Gainesville, Ga. – Runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks apologized Thursday for disappearing just before her wedding day and insisted cryptically that her flight was prompted not by cold feet but by “a host of compelling issues, which seemed out of control.”
Wilbanks’ three-day disappearance last week shortly before her scheduled 600-guest wedding scared her family and friends and led to a nationwide search.
In a statement read by her father’s pastor, the Rev. Tom Smiley, Wilbanks said she was “truly sorry for the troubles I caused.”
Wilbanks said her flight by bus to Las Vegas and eventually to Albuquerque was not in response to her pending wedding, which had been scheduled four days after she vanished.
“Those who know me know how excited I’ve been, and how excited I was about the spectacular wedding we planned, and how I could not wait to be Mrs. John Mason,” the statement said. “In my mind, it was never about the timing, however unfortunate. I was simply running from myself and from certain fears controlling my life.”
Wilbanks said she has asked for the forgiveness of her fiancé and their families, friends, churches and communities “and any others I may have offended unintentionally,” adding that she was “deeply grateful and appreciative to everyone who responded on my behalf.”
