Family pastor issues bride’s apology for abduction hoax
The Georgia woman known to the nation as the Runaway Bride on Thursday offered a public apology for the frenzy she caused and whetted expectations for a storybook ending to her aborted wedding.
Still facing the threat of legal and financial retribution, Jennifer Wilbanks continued to duck the media glare and enlisted a family pastor to read a statement of contrition.
Wilbanks insisted she had been excited about her nuptials but “had a host of compelling issues which seemed out of control.” The 32-year-old medical assistant went on the lam last week, then turned up three days later in Albuquerque, N.M., claiming she had been abducted by a Hispanic man and a white woman.
Her disappearance prompted a massive search and had been ascribed to second thoughts, but she said, “I assure you that my running away had nothing to do with ‘cold feet.’ ” Without elaboration, she said she has “started professional treatment voluntarily.”
“I was simply running from myself and from certain fears controlling my life,” she said in the statement read by the Rev. Thomas Smiley.
Wilbanks was catapulted into notoriety by a tabloid hunger for her story and the row it caused. Her fabricated explanation riled Hispanic leaders, who said it reinforced stereotypes.
“What really speaks to me is that we were a plausible scapegoat for her,” said Lisa Navarrete, vice president of the National Council of La Raza, the United States’ largest Hispanic advocacy group. “I am glad that there is at least recognition that there is something wrong with her latching onto an Hispanic male as her scapegoat. If that gets as much attention as her cross-country bus ride I’d be happy.”
The mayor of Duluth, Wilbanks’ hometown, is threatening to take her to court to recover as much as $60,000 spent in the search effort. And prosecutors are still considering whether to charge her for the false statements to police.
Lydia Sartain, Wilbanks’ lawyer, told CNN that her client “did not act with criminal intent” and is just a “very troubled young woman.”
Wilbanks spread her apologies around. “I am truly sorry for the troubles I caused,” she said. “I also ask for forgiveness of my family, our friends, our respective churches, our communities, and any others I may have offended unintentionally.”
Wilbanks’ groom, at least, has been quick to re-embrace his bride-to-be. John Mason told the Fox News show “Hannity & Colmes” that he was still hoping to tie the knot.
Indeed, a cable-network-ready ending may still be in the offing. Wilbanks said in her statement that “those who know me know how excited I have been and how excited I was about the spectacular wedding we planned and how I could not wait to be Mrs. John Mason.”
She also hinted at a future appearance: “I look forward to days ahead when I am strong enough to speak for myself.”