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At A Glance
Name(s) of victim(s) + age(s): no one was physically harmed in this crime
Date(s): April 26, 2005 to April 30, 2005
Location(s) of crime(s): Duluth, Georgia
Perpetrator(s) + age(s): Jennifer Wilibanks, 32
Relationship to victim(s): no one was physically harmed in this crime
Crime(s) in sum: Dubbed the “runaway bride” by the media, Jennifer Wilbanks pulled an earlier Sherri Papini move and faked her kidnapping to avoid marrying her fiancé.
In true crime we focus so often on the lengths people go to obtain what they want or avoid consequence. Some of these lengths mark the very lines we cross and the decisions we’ll spend the rest of our lives mulling over.
Perhaps what Jennifer Wilibanks did to avoid her wedding back in late 2005 is one of these decisions for her. If you’re asking me, I think it is.
Back in April 2005, 32-year-old Jennifer Wilbanks shared a home in Duluth, Georgia, with her fiancé, 32-year-old John Mason. Jennifer and John set a wedding date for Saturday, April 30, 2005 in Duluth and all plans were in place.
Their wedding was to be nothing short of spectacular. The reception would be held at the exclusive Atlanta Athletic Club in Duluth, a private club built in the late 1800s. Jennifer had long prepared for the day, picking out colors and sending invitations, attending gown fittings and celebrating eight different showers. As a self-described perfectionist and someone who dreamt of a fairytale wedding, Jennifer wanted the day to be nothing short of picture-perfect.
So, it came as a shock when Jennifer disappeared four days before the wedding and then reappeared some 1,400 miles and six states away. It was even more shocking when Jennifer said she was kidnapped, and then devastating when she admitted to making the whole thing up. She’d been safe the whole time; it was herself she was running from.
Before The Flee
Jennifer spent her childhood in Gainesville, Georgia, about an hour outside of Atlanta. She grew up with a traditional southern upbringing, which she described as “idyllic” in a 2005 interview with NBC’s Katie Couric. Jennifer was raised with a twin brother, Matthew. Her mother co-owned a local sporting goods store and her father managed land sales for the Georgia Department of Transportation. Her family was religious and attended church together often.
When she was six, Jennifer’s parents divorced. Her mother had an affair with a former boss and left when news of it reached her husband. From then, Jennifer spent her childhood alternating weekends between her parents. She excelled as a student at North Hall High School in Gainesville, where she made the honor roll and was a varsity athlete. Matthew described Jennifer as the “goody-two-shoes” of the siblings and the one with the larger social life.
After high school, Jennifer attended the University of Georgia to study biology, pre-med, some 50 miles from home. The change was too much for Jennifer and she dropped out after her second year. Upon returning home, she found a job as a unit assistant at Northeast Georgia Medical Center, fulfilling secretarial tasks such as answering phones and filing paperwork. She stayed there for eight years, from 1996 through 2004, and subsequently worked there on an as-needed basis. She also babysat children for a handful of local, wealthy families for about a decade. Jennifer often express her own desire to be a mother one day.
Questionable Behaviors
Jennifer wasn’t new to the dating scene and was in a few serious relationships before. She was engaged once, though briefly, but that was 10 years prior to meeting John. She called off that wedding more than a year before the scheduled date.
After her broken engagement, Jennifer experienced some hardships of her own. She was twice-arrested for shoplifting—first for stealing $37 worth of merchandise from a Walmart, and then $1,740 worth of stolen goods from a mall—and once for theft in April 1998, when she was caught shoplifting $98 worth of merchandise from another store. Jennifer spent two weekends in jail.
The $37 from Walmart pertained to a stolen bridal DVD, Jennifer told NBC’s Katie Couric, and the $1,740 was from a time when Jennifer worked at a department store and allowed her friends to take the merchandise. Jennifer turned herself in and paid restitution to all the stores involved—and then, her life seemed to get better.
Stealing in relation to Jennifer was also cited by at least two women who hired her to babysit their children, and who told the NY Post she mainly took clothing and costume jewelry. They also said Jennifer described herself as a nurse and would come to their homes dressed in scrubs. Jennifer didn’t have a nursing degree or a license to practice.
A third woman Jennifer babysat for corroborated Matthew’s statements about Jennifer’s plastic surgery, citing that Jennifer had a plastic surgery addiction and was known to show off her breast implants. This same woman said that one day, Jennifer showed up with a broken jaw that was realigned and wired shut, and another day she showed with stitches below both of her eyes. After that last surgery Jennifer bore her now-signature wide-eyed look.
Enter John Mason
In 2003, Jennifer met John Mason, who she thought was “the perfect guy.” Mason was 31 years old, the same age as Jennifer, and he came from a similar background.
John worked as an office manager, and also like Jennifer, he was from a small town in Georgia. He also grew up with a traditional upbringing and his father, an attorney, served as the mayor of Duluth in the late ’70s and early ’80s. His family was well-known and respected in the area.
Like Jennifer, John also ran into personal troubles. He once earned the reputation for being a “party animal” who was popular with women, but six years before meeting Jennifer, he decided to change his life and become a born-again Christian.
John happened to work with Jennifer’s aunt, Shirley, who is the common bond in bringing them together. It struck Shirley that John and Jennifer were around the same age, and also shared an interest in running. Knowing about John’s love for running, Shirley approached him one day to suggest he meet her niece. Shirley gave him Jennifer’s phone number and they spoke for six hours that day. Pretty instantly, the pair hit it off, and of course they did. They had a lot in common.
Ten months after their first date, John proposed and Jennifer said yes. She moved in with him soon after, though they remained abstinent in respect of John’s religious beliefs. During this time, they planned their wedding together. Jennifer picked out colors and silverware styles and flower arrangements. She tried on dresses and went back and forth with caterers and sent invitations. Her and John had 600 guests because they didn’t know when to say no, nor did they want to. They wanted it to be a celebration that included all of their loved ones; something utterly extravagant and memorable.
But the closer the wedding came, the more Jennifer’s anxiety grew. She was full of fear. She didn’t want to disappoint anyone so she kept all her fears inside, buried deep within, until she could no longer bear their weight. When she broke, she told NBC’s Katie Couric that her first instinct was to run.
Jennifer Leaves Town
Eleven days before the wedding and five days after Jennifer’s last shower, she bought a Greyhound bus ticket. The ticket was usable for up to a week and she spent that week thinking and thinking. On the last day the ticket was usable, she impulsively took a taxi to Atlanta Airport and hopped on a Greyhound bus. It was around 8:30 pm on Tuesday, April 26, 2005, four days before her wedding. What many people don’t know, Jennifer told NBC’s Katie Couric, is that she had bus tickets in one hand and a bottle of pills in the other. She choose the bus tickets.
Jennifer told John she was going for a run. Just before she chopped off her brown shoulder-length hair. She told NBC’s Katie Couric she did this because she “didn’t want to be found.”
Jennifer carried only $140 in cash. She had no clothes but the ones on her back. She was void of a plan. At the bus station she chose Austin, Texas, as her destination, simply because she’d seen the city in a documentary featuring actor Matthew McConaughey a few days earlier. Jennifer stared out the bus window for hours, ruminating on her decision, what led up to it and what might happen. She was still full of fear. She tried not to think of John.
Back at home, John grew worried as the clock read 10:15 pm. It was dark out and Jennifer was gone for nearly two hours. He knew Duluth was a safe area, a bedroom community, and one where crime isn’t too great of a concern, but it didn’t sit right with him. He got in his car and drove around Duluth, checking all side roads and looking in all the ditches, worried that his fiancé might have been injured somewhere.
Around 12:30 am, three-and-a-half hours after he last saw her, John called the police and reported Jennifer missing. By the morning, friends, family members and neighbors congregated at their house, supporting the search for Jennifer by making flyers and contacting media outlets. John didn’t know then but being the spouse, he became a person of interest.
A day and a half after Jennifer left, her disappearance made national headlines.Not only was John looking for her, but everyone else was, too.
Halfway on the other side of the country, Jennifer was still on a bus and unaware of how large the search was, or that there was a search at all. She sporadically changed routes and headed for Las Vegas, transferring in Dallas. Another 30 hours on the road were ahead of her. Meanwhile, her family members pooled their resources to offer a $100,000 reward for information leading to Jennifer’s whereabouts.
At this point, John appointed his own lawyer. He was questioned by the FBI and administered a lie detector test. He remained baffled throughout.
The Jig is Up
Jennifer used the last of her money. She changed routes again and purchased her final bus ticket to Albuquerque, New Mexico. She arrived there on the fourth night she was gone. Back in Duluth, it was on the cusp of sunrise. It was also the day of her wedding.
Jennifer wandered around Albuquerque’s east side until she found a payphone outside of a 7-Eleven. She called John and her stepfather answered the phone, flooded with relief that she called. She heard people cheering in the background.
With so many aware of Jennifer’s whereabouts, she didn’t know how to explain herself so she concocted a story. On the phone she told John, as Georgia police listened in, that an unknown couple kidnapped her during her run. They cut her hair so she wouldn’t be recognized, she said. She described the man as Latino with bad teeth and the woman as Caucasian, blonde and heavyset, and who looked to be in their 40s. Her stepfather said to call the Albuquerque police and report the crime, so she did just that. She also embellished her story further.
Speaking with police, Jennifer told them she was forced into a blue van where she was raped. She described Spanish music in the background and forced sexual acts. As she delved into detail, her lies became obvious to experienced detectives. Within a few hours, Jennifer confessed and the truth was made public news. By the week’s end, she went from intensely stressed over her wedding to making headlines as “runaway television embarrassment,” per The Washington Post.
When John learned the truth, he was upset but for all of five minutes, he told NBC’s Katie Couric. Then he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that it was the best-possible outcome. He appeared by Jennifer’s side in all her court appearances and proposed again shortly after she returned—but that didn’t last long. In May, less than a month after the “incident,” the couple called off their engagement. A year later, they separated for good.
A messy and public back-and-forth over money ensued. Jennifer sold her story to Regan Media in New York City for $500,000. The money was put into an account under JCM Consulting in Atlanta and allegedly while Jennifer was hospitalized and under medication, John was signed as the new power of attorney. Using all the proceeds from her story, he purchased a home in his name in Dacula, Georgia. Jennifer sued John for $250,000 in punitive damages and $250,000 for her share of the house. They also argued about personal assets, such as a ladder that belonged to Jennifer’s father, a new vacuum cleaner, wedding shower gifts and a gold-colored sofa. John countersued, claiming emotional distress from being left at the alter in 2005. Both of them dropped their lawsuits.
The welcome-back response Jennifer received from her community wasn’t as forgiving as John tried to be. Jennifer put a strain on the city of Duluth that Maj. Dan Woodruff of the Duluth Police Department described as “the largest operation we’ve ever dealt with, other than possibly a tornado that came through town, and one that cost law enforcement over $60,000 in four days. Her decision to label one of the faux kidnappers as Latino was also condemned by the public too, with discussions considering the perpetuation of racial stereotypes.
Residents frequently drove by John’s house yelling “Don’t marry her!” out their car windows. Some of them told media that Jennifer would fare better moving out of town. Even those who didn’t think harshly of Jennifer expected an apology, or at the very least an honest explanation about what happened.
Jennifer’s Explanation—What Do You Think?
Jennifer explained what transpired as something more serious than a “runaway bride” incident. She told NBC’s Katie Couric that she was contemplating suicide.
“And this is the part a lot of the people don’t know,” Jennifer Wilibanks tells NBC’s Katie Couric. “I had a bottle of pills or I had the bus ticket, and I decided not to play God that day and decide when it was time for me to go. So, I got on that bus. Were there other alternatives? Sure, there were, but that’s all I knew at that moment, Katie. And you know, I’m so ashamed and feel so guilty for the people that I have hurt, and how, you know, how this has affected many people’s lives. But at the same time it’s the best mistake I ever made. It allowed me to realize that I desperately needed help and that was what I did. And that’s what I’m getting now.”
Jennifer Wilkins to Katie Couric in a 2005 interview with NBC.
She added, “I have got to, first of all, learn to be happy with myself so that I can have confidence that others will be happy with me. And that’s a work-in-progress for me.”
Jennifer Wilbanks was sentenced to two years of probation, 120 hours of community service and mental health treatment. She was also mandated to pay reparations for the time and resources used for her search. In four days, law enforcement spent a total of $66,000 on the search. Jennifer was ordered to pay $13,250 to the city of Duluth $13,250 and $2,250 to the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department. After completing her probation, Jennifer’s criminal record was expunged.
John remarried in March 2008 in a quiet ceremony in Duluth.
In early 2009, Jennifer, then 37, started dating Greg Hutson, 38, a landscaper married twice before. They adopted a dog together named Lady. The couple soon married in 2010 but they divorced quietly in 2021.
My-Two-Cents Corner⤵
I have a feeling the public was quick to judge Jennifer Wilbanks. While impulsive and expensive, and I do think it makes perfect sense for her to pay reparations, I don’t think she meant the amount of harm she caused.
Jennifer didn’t take off with a lover. She didn’t have a financial motive. She didn’t physically injure anyone, including her fiancé, or put another person in harm’s way, including herself. Yes, she purchased the Greyhound bus ticket a week before her departure, but her leaving was hardly premeditated. She didn’t even pack a bag or a change of clothes, and she hardly had enough money to survive on. Jennifer didn’t stay anywhere overnight, like a hotel, motel or shelter; she spent those few days riding on different buses. To add to that, she hadn’t seen the news and claimed to be unaware that her disappearance was national attention, nor do I believe she considered this a possibility—but then again, who would?
I think Jennifer was experiencing a mix of emotions. Keep in mind, I’m totally projecting here, but I imagine she was overwhelmed by the expectations of others coupled with her own unreachable expectations. She is a perfectionist, remember. I believe she was enveloped in a world of planning and preparing and people-pleasing, and despite having such a large circle—Jennifer had 14 bridesmaids—there was no one she felt comfortable enough with to confide in, and that’s the real test (and enjoyment) of true friendship, if you ask me. Perhaps a friend could have talked her through it, or invited her to stay the night and clear her head. Speaking your thoughts aloud to another person you trust and hearing their honest input, which is separate from your own (a critical part), can do wonders, and I believe it would have in this situation. Perhaps it could have prevented Jennifer from taking off in the first place.
Continuing with my own speculations, Jennifer’s natural order of things is to keep up appearances, so she did just that and everyone else remained unaware. She didn’t know what to do, so she took off and fled. It seemed like an impulsive response, not a malicious one, but the media made a sensation out of it. I understand why it became news in the first place; Jennifer’s loved ones were searching for her. I understand that law enforcement and the public were upset with her for using scarce resources. But I don’t think a frightened women overwhelmed by emotions, taking off and returning, and then apologizing for it, should have been scrutinized so heavily. I don’t need to compare this case to similar scenarios with far worse outcomes to get my point across.
At least in the end, everyone was safe here.
References:
- Katie Couric interviews ‘runaway bride’ – NBC News
- Runaway bride sues ex-fiancé for $500,000 – NBC News
- It’s to laugh (or cry) about – The Washington Post
- Runaway bride who faked her own kidnapping due to ‘wedding pressures’ in 2005 is now divorced after marrying another man 11 years ago – DailyMailUK
- My sis Jen’s a runaway thief – NY Post
- Town without pity offers hisses to a runaway bride – Los Angeles Times