Police: Ga. bride-to-be fabricated kidnap tale

[SkinsNut73]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7665482/

32-year-old woman surfaces in N.M., reportedly 'needed some time alone'
The Associated Press
Updated: 9:56 a.m. ET April 30, 2005ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A Georgia 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 Randy Belcher, the police chief in Duluth, Ga., the Atlanta suburb where Wilbanks lives with her fiance. 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 late Friday 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.”

'Cold feet'
The mood outside Wilbanks’ home went from jubilant to somber after Wilbanks changed her story. Family members ducked inside and the blinds were drawn, but friends expressed relief that Wilbanks was safe.




“Having cold feet is a joy compared to what the alternative might have been,” friend Melinda Larson, who had planned to attend the wedding, told CNN.

The wedding was going to be a huge bash. The couple had mailed 600 invitations, and the ceremony was to feature 14 bridesmaids and 14 groomsmen.

Wilbanks’ uncle, Mike Satterfield, thanked people who had helped in the search and supported the family.

“Jennifer had some issues the family was not aware of. We’re looking forward to loving her and talking to her about these issues,” he said.

Mason and Wilbanks’ family planned to fly to Albuquerque later Saturday.

Wilbanks, who is a nurse, was tired and thirsty, but was not complaining of any injuries Saturday, officials said. Her hair, which was long in pictures released by her family, was shoulder-length.

Search consumed tight-knit town
Just hours before Wilbanks called her fiance, police in Duluth said they had no solid leads in the case and began dismantling a search center. Relatives offered a $100,000 reward for information and were planning a prayer vigil.

The hunt for Wilbanks had consumed Duluth, a tight-knit town. Her picture and newspaper articles about her disappearance were on telephone poles and shop windows. Police had also seized three computers from the home she shared with Mason.

Mason had become a target of suspicion and agreed to a private polygraph test, which Wilbanks’ family said he passed. He had been negotiating with authorities for another test.

“That’s been the hardest part for me,” Mason said after Wilbanks called from Albuquerque. “It gives you a feeling like you can’t walk outside your home.”

Larson, a friend of both Mason and Wilbanks, said she thought the bride-to-be had no idea her disappearance would draw so much attention.

“Sometimes things take on a life of their own, just like weddings,” she said.

[stevenaa]

What a twit.

[Ax]

I don't buy the cold feet story either. She's fuggin somebody.

If he's got any brains he'll drop her like the plague.

Here's your shot dude, run like hell!

[Thiebear]

I feel bad for the guy, they were playing it for 5 straight hourse this morning while i was "studying"....

[Park City Skins]

Wow. I've heard getting away from a relationship, but damn she left skid marks.

[SkinFaninOKC]

I was flipping through TV at 3 this morning and saw that she had been found. I thought....Good news for once.

THEN.....

THIS?!?!

I'd at least put off the wedding. Not sure dumping her is the right thing.

[Blondie]

Why is it so hard to say........."Uh, dude, I do NOT want this?"

And WHY invite 600 people if this is NOT what you want?


Blondie

[Mickalino]

Originally posted by Blondie
Why is it so hard to say........."Uh, dude, I do NOT want this?"

And WHY invite 600 people if this is NOT what you want?


Blondie

Maybe she ONLY RECENTLY found out that he was only 2 inches. Sorry that was bad.

[Blondie]

Originally posted by Mickalino


Maybe she ONLY RECENTLY found out that he was only 2 inches. Sorry that was bad.

Yes, Mick, that WAS bad.








(But I would leave too!!)





Blondie

[Ghost of Nibbs McPimpin]

She should be charged by police(because she called POLICE to say she had been kidnapped and escaped.) Her family should also bear(they are well-off) the expense of the search for this nitwit.

this stank to high heaven as soon as I heard it. My only question was whether the fiancee was in on it.

What an effin ___t. There are REAL women out there who need to be found(be they living or dead) and she's wasting everyone's time.

Worst yet, the man she should at least care for a LITTLE became a target of suspicion, as happens in all these cases. Can you imagine, you're completely innocent and the cops and 'friends' and 'neighbors' start lookin' at you cuz this broad can't handle things honorably?

[SkinsNut73]

Originally posted by Ghost of Nibbs McPimpin

Worst yet, the man she should at least care for a LITTLE became a target of suspicion, as happens in all these cases. Can you imagine, you're completely innocent and the cops and 'friends' and 'neighbors' start lookin' at you cuz this broad can't handle things honorably?

Yea, I feel bad for the fiancee. This guy came under suspicion when he would not allow the police to administer a polygraph test. I'm sure everyone was looking at him as the next Scott Peterson....

...and then to find out she had cold feet...man.

[heyholetsgogrant]

Originally posted by SkinsNut73


Yea, I feel bad for the fiancee. This guy came under suspicion when he would not allow the police to administer a polygraph test. I'm sure everyone was looking at him as the next Scott Peterson....

...and then to find out she had cold feet...man.

Yeah, I agree the police were painting this man as if he did, what if he took the second polygraph and failed before she was found?

[Cskin]

Grab your knife.. grab your gun... let's have at a Runaway Bride from Georgia and have some fun. <------ Read Joke!

Already... the mediots are now arguing as to what responsibility she has in this whole fiasco. Seems common sense that she should be charged for obstruction of justice and be forced to pay a fine equaling the amount of total man hours and resources utilized by the Georgia enforcement authorities.

There has to be a message sent... that this type of scam results in legal charges and substantial fines. Maybe people will think twice about crying wolf.

Conversely, others are already sticking up for her and crying that she must have a problem and it's this problem that should result in her not being held responsible for her actions. It never ceases to amaze me... in today's world it's just never anyone's fault... it's always someone else's or something else's fault.

[Jody]

This guy is as crazy as the would be bride if he stays with her.

Let her go dude. She's got bigger problems than skipping out on a fancy big time wedding.

Nutjob.

[Blondie]

Originally posted by Ghost of Nibbs McPimpin
She should be charged by police(because she called POLICE to say she had been kidnapped and escaped.) Her family should also bear(they are well-off) the expense of the search for this nitwit.

this stank to high heaven as soon as I heard it. My only question was whether the fiancee was in on it.

What an effin ___t. There are REAL women out there who need to be found(be they living or dead) and she's wasting everyone's time.

Worst yet, the man she should at least care for a LITTLE became a target of suspicion, as happens in all these cases. Can you imagine, you're completely innocent and the cops and 'friends' and 'neighbors' start lookin' at you cuz this broad can't handle things honorably?

She did NOT call the police. She called her fiance and HE called the police.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/04/30/wil...und/index.html

Runaway bride: Wedding 'postponed,' not off
Wilbanks returns to Atlanta area after fleeing planned nuptials



(CNN) -- Instead of being the center of a lavish wedding Saturday night, Jennifer Wilbanks flew home to Georgia from New Mexico, where she surfaced early in the day after a nationwide missing-person search.

Shortly before the plane touched down at 9 p.m. in Atlanta, a flight attendant handed out a written statement from the Wilbanks family to the media that said: "She has spoken to her fiance. He cannot wait to see her. She says the wedding is not called off, just postponed."

The flight attendant also said Wilbanks was escorted from the plane by police, was too tired to speak to the media and would make a statement early next week. Wilbanks was wearing a baseball cap with "FBI" on the brim.

Although Wilbanks initially told police in Albuquerque that she had been kidnapped, she admitted after questioning that she had fled her home in Duluth voluntarily, because she "needed some time alone" before the wedding.

Saturday night, she walked through the Albuquerque airport -- flanked by police -- her face hidden by a striped towel or small blanket.

The 32-year-old woman, missing since Tuesday, talked to fiance John Mason in Duluth, Georgia, from a 7-Eleven convenience store before dawn, and he kept her on the line long enough for Albuquerque police to trace the call.

"I was crying, I was laughing, I was trying to stay calm to talk to her to keep her calm," Mason said.

The bride-to-be also called 911 to report she had been kidnapped near her home and driven more than 1,000 miles to New Mexico.

But it took only a few hours of questioning for authorities to learn the truth: Wilbanks fled her wedding of her own volition.

Wilbanks told police she took a bus from Atlanta to Las Vegas, Nevada, and then boarded another bus for New Mexico, Albuquerque police Chief Ray Schultz said Saturday.

"Agents and detectives learned that Ms. Wilbanks had become scared and concerned about her pending marriage and decided she needed some time alone," he said.

Wilbanks said she appreciated the "outpouring of prayers and concern that she recently has become aware of," Albuquerque police spokeswoman Trish Ahrensfield added.

Authorities had searched for Wilbanks since Tuesday, when Mason first reported her missing to police. He had told them she went out for an evening jog near their home in Duluth, outside Atlanta, and never returned.

The search later turned into a criminal investigation. Mason hired a lawyer and passed a polygraph test.

And her family posted a $100,000 reward for her return or the arrest and conviction of those responsible for her disappearance.

Family and friends had largely discounted the possibility that Wilbanks had gotten cold feet about the wedding, because she had left behind her keys, money, identification and engagement ring.

Police in New Mexico and Georgia said no criminal charges against Wilbanks were pending, but a prosecutor in Gwinnett County, Georgia, said it was too soon to make that decision.

District Attorney Danny Porter said he first wants to review statements Wilbanks made to police and the FBI.

Wilbanks and Mason were set to be married Saturday. The wedding was to be a huge bash, with some 600 invited guests and a wedding party of 14 bridesmaids and 14 groomsmen. In her absence, family and friends planned a Saturday night prayer vigil at the church instead.

"Originally, it appeared she had been kidnapped, but after talking to the FBI, it turns out that Miss Wilbanks basically felt the pressure of this large wedding and could not handle it," Duluth Police Chief Randy Belcher said.

Emergency call, and then an admission
Early Saturday, Wilbanks called her parents from a pay phone at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Albuquerque, saying she had just been freed by two strangers who abducted her Tuesday night.

She also called 911 and was quickly found by Albuquerque police, who took her to a substation and interviewed her, with the help of the FBI.

On the 911 tape, Wilbanks is heard telling the dispatcher she was at a 7-Eleven but didn't know where.

"I've got my family and police on the phone," she said. "I was kidnapped from Atlanta, Georgia. My parents said it's been on the news. I don't know."

In answer to the dispatcher's questions, Wilbanks gave detailed descriptions of her kidnappers, whom she described as a Hispanic man and a white woman. She said they were driving a blue van, whose license plate number she didn't get. She also told the dispatcher, before dissolving into sobs, that her abductors were armed with a small handgun.

She later told police her kidnappers cut her hair before releasing her on an Albuquerque street.

"There were just a lot of holes in her story," Schultz, the Albuquerque police chief, told CNN. "The story kept getting retold and retold -- it was a little bit different each time ... If she'd been with somebody for four days, she would have had a little more information."

Eventually, "they asked her, 'Do we need to look for the blue van anymore?' and she said, 'No' ... It took several hours, but she did the right thing by telling the truth," said Ahrensfield, Albuquerque's police spokeswoman.

Bill Elwell, spokesman for the FBI's Albuquerque office, told CNN that Wilbanks "did not show the signs of a person who had been confined for about three days."

According to Elwell, Wilbanks later admitted to cutting her own hair. "It was an attempt to alter her appearance. She didn't want anyone to recognize her ... her hair was uneven. It did not appear as if it was professionally done."

Police in Duluth said a clump of hair similar to hers was found in a Duluth office complex and was undergoing forensic testing. Authorities said it appeared to have been cut.

Elwell said Wilbanks also told authorities she left Atlanta with about $150 after taking $40 from an automatic teller machine.

Wilbanks said she did not plan the departure but left on the spur of the moment, he said. After she finished jogging near her home, she caught a taxi to the bus station, he said.

After her arrival in Albuquerque, Elwell said, she got another taxi and told the driver she needed a hotel room.

Schultz said she apparently spent a few hours wandering aimlessly and was out of money when she made the phone calls home and to 9-11.

Jubilation turns to 'Why?'
The announcement that Wilbanks had been found set off a celebration in Duluth, where anxious relatives and friends had gathered. The joy turned to shocked silence about six hours later, when word came from Albuquerque's police chief that cold feet -- not kidnappers -- were responsible for her disappearance, and that she had lied to police. (More hometown reaction)

"Sure, we were all disappointed, maybe a little embarrassed," said the Rev. Alan Jones, who was to marry the couple and had been counseling them ahead of the wedding. "There were 150 people in this yard just having a party."

But, he pointed out, as of Friday night, the family had been praying that Wilbanks was, in fact, a runaway bride. "There's a spirit of celebration that we have Jennifer."

"Having cold feet is a joy compared to what the alternative could have been," Melinda Larson, a friend of the couple, told CNN.

CNN's Charles Molineaux and Rich Phillips contributed to this report.


Blondie