The runaway bride case concerns Jennifer Carol Wilbanks (born February 28, 1973), an American woman who ran away from her home in Duluth, Georgia on April 26, 2005, to avoid her wedding with John Mason, her fiancé, on April 30.

Wilbanks repeated the false claims that fell apart under FBI interrogation resulting in a felony indictment of providing false information to law enforcement, a charge that could have resulted in up to five years of imprisonment.

Wilbanks canceled her engagement to her fiancé on May 17.

On May 25 Wilbanks was charged with making false statements.

Wilbanks reached an agreement with the city of Duluth on May 31 to repay more than $13,000 in costs incurred by the city in their search.

Aftermath and lawsuit

On May 22, 2006, People magazine reported that Wilbanks and Mason had officially called off their engagement.

According to the BBC, Jennifer Wilbanks sold the media rights to her story to a New York City company for $500,000. Wilbanks did not offer to repay the whole cost of the search for her, which totaled almost $43,000.

On March 15, 2008, Wilbanks's ex-fiancé, John Mason, married another woman in a quiet ceremony at his parents' home in Duluth, Georgia. In June 2010, Wilbanks announced via Facebook that she had been in a relationship since early in 2009.

Wilbanks married businessman Greg Hutson in March of 2010; the couple divorced in April 2021.

Impact of the events

Herobuilders, a manufacturer of action figures, rushed to produce a doll representing Wilbanks, wearing a jogging suit bearing the slogan "Vegas baby".

Nearly two years after Wilbanks ran away, the incident was used by the Albuquerque Police Department as a means of attracting new recruits to the police force.

A photo of Wilbanks appears in the trailer of the 2008 movie about professional poker, The Grand, as one of the many women Woody Harrelson's character has been married to in the past.

Wilbanks' case is frequently referenced in both scholarly and popular articles and books. In 2012 Psychology Today wrote an article about cold feet that cited Wilbanks as an example.

  • "Wilbanks gets 2 years' probation, plus community service" - CNN article, June 3, 2005