Hundreds Search for Missing Bride-to-Be

[Janice]

Hundreds Search for Missing Bride-to-Be

DULUTH, Ga. (April 28) - The case of a woman who disappeared just days before she is to be married is now considered a criminal investigation, authorities said Thursday.

Jennifer Wilbanks' family told authorities it is "totally uncharacteristic of her behavior" not to let someone know where she is, police Maj. Don Woodruff said.

Her fiance, John Mason, said Wilbanks, 32, left home Tuesday night to go jogging. When she did not return in a couple of hours he began looking for her and then notified police.

At a news conference Thursday, Woodruff said the FBI and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation have offered assistance in the search. But authorities did not have any suspects, he said.

Speaking on ABC's "Good Morning America" later Thursday morning, Woodruff dismissed the idea that Wilbanks' disappearance was a case of a bride getting cold feet.

"There's been a lot of speculation from that perspective that it could have been a case of the premarital jitters," Woodruff said. "But again, according to all of her friends that have been interviewed, all of her family, that's simply not the case.

This is totally uncharacteristic of her to have just simply disappeared this way."

Hundreds of volunteers searched Wednesday for the woman, who is to marry Mason on Saturday. Authorities called off the volunteer search late in the day but continued canvassing door-to-door in this northeastern Atlanta suburb seeking clues in the disappearance.

Woodruff said police had checked the banks of the nearby Chattahoochee River and that the state Department of Natural Resources would be searching the river.

Wilbanks is described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, about 123 pounds, with shoulder-length dark brown hair. She was wearing a gray sweat shirt and blue sweat pants when she went out, police said.

"She left out of here with just a radio and the clothes she has on," Mason said. "Her cell phone is in there, her credit cards, her pocket book, her money, her keys to her car, her diamond. Everything she owns is in the home. If this is cold feet, it is the weirdest case of cold feet I have ever seen."

Mason's father, Claude Mason, is a former Duluth mayor and municipal judge.



Jennifer Wilbanks left home Tuesday night to go jogging and never returned.

[Pus$y Galore]

God let's hope this isn't going to end up being another Lacy Peterson case.

[*MIBabe03*]

What's the matter with these people?

[MsOrange]

Oh wow... how sad. My heart really goes out to everyone affected by this.

[dandelion wine]

Originally Posted by TripperFan

God let's hope this isn't going to end up being another Lacy Peterson case.

That's just what I was thinking when I read the thread title. I hope and pray that it isn't. My prayers go out to her family.

[dlemond]

I'm assuming the fiance is already a suspect.

After all that has happened with the Peterson case and that idiot in Utah who killed his wife after lying about getting a job, do you think this guy could turn out to be that dumb?

Or do you think her disappearance is completely unrelated to him?

[dawsongirl]

I really wonder about this cold feet thing. I mean, it sounds far fetched, but it is possible.

[Pus$y Galore]

Originally Posted by dawsongirl

I really wonder about this cold feet thing. I mean, it sounds far fetched, but it is possible.

Naw - I don't think so. I guy might do that, but females are going to contact their mother's or best friend or something. They might take off, but they'd make a phone call. This doesn't look good at all.

[MsOrange]

i pray she comes up unharmed... or at least alive

[MsOrange]

last I heard, the fiance refuses to take a lie detector test, at least that is what my fiance's dad told me and he's a pretty reliable source

[Stuck In The '70's]

I hope she is found soon and hope everything turns out okay.

[Georgia's on my Mind]

The fiancee probably killed her.

[Janice]

Georgia Police Halt Search in Bride-to-Be Case

Family Announces Reward; Wedding Turns to Prayer Vigil

DULUTH, Ga. (April 29) - A lavish wedding with 600 guests seemed destined to become a prayer service after police called off the search Friday for a missing bride-to-be, saying they have "turned over probably every leaf in the city.''

Jennifer Carol Wilbanks disappeared Tuesday after her fiance said she went on a jog and never came back. Hundreds of police and volunteers spent the week searching the woods of this Atlanta suburb for the nurse.

With authorities acknowledging Friday they have no solid leads, relatives offered a $100,000 reward and said wedding guests will likely still gather at the church Saturday, but for a prayer vigil instead.

Attention in the case has now turned to fiance John Mason, a 32-year-old office manager who teaches a Sunday school class and coaches his church's youth basketball team. Mason has refused to take a police polygraph test except under conditions outlined by his attorney, Police Chief Randy Belcher said.

The fiance's lawyer turned in results from a privately administered polygraph, which family members said he passed, but Belcher said police still wanted to talk to him.

The fiance and his lawyer have requested the police polygraph to be videotaped, something Belcher said no law enforcement agency "that's worth anything'' would do. Belcher said negotiations about the polygraph would continue. Mason's lawyer did not immediately return phone calls to elaborate..

Three computers seized at the home Thursday were being analyzed, but the police chief would not say whether they found anything useful.

Meanwhile, tearful family members gathered at the home of the soon-to-be-married couple, and were frustrated by the lack of clues. Police are testing some strands of hair and a few articles of clothing turned in, but added they had no reason to believe that any of it belonged to Wilbanks.

Wilbanks' uncle, Mike Satterfield, said he didn't fault police for wrapping up the search: "You can only search so much and so many times.''

The hunt for Wilbanks consumed this tight-knit town for days. Her picture and newspaper articles about her disappearance were on telephone poles and shop windows.

A friend of Wilbanks', Killie McCauley, said the wedding was "the talk of the town.'' Fourteen bridesmaids were planning to stand beside her as she married Mason, whom a friend described as "a big teddy bear.''

"He's one of the kindest people you'll ever meet,'' said Melinda Larson, a friend of Mason's who was planning to attend the wedding. "Jennifer had a dream of this huge, elaborate wedding, and John was so supportive.''

Mason attended a family news conference but did not talk to reporters. Satterfield, the bride's uncle, said Mason wanted to talk but wasn't sure what to say. "There's not much John can say that wouldn't make speculation worse,'' Satterfield said.

Mason works at Mason Primary Care, which his family owns, said Andy Parsons, the Mason family's management consultant.

"He is one of the most decent, upstanding Christian men I've ever met,'' said Parsons, who meets weekly with Mason for a private Bible study session. "He's the teacher. I'm the pupil.''

He said Mason is frightened.

"He is scared at the moment. His fiance disappeared. He's scared for Jennifer's safety,'' said Parsons, who has visited Mason at home since Wilbanks' disappearance. "I would say he's drawing on every ounce of strength that he's got. He's still trying to remain positive.''

After the family and police spoke with reporters Friday, police started dismantling a search center that had been set up in a strip mall parking lot about a mile from Wilbanks' house. A mobile police unit was packed up and yellow crime tape was rolled up and put away.

Family members said they would spend the night once planned for a rehearsal dinner praying for Wilbanks.

[Fleet]

Really sad. I too suspect foul play.

[Miss Golden]

I would say a serial killer got her, serial killers are targeting small towns now instead of larger cities. Plus what would the boyfriend have to gain unless he caught her cheating or he has a mental illness, etc. I mean he comes from a wealthy family according to the report, they have no kids to split, etc.

In the Scott Peterson and Mark Hacking cases, Peterson has been cheating, plus wanted out of the marriage, and the Hacking dude was acting crazy before the murder.

However this guy could have done it, he kindof looks like a punk, plus he is refusing to take a lie detector test, etc.