Over the past week, I watched with growing fear that we would lose yet another person to a very violent abduction death. Fortunately, the thirty-something Jennifer Wilbanks of Duluth, Georgia was located in New Mexico after she called her fiance’ to say first she had been abducted but later admitted to New Mexico authorities she had gotten “cold feet” and left to avoid her wedding that was supposed to happen last Saturday.
Obviously there are lots of articles and theories and opinions on how this whole matter transpired and what should happen now. The Fox News article here gives a bit different perspective.
Here’s my question to you all. What kind of impact does this kind of event have on public perception when adults go missing? What kind of impact do you think it has on the police? What impact do you feel such events like the Wilbanks incident have on future missing person investigations?
Finally, what if any sanctioning should happen to a person like this? Is there an obligation to recoup the thousands of dollars of resources spent on the search or is it just the cost of doing business?
I’ll post some responses here if any are received. After that, I’ll provide my impressions.