Who Cares?

Up until this week, when anyone said the phrase "runaway bride", you thought of the Julia Roberts movie.  Not any more.  Now we think of Jennifer Wilbanks.  In case you haven't read the newspaper nor watched the tv news in the past week, Jennifer Wilbank is the bride that ran away a few days before her wedding.  Her disppearance sparked a nationwide search; law enforcement officials thought it might be another Lacy Peterson or Lori Hacking case - a young woman goes out jogging and never returns.  I'm thinking this was the reason for the media frenzy over this case.

Here's a quick re-cap of the case:  Wilbanks called 911 and her fiance, John Mason,  from Albuquerque, saying she'd been kidnapped.  The more she talked to law enforcement officials in New Mexico, the more her story began to unravel.  She first said it was a spur of the moment thing - she simply had cold feet.  But after hearing all of the shenanigans she pulled to orchestrate this, I think she has a cold heart, too.  A week before she disappeared, she bought a bus ticket to Albuquerque.  She left the house to supposedly go jogging, went somewhere and cut her hair off so she wouldn't be easily recognized, and then started her bus journey across the country.  She stopped in Texas, and then took another bus to Las Vegas, where she stayed a couple of days. While in Vegas, she stayed at Treasure Island.  I wonder if she got to see the big pirate show?  After a couple of days in Sin City, she got back on a bus and went to Albuquerque.  Does this sound like a spur of the moment case of cold feet to you. 

All in all, I have to say who cares? I'm tired of hearing about it, and even more tired of seeing her face in pictures on the news and on the internet.  I'm gonna have to side with the camp that thinks Jennifer Wilbanks should be prosecuted for making this up.  Wilbanks could face a misdemeanor charge of false report of a crime or a felony charge of false statements. The misdemeanor carries a penalty of up to a year in jail; five years in prison is the maximum sentence for the felony.  Duluth, Georgia, the town where she lives, is considering suing her for the cost of the manpower hours used in the search for her.  They've estimated the cost to be around $60,000.  I think she should cough up the cash for that, too.  But I guess that's going to be a small price to pay, compared to the what she's going to face from her family and friends. 

If I could talk to Jennifer Wilbanks, my first question would be "Why?".  When you realized you had cold feet about the wedding, why didn't you just tell your fiance "I have cold feet and need some time to myself."  I'm sure your fiance and your family and friends would have understood.  Instead, you cooked up this kidnapping story and put your fiance and your family through hell.  For a few days, they didn't know if you were dead or alive.  Your fiance was probably grilled by the police as a possible suspect in your alleged kidnapping. 

It's just sad that we get so wrapped up in stories like this.