DULUTH, Ga. - The hunt for Jennifer Wilbanks consumed this tight-knit town when she went missing four days before her wedding. Despite a safe return Saturday welcomed by family and close friends, some residents of this Atlanta suburb feel betrayed by what turned out to be an elaborate hoax. Volunteers searched woods and alleys, crawled in sewage drains and stayed up late looking for the 32-year-old local woman who was picked up late Friday by police after a cross-country bus trip that took her through Las Vegas, Nev., to Albuquerque, N.M.
She initially told authorities that she had been abducted while jogging, but eventually admitted her kidnapping story was fabricated and she had run away because she had cold feet. When Duluth residents learned the truth, they thanked God Wilbanks was safe — then shook their heads at her act. "I'm glad that she's alive and OK, but it was a dirty trick," said Louise McCoy, waiting in line at the Duluth post office Saturday — the same day Wilbanks was supposed to be married in a lavish ceremony that included 14 bridesmaids and 14 groomsmen.
Police said there would be no criminal charges, but Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said he still had some questions. "A tremendous amount of law enforcement resources was used in what turned out to be a hoax," Porter told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for Sunday's editions. More than 100 officers led a search that involved several hundred volunteers, including many wedding guests and members of the bridal party. Porter said based on the information he had received, falsely reporting a crime is the only charge that would fit Wilbanks' case. The misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. "It is premature to talk about criminal charges," Porter said. "But if we learn that this was a premeditated act, that would push me closer to pressing charges."
A Wisconsin college student who faked her own abduction last year and turned up curled in a fetal position in a marsh was ordered to repay police at least $9,000 for their search. She pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of obstructing officers and was given three years' probation.
Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said Wilbanks was "scared and concerned about her impending marriage and decided she needed some time alone." Wilbanks returned Saturday by plane to Atlanta, where she was picked up in a squad car on the tarmac — with a towel covering her head — to avoid the media. There were no family members at the airport to greet her, but her stepfather and an uncle had flown to Albuquerque to escort her home, authorities said. Wilbanks decided to call her fiance and police with the story about the kidnapping when she found herself broke in Albuquerque, according to authorities.
In her 911 call, Wilbanks sounds frantic and confused, telling an operator she was kidnapped from Atlanta by a man and a woman in their 40s who were driving a blue van. Through sobs, she tells the dispatcher they had a small handgun. At one point, the operator asks if Wilbanks knows what direction her captors went after dropping her off in Albuquerque. "I have no idea. I don't even know where I am," she says. Moments after the word came Saturday that Wilbanks fled town and hadn't been kidnapped, most of the police who'd been guarding her house since Tuesday night pulled away. Fliers with Wilbanks' picture were pulled down from local store windows. Some residents removed yellow ribbons they'd put on their mailboxes. Many were visibly angry Saturday.
"There should be some responsibility for all this expense to the police," said Jo Cripps, eating boiled crawfish at a downtown Cajun restaurant. "Certainly she owes an apology to all the people who came out and volunteered." Another resident, Amanda Melby, called the disappearance "a disgrace." But some marriage counselors said running away was an extreme but understandable reaction to the stress of the wedding and the fear of disappointing others by backing out. "Sometimes it's like being stuck in a river getting whisked over a waterfall," said Dr. Charles Raison, a psychiatrist and Emory University instructor. "The current is so strong, you can't fight it."
After police reported the hoax, the mood outside Wilbanks' home went from jubilant to somber. Family members ducked inside and the blinds were drawn. They later expressed relief that she was safe. "Sure, we were all disappointed, maybe a little embarrassed, but you know what, if you remember all the interviews yesterday we were praying, 'At this point let her be a runaway bride,'" said the Rev. Alan Jones, who was to perform the wedding. "So God was faithful. Jennifer's alive and we're all thankful for that."
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