Why Did Karyn McConnell Hancock Run?

Dec. 12, 2007 — -- Karyn McConnell Hancock seemed to have it all — a successful legal career, a husband who was bishop of their church, a beautiful 3-year-old son and a little girl on the way.

But the Ohio attorney, who concocted a story about being abducted at gunpoint last week, admitted Monday that the kidnapping story was a lie and that she had left home on her own.

For a woman who seemed to have it all, did the pressure of that success become too much for her to handle?

Charles Raison, a psychiatrist at Emory University, said that there is usually a back story when someone suddenly flees from their everyday responsibilities.

"There's usually a story that hasn't emerged yet that there were struggles before this bizarre thing happened," Raison said.

In McConnell Hancock's case there are allegations she may owe former legal clients money.

But Raison says other stressors, like her high standing in the community, might have also played a role.

"We tend to hold preachers and their wives to a higher standard, closer to God, so when somebody behaves very bizarrely and they are in that position, you know the higher they are, the harder they fall," he said.

Lawrence Hancock now says his wife was tired, overwhelmed and needed a break from life.

"We have learned, after speaking with her extensively, that she experienced a meltdown and attempted to handle those matters without the assistance of professional help or others. Karyn elected to leave everything because she felt she was unable to continue," the bishop at First Harvest Church said at a news conference Tuesday.

McConnell Hancock may have more stress to deal with, as the Toledo police said they plan to charge her with filing a false report.

—

This isn't the first case of a woman running away from a seemingly overwhelming situation.

Beth Smith, another missing minister's wife, made headlines this summer when she fled a religious conference and then turned up in New York City, more than 1,000 miles from her home in Alabama. She never told her family she was leaving.