“Runaway Bride” Suing Former Fiance for Half a Million

Jennifer Wilbanks, the woman who grabbed international headlines as the “runaway bride”, is suing her former fiancé, John Mason, for $500,000.

Wilbanks was scheduled to marry Mason April 30, 2005 but fled four days before the wedding. While she was in Las Vegas and New Mexico her family, friends and law enforcement agents searched tirelessly for her whereabouts around her Lawrenceville,  Ga. community.

After three days on the run, Wilbanks phoned her fiancé and said that she had been abducted and sexually assaulted, a story that was quickly proven to be false.

Upon her return to Georgia she was quickly dubbed the “runaway bride” and became an international symbol of pre-wedding jitters. She was sentenced to two years’ probation for her false statements made to investigators and had to perform community service.

With the media frenzy at a peak, Mason sold the story to an agent for $500,000.

The couple split up this past May and Wilbanks is now seeking her half of the $500,000 plus an additional $250,000 in punitive damages as a result of Mason abusing the power of attorney privileges she gave him relating to their financial affairs. Wilbanks is also seeking the return of personal property that she says Mason has kept since the break-up.

Mason has until October 22 to respond to the lawsuit filed.