Jennifer Wilbanks was going to have a grand wedding with 600 guests and 28 bridesmaids.
But in April 2005, just four days before the expected party, the then 32-year-old
disappeared without a trace.
Her disappearance in Duluth, Georgia, triggered a nationwide search and made
headlines
in print and on television shows.
She then became the
"runaway bride
.
"
Another version also circulated according to which John Mason, her fiancé, had killed her.
But three days after her mysterious disappearance Wilbanks
was found alive in Albuquerque
, New Mexico.
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She had been
"kidnapped" and "sexually assaulted"
by a Latino man and a white woman while out for a run, she said.
Although he later admitted that
this was all a lie
and confessed that he had actually fled by bus due to "personal problems."
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The wedding was canceled
;
the bride and groom broke up.
And she was criminally charged with
lying to the police
, pleaded guilty to a felony misrepresentation,
received two years of probation,
120 hours of community service
- which included mowing public buildings - and constant counseling in mental health.
The judge also required her to pay the Sheriff's Office $ 2,550
to cover part of the costs of her search, as well as $ 13,259 to Duluth to pay the city for overtime on her search.
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11 years ago Wilbanks fell in love again and married - as did her ex-fiance.
But she was divorced in April
, according to People magazine, which had access to Hall County court documents.
Wilbanks now lives in Gainesville, Georgia, where he works at a telecommunications agency.
"I hope they are in a better place than they were then," Albuquerque Police Sgt. Trish Hoffman told the outlet in 2017.
With information from AP.
