ATLANTA – Runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks (search), whose three-day disappearance led to a nationwide search and more than a week of tabloid headlines, has entered a medical treatment program.
The location of the program and its likely duration were not disclosed.
Wilbanks "entered a highly regarded, inpatient treatment program on her own volition to address physical and mental issues that, she believes, played a major role in her 'running from herself,' as she described in a public statement last week," family spokesman Sammy Smith wrote in an e-mail.
Wilbanks initially told investigators that she had been abducted, a story that quickly unraveled once she surfaced in Albuquerque, N.M (search).
The 34-year-old bride-to-be has said that she did not flee from her 600-guest wedding because of cold feet, but rather due to "a host of compelling issues, which seemed out of control."
Meanwhile, the father of Wilbanks' fiance thanked the city of Duluth (search), of which he was once mayor, for its time and effort spent looking for Wilbanks when she vanished four days before the wedding.
"The quick and quality response we received from the Police Department was overwhelming," Claude Mason said at Monday night's city council meeting.
His son, John Mason, was to wed Wilbanks April 30.
Duluth Mayor Shirley Lasseter estimates the search for Wilbanks cost taxpayers between $40,000 and $60,000 in overtime pay and resources.
Wilbanks' attorney, Lydia Sartain, is working with the city of Duluth for possible reimbursement for the manpower used in searching for her. Sartain said no single incident forced Wilbanks to seek medical help. "It was just her overall circumstances," said Sartain.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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