Jennifer Wilbanks

Jennifer Carol Wilbanks, C.M.A. (a.k.a. "The Runaway Bride") (born August 25, 1973) is an American who ran away from home on April 26, 2005, in an effort to avoid her wedding with John Mason on April 30. Her disappearance from Duluth, Georgia, sparked a nationwide search and intensive media coverage. On April 29, she called Mason, her fiancé, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and claimed falsely that she had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a hispanic male and white woman.

Media frenzy

As the story had become nationally newsworthy as a search for a possibly kidnapped or murdered bride, it lost some of its import when it was discovered she had merely run away. The media then struggled to attach significance to a case that many felt was closed. Instead of ceasing reporting on the case, the American news media sensationalized various elements of the story:

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• statistics on the commonality of "runaway brides"
• editorializing upon the racism shown by her accusation against a fictional Hispanic man
• reporting on the gratuitous details of her lies to the police
• speculating about what should be done to people who exact a cost on public services when they run away
• reporting on biographical details including her crime record and her entry into psychological counseling

Soon, news stories began reporting various absurd capitalizations on the notoriety of the case. Wilbanks has inspired a "Runaway Bride" action figure and a hot sauce called "Jennifer's High Tailin' Hot Sauce". An auction on eBay of a slice of toast carved with a likeness of Wilbanks closed with a winning bid of $15,400.

Related Topics:
Action figure - Hot sauce - EBay - Toast

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On the May 6 2005 episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, Bill Maher editorialized that Americans were calling her situation a "temporary case of insanity" when he felt it was a case of "temporary sanity", stating that she was "staring down the barrel of 14 bridesmaids and 600 guests in the Georgia heat watching a Baptist in a blue suit sanctify her sex life with Welch's grape juice and a reading from The Purpose Driven Life. Suddenly, Greyhound to Vegas looked pretty good!" {{ref|BillMaher}}

Related Topics:
May 6 - 2005 - Real Time with Bill Maher - Bill Maher - Americans - Insanity - Bridesmaid - Georgia - Baptist - The Purpose Driven Life - Greyhound - Vegas

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He later said that she didn't care "about anyone's feelings but own" and " belongs in Hollywood!"

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