Fiancé stands by runaway bride

DULUTH, Ga. — The jilted groom whose bride-to-be ran away four days before their wedding still wants to marry fiancée Jennifer Wilbanks, saying, "Haven't we all made mistakes?"

"Just because we haven't walked down the aisle, just because we haven't stood in front of 500 people and said our I Do's, 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," John Mason said yesterday in an interview with Fox News' Hannity & Colmes show.

It was Mason's first public statement since he learned on the morning of his scheduled wedding day that Wilbanks had gotten cold feet.

At an evening news conference yesterday, Duluth Police Chief Randy Belcher provided a chronology for the events of Wilbanks' disappearance. He said Wilbanks bought a Greyhound bus ticket to Austin, Texas, a week before running away April 26. That day, she had a taxi pick her up at the local library and take her to the bus terminal in Atlanta.

John Mason still wants to marry Jennifer Wilbanks.

It was in Albuquerque where she called Mason and police from a pay phone at a convenience store, saying she had been kidnapped.

She later said it simply was a case of having jitters ahead of the lavish, 600-guest wedding planned for Saturday.

Mason said he has given Wilbanks her ring back — she had left it at home — and said they still planned to marry. Wilbanks was wearing the ring during questioning yesterday, authorities said.

"Some things need to happen first, and we need to talk about a few things and ... she needs some treatment, for lack of a better word," he said.

Mason and his fiancée's father, Harris Wilbanks, who also appeared on the show, said Jennifer Wilbanks is working on releasing a written statement.

But if Mason and the family are ready to forgive the jittery bride, authorities are still peeved.

Authorities said they are looking into the possibility of suing Wilbanks for the estimated $40,000 to $60,000 cost of searching for her. That option would have to be approved by the City Council.

"We feel a tad betrayed, and some are very hurt about it," Mayor Shirley Lasseter said.

The local prosecutor said yesterday he will conduct an investigation before deciding whether to charge Wilbanks for falsely claiming she had been kidnapped.

District Attorney Danny Porter said Wilbanks could face a misdemeanor charge of false report of a crime or a felony charge of false statements.

The misdemeanor carries a penalty of up to a year in jail; five years in prison is the maximum sentence for the felony.