The 'Runaway' Story That Wasn't
May 9, 2005 — -- Why would a young woman fake her kidnapping just four days before her wedding?
Why would the news media give the story 24/7 coverage and still continue to report on the story even after it turned out to be a hoax?
And why the heck would the American people be so fascinated by the case?
Maybe, it's because 32-year-old Jennifer Wilbanks is an attractive, white Southern belle.
Maybe, because the media thought this might be another Laci Peterson case. You remember the pregnant woman in California whose husband was convicted of killing her and sentenced to death.
Or, maybe it's because Americans' taste in news can sometimes be pretty screwed up.
A lot of people don't get it. When Wilbanks went missing on Tuesday, April 26th, there were likely thousands of other women, men and children all over the country, who also disappeared. Quoting the National Crime Information Center, which puts all reported missing persons into one computerized system, The Atlanta Constitution reported that nearly 166,000 adults were reported missing last year. That's 787 just reported in Georgia, most from the Atlanta area. There are estimates that another 40,000 bodies found around the nation are buried every year, with no names. No one could identify them.
So why did Jennifer Wilbanks get so much attention?
In Duluth, Ga., you can understand the initial interest. A woman goes jogging at night and after several hours doesn't show up. That's a big event for her fiancé, her family, her community and the Georgia news media. A big local story.
But aha! Cable news channels swarmed to this incident like flies to a pecan pie. Could the rest of the national media be far behind? To tease their coverage, many in the media cleverly used the title of the Julia Roberts/Richard Gere movie, "Runaway Bride."
Where was Wilbanks? Was there foul play? Did her fiancé, John Mason, kill her? She hadn't taken her purse and keys. She was getting married in four days during a huge wedding she had planned to include 28 attendants and 600 guests. Not calling her family was "not like Jennifer," her sobbing relatives emphasized during press conferences and interviews.
The search began only hours after she "disappeared". Police worked overtime and dozens of townspeople left their homes and families to hunt for the missing bride.
For three days the search for Wilbanks dominated the news with all kinds of speculation on her whereabouts. But America awoke Saturday morning to find out she had surfaced in Albuquerque, N.M., where, at first, she told police and her folks back home that she had been kidnapped from Georgia by an Hispanic man and white woman in a blue van.
Now she was distraught, out of money and wanted to come home. But the FBI was suspicious of her account and she finally broke down and admitted that she had made it all up. Her "truth." The night she left, she had caught a bus and rode two days cross country to LasVegas before traveling on to New Mexico. There had been no abduction, no kidnapping, no Hispanic man.
On Saturday, the day of the wedding, the viewing public was treated to pictures of her being escorted through the airport. Instead of a bridal veil, she wore a wide-striped blanket over her head, looking like a criminal.
After all she had put everybody through, she offered a statement of apology and announced she is in therapy. She may later face criminal charges for obstruction. Not a happy ending. Some people are sympathetic, but others say they are angry. An organization called "Hispanics Across America" want an apology for her making up the story of an Hispanic kidnapper. The citizens want her to pay back the money that was spent to search for her. But, enough already. Who should care about this story now? The people in Duluth.
What's perhaps most disturbing is that while the national news media was giving every minute detail about Wilbanks there was a sharp rise in bloody attacks on soldiers and civilians in Iraq. At least a hundred were killed, many more maimed.
In the end, what is going to have more impact on your life? The war in Iraq or that Jennifer Wilbanks ran away and jilted her groom? Is there any contest? Come on, folks.