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nightrider127
04-29-2005, 11:23 PM
ATLANTA (April 30) - A 32-year-old woman who vanished just as she was to be married was found alive early Saturday in New Mexico, police said.

Jennifer Wilbanks had been missing since Tuesday, when her fiance reported that she went for her nightly run and didn't come home, according to police in Duluth, Ga., where the couple lives.

Duluth police confirmed that she had been found but had no immediate details.

Wilbanks was found hours after police in the Atlanta suburb started dismantling a search center, saying they had no solid leads. Relatives offered a $100,000 reward for information.

The couple's wedding was set for Saturday. Six hundred invitations had been mailed, and the wedding was to feature 14 bridesmaids and 14 groomsmen, Wilbanks' family has said.


AP-NY-04-30-05 0334EDT

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

fatesfaery
04-29-2005, 11:51 PM
We live right between Duluth and Lawrenceville...this story has gotten lots of media attention in the Atlanta area. Her fiance's father is a judge and her parents are apparently well off. The police wanted the finace to take a lie detector test, he took a private test and passed...the police wanted him to take one administed by the GBI. His attorney agreed as long as the test was given in a neutral location and was filmed. The police refused those terms, so I figured things were about to get nasty.

I'm glad she was found alive. They had planned a prayer service to take place tomorrow instead of the wedding since they hadn't found her by late last night.

Missing Bride Found Alive in New Mexico

Published: 4/30/05

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - A 32-year-old woman who vanished just days before her wedding was found alive early Saturday in New Mexico, police said. Her family said she had been kidnapped.

Jennifer Wilbanks was safe and in police custody, said Kathy Mabry of the Albuquerque Police Department.

She had been missing since Tuesday, when her fiance reported that she went for her nightly run and didn't come home, according to police in Duluth, Ga., where the couple lives.

Wilbanks' stepmother said the bride-to-be had called home and said she had been kidnapped.

"Jennifer said she thought the people got scared because of all the media coverage and just let her go," Ann Wilbanks told The Associated Press. She said the family would fly to Albuquerque later Saturday.

Jennifer Wilbanks was found after police in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth started dismantling a search center Friday night, saying they had no solid leads. Relatives offered a $100,000 reward for information.

The couple's wedding was set for Saturday. Six hundred invitations had been mailed, and the wedding was to feature 14 bridesmaids and 14 groomsmen, Wilbanks' family has said.



Copyright 2005 Associated Press.

nightrider127
04-30-2005, 12:29 AM
DULUTH, Georgia (CNN) -- Three days after Jennifer Wilbanks went missing during a jog near her Georgia home -- and on the eve of what was to be her wedding day -- she has been found alive and well in New Mexico after being freed by kidnappers, family and police said.

Wilbanks, 32, called her fiance, John Mason, at his Duluth, Georgia home from an Albuquerque pay phone at 1:40 a.m. EDT Saturday to say she had freed by two strangers -- a man and a woman -- who abducted her Tuesday night, Mason said.

Within minutes, Wilbanks was located by Albuquerque Police at a 7-11 convenience store. After more questioning Saturday by the FBI, Wilbanks is expected to return to Georgia with family members who will fly to Albuquerque Saturday morning to be with her.

"She is here and very much safe with us," said Albuquerque Police spokeswoman Trish Ahrensfield.

Police sex crimes detectives are investigating the possibility Wilbanks was sexually assaulted during her kidnapping, based on information she has given police, Ahrensfield said.

Wilbanks, who was to be married to Mason Saturday in a wedding in Duluth, was last seen by her fiance Tuesday night, when she left the Duluth home she shares with him for a jog about 8:30 p.m.

"She was scared," Mason said. "She didn't know where she was."

"Her abductors let her go," said Pastor Alan Jones, who was to preside at the wedding. "They got scared and let her go and she made it to a pay phone and actually called the home."

Wilbanks said her abductors "came up behind her, cut her hand and put her in a blue van," Jones said.

Among the clues found during the search that followed her disappearance was a clump of hair along the route she was believed to have been jogging. Ahrensfield, the Albuquerque Police spokeswoman, said it appeared Wilbanks hair had been cut.

Her father, Harris Wilbanks, said they hope to bring her back soon so the wedding can go on.

"We may invite the whole country to this wedding," Harris Wilbanks said.

News of Wilbank's release comes just hours after police in Georgia announced they would suspend their ground search for her, saying they've looked everywhere in the town of Duluth where she may have been.

This is from CNN.