‘Runaway Bride' reportedly has new man
The Atlanta woman who earned the moniker "Runaway Bride" after she dumped her fiance and triggered a costly manhunt with a bogus kidnapping story, is in a relationship, according to her Facebook page.
Jennifer Wilbanks, 37, has been "shacking up" with a twice-divorced landscaper whom she credits with bringing her "togetherness, friendship and most of all ... unconditional love," the New York Post reported Monday.
The Post, citing Wilbanks' Facebook page, identified her man as Greg Hutson, 38. The newspaper said they'd been dating 15 months and that she regularly "gushes" on Facebook "about the man she calls ‘the fella.'"
"Everybody needs somebody to love ... I'm so glad I have that someone!" she wrote in May, "when they posed in matching khaki-and-blue outfits," the Post reported.
On Monday afternoon, the AJC could find no mention of Hutson on Wilbanks' Facebook page, though the page did have a status update indicating Wilbanks was "in a relationship."
Wilbanks earned her nickname by fleeing her lavish Duluth wedding in 2005 and concocting a phony story about being kidnapped by a Hispanic man and a white women and sexually assaulted.
It turned out that she had gotten cold feet and fled to New Mexico. She was charged with lying to police and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. She also sued her former fiance over proceeds from a book deal and he filed a counterclaim for emotional distress.
The pair dropped their court cases, and Wilbanks drifted from the national headlines.
The AJC tried to reach Wilbanks on Monday via her Facebook page, but she did not immediately respond.
Her Facebook page says she remains in Atlanta, and suggests that she has a sense of humor about her turbulent past. It includes a photo of her smiling, and under the picture is this message:
"I have to look back ... and laugh!"
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
