Runaway Bride
HRinNH
1,432 Posts
A case of extreme cold feet?
Instead of facing her wedding with about 600 guests present, Jennifer instead took off for New Mexico leaving her parents, fiance and practically the whole US worrying that she had been abducted and harmed.
Imagine the expense. Now they're saying she may have purchased the bus ticket in advance. The media is going to make a mess out of this as usual.
Instead of facing her wedding with about 600 guests present, Jennifer instead took off for New Mexico leaving her parents, fiance and practically the whole US worrying that she had been abducted and harmed.
Imagine the expense. Now they're saying she may have purchased the bus ticket in advance. The media is going to make a mess out of this as usual.
Comments
On the other hand, she's an adult, she got on a bus and went to Vegas. What crime did she commit until she falsely reported she had been abducted, which was at the very end of the scenario. Stupid, yes; criminal, don't think so! The expenses by law enforcement and her community occurred before any crime was committed.
This woman now realizes that she has made a complete fool of herself. Nothing you can say or do will make her feel any worse.
I don't think that anyone wants anything more than for her to face consequences for her actions. She's 32 years old, not some green 20 something. She should have, and could have acted more maturely and responsibly than to run away and disrupt not only her family, but her community, her state, and the entire nation for that matter. Hopefully she's humiliated and feels remorseful, but even if she is that should not absolve here from the consequences of her actions, which include a burden on taxpayer dollars. She should be required to repay it. If she can blow off an extravagent, high $$$$ wedding, she can afford to repay the civil servant organizations that spent time and money trying to find her; which they wouldn't have had to do had she acted responsibly.
E Wart
I agree with you that this is embarrassing for our state and that our news media in general has sunk to the tabloid level, to include "The Today Show" as a good example.
The intent of my original post was to present the situation that you (E-Wart) get on a bus one day to go to Vegas and have some fun without telling anyone. Your family thinks you're missing, contacts the local authorities, and starts a very expensive search for you. When you find out about the search and all the trouble you caused by being inconsiderate and not telling your family where you were going you call them and tell them that you're OK and to knock off the search. Up to this point you really haven't done anything criminal and can't really be legally charged for the expenses involved in the search which you didn't ask for.
The 911 call with a false report was her first criminal action (a misdemeaner in GA). I fully agree; she should be fully prosecuted on that charge either in NM or GA or both. Being LEGALLY held accountable for the search expenses, which occurred before any criminal action and because people were worried, doesn't hold water. On the other hand, a normal person (which probably doesn't apply in this case) would probably feel guilty over all the problems and expense their inconsideration caused and very well might reimburse various people and agencies for their time and trouble. Based on the size of the wedding, either her family or the groom's family has some dough. As a face-saving gesture (if that's possible) the family with the money might offer to pay for the formal expenses and maybe do something for all the volunteers.
The real bad/sad part of this story is that the next time someone disappears for real, you're going to have many people remember this incident and not volunteer to help in a truly needed search.
E Wart
PS No one has mentioned this in the news. Jon Mason said that when he first saw her he GAVE HER HER ENGAGEMENT RING BACK. If she truly ran away with out anyone knowning... why did he have her ring?
Sunday morning, two teenagers, a boy and a girl, in Vicksburg, 40 miles to my West, were involved in a rear end collision somewhere north of Mississippi. Turns out the told the cops the couple in the front seat had abducted them at a Mississippi River Overlook, took them to the motel across the street (?) and made them get them in the car with them and took them across state lines. No motives stated. Sheriff on the news saying what fine, trustworthy kids these are and their parents got alarmed when they didn't show up at Sunday School. Hmmmm? My doubting Thomas gene kicked in and ain't left yet.
She is 37. A bit old for a first time bride. Something tells me she grew up never able to please her parents, thus nobody met their expectations. She wore braces at 36. Something else there. Probably trying to please her mother with that too. This huge shindig was the family's idea, not her's. She balked. She made, according to most, a poor decision and ran off in anxiety. Then she realized all the commotion being stirred up in Georgia and the constancy of that on Fox and CNN and fear set in. Often people behave oddly when they are afraid. Fabricating a lie is a natural reaction to the extreme fear of pending humiliation. Pending or present humiliation is an extremely tough thing to endure. She lied. She didn't think it through and she lied. Fear often causes irrational thought processes. You don't think a process through and you don't consider consequences when you are irrational. I don't think this equals criminal intent or mental illness. She just needs three days in New Orleans and a good backrub.
"I might take a liberating hike
myself - except, I'm too mentally ill to see the
theraputic value of such an adventure, and I'll
stay here die of stress and guilt!"
Who among us? Count me in. I've thought of it. I've even thought I'm crazy if I DON'T. What makes it 'nuts' or 'not nuts' is that thing called reality. We (supposedly rational people) weigh out who will be affected, who will be hurt, and what are the long-term consequences. Then we don't do it. Of course we see the theraputic value but do not chose 'self.' We'll come back from the adventure and die of stress and guilt anyway, unless we know how to cut it off.
The wedding plans did not erupt overnight. She's had plenty of time to contemplate her decision. She may have felt pressure and may have been overwhelmed, but she has to 'grow up.'
The sad part is that she will never, ever be the same. Her humiliation and regrets will be with her forever. Let's stop kicking the woman.
Here's a question for everyone...not even all the major media people got this right. What city and state was she in when she finally called 911?
"Then we don't do it. Of course we see the theraputic value but do not chose 'self.' We'll come back from the adventure and die of stress and guilt anyway, unless we know how to cut it off."
Sam is quoted directly above. That's exactly the point....that we do not all have the ability to think through and choose appropriate paths at the moment or make unselfish decisions, always. Consider for a moment all the people who have committed suicide, and we all know at least one, don't we? There were some mighty fine, strong, smart, loving, valuable, warm, friendly, intelligent, resourceful folks in that group. But, not a damned one of them had the ability at that moment to consider all of the people who would be impacted and to reason through it and come out of it with the appropriately altruistic decision which would have benefitted the most people. If any of them had, they would likely still be with us. I'm just thankful the girl didn't choose that path. It was likely the only other one available to her, in her mind, at that moment.
It's also possible she decided to just do something daring and hide out for a few days never dreaming that they would call the police. Perhaps she thought she would make it back in town before the actual day, but everything blew up in her face. But, how can you alarm your family that way and not have a clue that you were going to do so?
She behaved irresponsibly and selfishly. The least she could do is personally make dinner for all those people who took the time to go out looking for her. She could also give a hefty donation to her town to help cover the costs. I don't think jail time is a good idea though. We have enough idiots in the system already.
One other thing that is bugging me about this has to do with her fiance. In every interview I saw with him before they found her (and there weren't very many) he was always smiling. I kept wondering if he knew something and wasn't telling. Now I wonder if he knew and just set her up. Very cynical of me isn't it?