Runaway Bride Indicted

[LadyJeanne]

When I read this, at first I wondered whether we really needed to waste more money by now prosecuting her in a criminal case, but the more I thought about it, the more I think it might not be as foolish as it seems. Women have a hard enough time being believed in real cases of assault and rape without liars like Wilbanks runnning around telling tales.


Wednesday May 25, 2005 8:31 PM

AP Photo NYET250

By DANIEL YEE

Associated Press Writer

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) - The bride-to-be who skipped down just days before her lavish wedding was indicted Wednesday on two charges of lying to police for making up a story about being kidnapped and sexually assaulted.

Jennifer Wilbanks, 32, faces one felony count of making a false statement and one misdemeanor count of making a false police report. She could face up to six years in prison if convicted of both charges, as well as $11,000 in fines. She could also be ordered to reimburse authorities for the cost of the search that was prompted by her disappearance.

``We believe this is a reasonable next step in the case. We believe the grand jury made the right decision,'' said District Attorney Danny Porter. ``At some point you just can't lie to the police.''

A warrant will be issued for Wilbanks' arrest within the next few days, he said. Porter said he was confident that arrangements could be made for Wilbanks to turn herself in. No court date has been set.

The indictment does not rule out a plea agreement to lesser charges, Porter said. Authorities had said they were talking to the Wilbanks family about a possible deal.

The office of Wilbanks' attorney, Lydia Sartain, said no statements will be issued until next week. However, before the charges were announced, Sartain said: ``The citizens of the county will be ill-served by an attempted prosecution.''

She did not return a phone call seeking further comment.

Wilbanks, a nurse, had claimed she was going for a jog before she disappeared from her Duluth home on April 26, four days before her 600-guest wedding.

While Georgia authorities looked for her, Wilbanks took a bus to Las Vegas and then Albuquerque, N.M., where she called authorities with a story about having been abducted and assaulted.

But under questioning, she recanted and said she fled Georgia because of unspecified personal issues. She returned to Georgia on April 30, the day she was to have been married in a ceremony with 14 bridesmaids and groomsmen.

Several state and county agencies have already said they will not ask Wilbanks to reimburse them for $10,000 in search costs. But Duluth Mayor Shirley Lassetter is seeking repayment of about $40,000 for the city. She said Wednesday the city attorney has been in negotiations with Sartain.

Wilbanks' family has said she entered a medical facility after her return but did not say where.

 

[Guest]

She left her groom and an entire wedding party and guests in a lurch, caused a massive manhunt across many states, faked an abduction, and lied to authorities.

I don't care what fine (if any) will be imposed, but she should be held accountable for her actions, if nothing else to go through the process. And during this process, perhaps someone will discover if this loon is more than a card or two short of a full deck.

 

[Guest]

So none of you have ever had a panic attack?

She got cold feet, and lost her head for a few days. all things considered she prob'ly never saw a TV until it was too late. Now she she's what she caused and she's even MORE panicked over what's gonna happen. Totally freaked out is prob'ly a better description.

The entire thing has been blown so far out of proportion by the media that regardless what her story really is no one will belive her in a million years.

I honestly feel sorry for her.

 

[R. Richard]

When I read this, at first I wondered whether we really needed to waste more money by now prosecuting her in a criminal case, but the more I thought about it, the more I think it might not be as foolish as it seems. Women have a hard enough time being believed in real cases of assault and rape without liars like Wilbanks runnning around telling tales.

Excellent point! The matter involves much more than just one very confused woman. If there is an effort made to prosecute such cases, then the woman who has really been kidnapped or assualted will be much more likely to be believed.

JMHO.

 

[BlackSnake]

I had a big chuckle when I first heard it on the news. I'd hate to be the dude that has to answer the question: how in the hell could you fall for a chick like that?

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

. . . I'd hate to be the dude that has to answer the question: how in the hell could you fall for a chick like that?

Didn't he take her back?


I think that's called love and acceptance.

 

[Guest]

Didn't he take her back?


I think that's called love and acceptance.

Yes, He did.

Good man.

 

[Guest]

So none of you have ever had a panic attack?

She got cold feet, and lost her head for a few days. all things considered she prob'ly never saw a TV until it was too late. Now she she's what she caused and she's even MORE panicked over what's gonna happen. Totally freaked out is prob'ly a better description.

The entire thing has been blown so far out of proportion by the media that regardless what her story really is no one will belive her in a million years.

I honestly feel sorry for her.

_____

Well, no, I've never had a panic attack. But I can say I've been stressed to beyond distraction, although it never caused me to involve state and federal authorities in a manhunt to find me because I lied about an abduction.

She'll now have her day in court to defend her bizarre actions while prosecutors try to convince a judge and jury that it was something more than a stressful wedding day.

 

[Guest]

_____

Well, no, I've never had a panic attack. But I can say I've been stressed to beyond distraction, although it never caused me to involve state and federal authorities in a manhunt to find me because I lied about an abduction.

She'll now have her day in court to defend her bizarre actions while prosecutors try to convince a judge and jury that it was something more than a stressful wedding day.

But she didn't call the authorities on herself and i doubt she knew anything about the manhunt. She just panicked and I doubt she had a clear head til days after she was home. She may not now.

 

[LadyJeanne]

But she didn't call the authorities on herself and i doubt she knew anything about the manhunt. She just panicked and I doubt she had a clear head til days after she was home. She may not now.

She did bring it on herself, Dran. She had to have known that her disappearance after she told her family she was going jogging would be viewed exactly as that, a disappearance. She had to have known her family and fiancee would contact the police when she didn't come back from jogging.

It's possible she didn't know about the manhunt as she was playing in Vegas, but they do have TVs in hotel rooms and it was all over the news. When she found out about it, she didn't call home or call her fiancee.

Instead, she called 911, sobbing, and told them she'd been kidnapped by a man and a woman with a large pistol and a small handgun. And that she'd been sexually assaulted by both, made to perform sexual acts on both - she went into great detail when questioned by the police.

I agree she may have been stressed out about the wedding, but she was clear-headed enough to tell her boss she'd be away from work before she left. She easily could have left a note before she left, or a voice mail afterwards letting them know she was alive.

 

[Guest]

She did bring it on herself, Dran. She had to have known that her disappearance after she told her family she was going jogging would be viewed exactly as that, a disappearance. She had to have known her family and fiancee would contact the police when she didn't come back from jogging.

It's possible she didn't know about the manhunt as she was playing in Vegas, but they do have TVs in hotel rooms and it was all over the news. When she found out about it, she didn't call home or call her fiancee.

Instead, she called 911, sobbing, and told them she'd been kidnapped by a man and a woman with a large pistol and a small handgun. And that she'd been sexually assaulted by both, made to perform sexual acts on both - she went into great detail when questioned by the police.

I agree she may have been stressed out about the wedding, but she was clear-headed enough to tell her boss she'd be away from work before she left. She easily could have left a note before she left, or a voice mail afterwards letting them know she was alive.

What I'm saying is she had a panic attack and likely wasn't rational when she left. Seeing herself on national news alerts no doubt aggevated the condition. I'd want to see just what her state of mind was before I pass judgement.

 

[LadyJeanne]

You're a better man than I, Dran.

I'm finding it difficult to give her the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Guest]

You're a better man than I, Dran.

I'm finding it difficult to give her the benefit of the doubt.

I'd be disappointed if you were a better man.

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

Many of the absolutely inexplicable things that people do, makes sense only to the people who know and love them.

To a stranger looking in from the outside, they appear just nuts — or worse.

 

[cantdog]

Look at them gravely clucking their tongues and wasting space on a court docket over this tempest in a teapot. Prosecutors! Pure politics, all day long.

Police waste time and resources on trivia daily. They also get lied to many times a day. You'd think they'd develop a little bit better judgemnet about it. If she's such an obvious blasted loon, then why did they blow however many manhours chasing her fantasy? Because they have zero clue. Is that her doing? But they'll have their revenge, and be blind to the irony.

"Yes, your honor, I swallowed the cockamamie story completely. It's her fault!"

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

I suspect quite a lot that Dranoel's prediction is on the money. She probably did freak out, especially if the wedding was as extravagant as all that. Most every traditional wedding is about as stressful as defusing a nuclear bomb with an inconstant timer.

Still, mental state aside, she will have to pay her penance for the lies she told the police. The fodder she has given anti-woman- I mean "males who aren't at all sexist but believe that women make up a lot of the rape claims these days cuz they hate us for some reason and I mean I went to a party once and she was totally asking for it, practically begging for it lying there totally unconscious and she totally freaked when she woke up so me and my frat brothers had to totally pay off the cop. It was so totally her fault for blowing it out of proportion"- forces alone is bad. Its one of those mistakes that she'll have to do her time for. It's standard karma.

Still, I pity her. She freaks out, bolts, and they start a media circus after her and now she's forever painted in the public image as an evil jezebelle trollop for doing what how many men before her have done? That really really sucks.

 

[Seattle Zack]

Pity her all you want, but the fact is she caused hundred of thousands of taxpayer dollars to be spent looking for her, while she was going through this little "crisis" of hers.

Especially when she fraudulently called the Georgia Highway Patrol and claimed she was abducted by a Hispanic male and his Caucasian female accomplice.

Regardless of her rampant stupidity or possible mental instability, she still should be liable for the cost to the taxpayers.

 

[Lord DragonsWing]

She's done nothing but lie. While everyone was looking for her, she was running. She called when she ran out of money. She did a total disservice to women throughout the country. If she still had money, she'd still be running.
She cost the state tens of thousands of dollars. She cost volunteers hundreds of hours of work.
A panic attack is fine. I had that before I got married. Of course, I should of listened and I wouldn't of gotten divorced years later. But we all have that. WHo here ran and was reported missing? Who had law enforcement looking for them as possibly being killed or abducted? None!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She needs to be indicted. And she needs to spend time behind bars. Regardless of her refunding the county for their money. She's hurt womens rights in more ways than we can imagine.
There is no excuse for what she did. I can't wait till she has children and faces a situation there. Time to run again.

 

[rgraham666]

Y'all might want to be careful about 'wasting tax payers money' as a reason for somebody going to jail.

Lot's of people, mostly in public positions, do this everyday. And on a scale that dwarfs Ms. Wilbanks.

 

[TheEarl]

I can understand having the panic attack and running away. I can understand being so fraught that she didn't want to tell her fiance or her family where she'd gone. I can understand the whole 'wanting to disappear'.

What I don't understand is why she decided the best course of action after that was to claim she'd been abducted and raped. Panic and disappearance and further panic at discovering the furor you've caused I can get. Causing more furor by claiming you were raped I don't.

The Earl