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A runway bride who made headlines in 2005 for faking her personal kidnapping to get out of her 600-person marriage ceremony has since taken the plunge and stated ‘I do’ to another person — however now, after 11 years, she has gotten a divorce.
In April 2005, simply days earlier than she was set to marry John Mason, then-32-year-old Jennifer Wilbanks went lacking, setting off a $60,000 police search.
Three days later, she turned up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the place she claimed that {that a} ‘Hispanic man’ and white lady kidnapped her, sexually assaulted her, and held her captive.
She finally admitted it was a hoax and he or she and her jilted groom went their separate methods, leaving Wilbanks to marry Georgia landscaper Greg Hutson a number of years later.
However based on People, that romance did not work out both — and in April, she and Hutson divorced after 11 years collectively.
Replace: Jennifer Wilbanks, the runaway bride who faked her personal kidnapping in 2005, has since married one other man — however they’ve simply divorced after 11 years
Gone: In April 2005, simply days earlier than she was set to marry John Mason, then-32-year-old Jennifer Wilbanks went lacking, setting off a $60,000 police search
Wilbanks’ real-life faked-kidnapping plot got here seven years earlier than Gone Lady captivated readers.
She was set to get in a lavish affair with 600 visitors and a 28-person bridal occasion, however apparently acquired chilly ft — but as an alternative of calling the marriage off, she made up en elaborate story.
On April 26, she went out for her night jog, however when she did not return dwelling hours later, her fiancé known as the police.
This set off a seek for Wilbanks, with 250 folks in search of her — and the town of Duluth, Georgia spending an estimated $40,000 to $60,000.
Wilbanks’ household went on TV, pleading for her secure return and providing a $100,000 reward for assist discovering her. In addition they arrange public vigils, whereas Mason needed to endure a polygraph check to rule him out as a suspect in a prison investigation.
Then, on April 29, her fiancé obtained a name from her on a pay telephone in Albuquerque.
‘I used to be crying, I used to be laughing, I used to be making an attempt to remain calm to speak to her to maintain her calm,’ he advised CNN on the time.
Household heartbreak: Wilbanks’ household went on TV, pleading for her secure return and providing a $100,000 reward for assist discovering her. Her fiancé (left) needed to endure a polygraph check
Wilbanks advised him she had been kidnapped by a ‘Hispanic man’ and white lady in a blue van, who drove her throughout the nation, sexually assaulted her, and deserted her.
Wilbanks additionally known as 911, and native police picked her up.
She continued to share particulars of her alleged kidnapping with police, claiming that her armed abductors tied her up with rope earlier than the person raped her and the girl pressured her to carry out sexual acts.
CBS News reported that Wilbanks described the van intimately, claiming there was Spanish music enjoying.
However her story did not maintain up, and below FBI interrogation, she admitted that it had all been a hoax — and he or she’d actually simply needed to get away for ‘private points,’ so she’d taken a Greyhound bus out of city, first to Las Vegas after which on to Albuquerque.
‘She left Georgia due to the pressures of the marriage,’ officer Michael V. Medrano stated. ‘The listing of issues she wanted to get executed and no time to do it made her really feel overwhelmed.’
‘It seems that Miss Wilbanks principally felt the stress of this huge marriage ceremony and couldn’t deal with it,” Duluth Police Chief Randy Belcher added.
Three days later, she turned up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the place she claimed that {that a} ‘Hispanic man’ and white lady kidnapped her, sexually assaulted her, and held her captive
Yikes! However her story did not maintain up, and below FBI interrogation, she admitted that it had all been a hoax — and he or she’d actually simply needed to get away for ‘private points’
The story rapidly made headlines, and information shops found that she had a historical past of prison habits, together with three separate shoptlifting prices within the Nineties. In a single case, she allegedly stole $1,740 in merchandise from a mall.
Her two different shoplifting prices had been for $37 in merchandise in 1996 and $98 in merchandise in 1998. The second cost got here with a sentence of two weekends in jail.
Fees had been quickly introduced towards her for the kidnapping hoax, and he or she pleaded responsible to a felony depend of constructing a false assertion.
She was sentenced to 2 years’ probation, counseling, and 120 hours of group service. She additionally agreed to reimburse the town of Duluth for $13,249.09 in prices incurred within the search.
But Shannon Shafer, who volunteered taking telephone suggestions in the course of the search, advised the New York Times that the individuals who looked for her deserved a public apology.
‘I simply really feel she actually owes that to all of the individuals who spent a lot time in search of her,’ she stated.
In the meantime, she and her fiancé known as off their engagement, however remained collectively for an additional 12 months, lastly breaking apart in Might of 2006.
Hassle: Fees had been quickly introduced towards her for the kidnapping hoax (pictured in June 2005)
Courtroom: She pleaded responsible to a felony depend of constructing a false assertion (pictured in June 2005). She agreed to reimburse the Duluth for $13,249.09 in prices incurred within the search
Penalty: She was sentenced to 2 years’ probation, counseling, and 120 hours of group service. (pictured in August 2005)
A couple of months later, in October of 2006, Wilbanks sued Mason for $500,000 {dollars}, which she claimed included her share of the value of their dwelling and the quantity they made for promoting their story.
She additionally claimed that Mason defrauded her out of her share of their property, together with a ladder, a gold couch, and marriage ceremony presents, and alleged he abused the facility of lawyer she granted him to deal with their monetary affairs.
However Wilbanks moved on, and 5 years later, the New York Post reported that she was in a longterm relationship with a twice-divorced landscaper named Greg Hutson, with whom she loved ‘togetherness, friendship and most of all … unconditional love.’
‘All people wants anyone to like … I’m so glad I’ve that somebody!” she wrote on Fb.
They even owned a canine collectively named Girl.
They since tied the knot, however Folks reviews that Hutson filed for divorce in March, and it was finalized a month later.
Wilbanks presently lives in Gainesville, Georgia, the place she works as a Human Assets Director.
In the meantime, her ex-groom Mason married a lady named Shelley Martin in 2008.
