.

www.cbsnews.com...

[edit on 05/5/3 by GradyPhilpott]

There is a runaway bride kit available on Ebay LOL cgi.ebay.com...

I don't know about the rest of ya, but I'm dying to see her new doo since she cut her hair by herself when she was on the lamb.

I don't think it is a great haircut -- probably why she had the blanket over her head. I bet before we see her a hairdresser has come to the house and made it all pretty again.

That runaway bride kit is a hoot btw. Wish I had thought of it.

This billboard is poking fun at Jennifer Wilbanks in Duluth, GA:



www.msnbc.msn.com...

It seems that, collectively, men are not particularly forgiving of the "runaway bride" and are pretty angry about the social implications of the incident.

Online, guys' eyes started rolling. One man predicted Monday that “now it's time for all the psychobabblers to come out of the woodwork to give us a laundry list of ‘issues' and ‘syndromes' to excuse this spineless Cinderella's actions. Maybe all the desperate housewives out there will see her on ‘Oprah' real soon.”

Or on “Today” with Katie Couric or “Prime Time Live” with Diane Sawyer. There is no doubt that the media all-stars were engaged in a feverish bidding war to land an interview with the bride.

But if the groom had bolted from the wedding, would Katie and Oprah and Diane duke it out for the first crack at him? Or would they prefer to land an interview with the “jilted” bride?

“If the man had gone jogging and not returned, I doubt if anyone would have cared,” one male blogger said.

www.kansascity.com...

I wondering if they're quoting you Grady? Didn't you make those observations and predictions right in this thread?

Might have a been a widepread exclamation as well, but they said "one man." Never know.

Ah, quote's a little different. I see.

[edit on 4-5-2005 by RANT]

Not my words, but certainly my sentiment and apparently many others, as well. Of course, this really is the way of the world and it always has been and always will be in our nature for both men and women to give women, as a class, a pass on many idiosyncrasies, for lack of a better word.

I think what chaps most mens' behind is that for all the feminist rhetoric over the last thirty years about equality, we are still about as far from equality as we ever were, except that now we must turn a blind eye to human nature and go along with the political line that men and women are exactly alike, only different, while all the while acknowledging the image of women as perpetual victims.

You can deny human nature, but it's hard as hell to change.

Andrea Peyser of the New York Post gives us a light-hearted, yet scathing analysis of the "Boob of a Bridegroom." Frankly, I think the analysis is laced with typical Yankee condescension toward the South, but it's amusing and insightful none the less:

Jennifer Wilbanks hails from a slice of the South where 32-year-old never-married women are either insane, in prison or gay.

But while her mental fitness is currently up for debate, and her sexual orientation has not been road-tested, as her idiot fianc [sic] has made sure to reveal, I'm beginning to believe something far more sinister is afoot in the state of Georgia.

There may be good reason why a pop-eyed femme fatale who's fairly long in the tooth, by Scarlett O'Hara standards, chose to flee from her marriage to a willing bridegroom who may not be the most brilliant buttercup in the bouquet, but nonetheless appears to possess the majority of his teeth.

Perhaps Jennifer and her hubby-not-to-be are far better suited for each other than meets the eye.

New York Post

It seems that Jennifer Wilbanks' web of deceit is even more entangled than previously imagined, as reported in this story from "The New York Post."

Days before she disappeared, bolting bride Jennifer Wilbanks lied to her boss that she needed time off to fix her wedding dress, in an apparent effort to cover up plans she was about to flee the state, sources said yesterday.
Wilbanks begged off work April 26 — the day she disappeared — because "she said her crinolines hadn't come in" and she had to deal with it, a supervisor at Heritage OB-GYN in Gainesville told The Post.

Wilbanks, a medical assistant who manned the reception desk and helped the midwives at the baby clinic, asked in advance for the day off, the supervisor said. But there was no issue with the crinoline — the stiff petticoat worn beneath a bridal gown to add shape, said Wilbanks' wedding planner.

"The dress had already been fitted and the crinolines were already sewn in," said Christopher Davidson, who owns Christopher's Tuxedo and Bridal in Gainesville and also planned Wilbanks' now-canceled, 600-guest, April 30 bonanza.

www.nypost.com...

Registration requirement likely.

Not only has Jennifer Wilbanks dumped on another fiancé, but she has a criminal record for shoplifting several times.

Runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks cruelly ditched another fiancé over the phone eight years ago — after the pair had already picked out an engagement ring and went house-hunting, the man's wife has revealed to The Post.

The woman, in describing for the first time the anguish her husband suffered, added that Wilbanks had balked at sleeping with him during the relationship, saying she wanted to remain pure till marriage.

Wilbanks sparked a costly national manhunt when she skipped out on current fiancé John Mason — reportedly after he insisted on remaining chaste until their wedding day.

[...]

The prior jilting isn't the only trouble in Wilbanks' past — she was arrested three times for shoplifting, including one bust for taking $1,700 in merchandise from a mall, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported today.

www.nypost.com...

As mentioned in at least one earlier commentary, Jennifer does have multiple shoplifting incidents spanning several years.
At last one of these did come to the $1700 amount cited. I'm stunned that such a theft would have not resulted in incarceration.
This bridal-episode is just the most recent for a troubled lady. I think that we've not heard the last about her. She's young and unlikely to get better.

For the shoplifting charge she served two weekends in jail, community service and made restitution.

Jennifer Wilbanks has inspired an action figure and a new hot sauce:

www.kron4.com...

www.pappyspeppers.com...







[edit on 05/5/14 by GradyPhilpott]

It seems as the recent reports are coming out related to the premiscuity of the runaway bride. It seems that she was trying to reunite with an old fling while out on the lamb.

www.nypost.com...

"She's a crazy girl," said Kendrick, who said he had a brief — and sexually charged — relationship with Wilbanks.

Like other men who've gone a few rounds with Wilbanks — several firemen, a dentist and gym buffs among them — Kendrick said Wilbanks had a healthy sexual appetite.

"She liked sex," he said.

---------------------------------------------------------

You go girl.

Originally posted by periwinkle blue
As mentioned in at least one earlier commentary, Jennifer does have multiple shoplifting incidents spanning several years.
At last one of these did come to the $1700 amount cited. I'm stunned that such a theft would have not resulted in incarceration.
This bridal-episode is just the most recent for a troubled lady. I think that we've not heard the last about her. She's young and unlikely to get better.

I don't understand why she doesn't get prosecuted. She lied about her abduction and sabotaged the law enforcement nation wide for a few days. Then it turns out she's a compulsive nymphomaniac shoplifter. I just don't get it, she's like teflon.

It looks like her fiance was able to protect her on this one. I can't figure out how she got out of all of the shoplifting incidents as well.

This looks like a TV movie in the making.