By KEN SUGIURA The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 03/29/07 Perhaps the day will come when the Runaway Bride fades from the public conscience. But nearly two years after the incident that claimed international headlines, that day has yet to arrive. Albuquerque's finest are reportedly the latest to use the stranger-than-fiction drama of Jennifer Wilbanks' disappearance/reappearance/media circus/dueling lawsuits with her ex-fiancé for giggles. The Albuquerque Police Department will make a not-so-oblique reference to Wilbanks on area billboards to bolster hiring efforts. Albuquerque Police Department Tricia Hoffman stars in a recruitment ad for the Albuquerque Police Department, a spoof on the "Runaway Bride" saga. The ads show an Albuquerque police officer grabbing the veil of a woman dressed in a wedding gown and running shoes who is trying to escape her grasp. The top of the ad reads, "Running away from your current job? Call APD Recruiting." Wilbanks disappeared from Gwinnett a few days before her scheduled Duluth wedding in 2005. She turned up in New Mexico, claiming she had been assaulted and abducted, when really it was a case of cold feet. If the ads, first reported Thursday in the Albuquerque Journal newspaper, sought to gain attention, they've succeeded in Gwinnett. "That's pretty funny," said Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter, heartily chuckling. "I guess anything you can do to find a few good men or women, I guess that's a good thing." Said Gwinnett Sheriff Butch Conway, "If the Albuquerque Police Department runs their department like they recruit, it should be a fun place to work." Would Conway, whose own department is hiring, ever consider doing something similar? "No," he said. "They've already taken it." That the saga still endures amazes Duluth Mayor Shirley Lasseter. "I really kind of figured it was over and done with," she said. "And I think it should be. But you know what? I don't think the public will ever drop it."
This should be in the joke section. :rofl Great Post Sue. BTW I loved catching her on the news mowing lawns.
If the runaway bride had looked like the female officer in the picture, she would not have had to run away. I could never figure out why it was her that ran instead of the groom. Marty
