Police probe abduction claim by runaway bride
John Mason is defending his fiancee Jennifer Wilbanks's decision, and says that his fiancee wants the "whole world to know she's very, very sorry."
Mr Mason says he still wants to walk down the aisle with her. The guilt she is dealing with "has got to be consequence enough to me," Mr Mason said.
But police and local officials are peeved: "We feel a tad betrayed and some are very hurt about it," Mayor Shirley Lasseter said.
The local prosecutor said he will conduct a thorough investigation, which could take weeks, before deciding whether to charge Wilbanks for falsely claiming she had been kidnapped.
Police chief Randy Belcher said they had pieced together the facts behind the jittery bride-to-be's disappearance.
Mr Belcher said Wilbanks bought a Greyhound bus ticket to Austin, Texas, a week before running away on April 26. That day, she had a taxi pick her up at the local library and take her to the bus terminal in Atlanta.
She never made it to Austin, instead getting off in Dallas and buying a ticket to Las Vegas. She spent some time there, mostly hanging out at the bus station, before going to Albuquerque, New Mexico, authorities said.
It was in Albuquerque that she called Mr Mason and police from a pay phone, saying she had been kidnapped. Along the way, she cut her hair.
District attorney Danny Porter said Wilbanks could face a misdemeanour charge of false report of a crime or a felony charge of false statements.
The misdemeanour carries a penalty of up to a year in jail; five years in prison is the maximum sentence for the felony.
Mr Mason said he has given Wilbanks her ring back she had left it at the house and said they still planned to marry. She was wearing the engagement ring during questioning on Monday, authorities said.
"Just because we haven't walked down the aisle, just because we haven't stood in front of 500 people and said our I dos, my commitment before God to her was the day I bought that ring and put it on her finger, and I'm not backing down from that," Mr Mason said.
He appealed to the prosecutor not to bring charges.
"Her cutting her hair and getting on a bus and riding out of here ain't none of Danny Porter's business," Mr Mason said. "And that's not criminal as far as I'm concerned."
Mr Mason and Wilbanks's fiancee's father, Harris, said the 32-year-old woman was working on releasing a written statement. "She just needs some space and some time," Mr Mason said.
"She just wants the whole world to know she's very, very sorry."
