Wednesday July 16th, 2025 2:23AM

Wedding turns to prayer vigil for missing bride

By The Associated Press
<p>A lavish wedding with 600 guests was more likely to be a prayer service after police called off the search Friday for a missing bride-to-be who went for a jog and never came back.</p><p>Hundreds of police and volunteers combed the woods of this Atlanta suburb for three days, looking for clues of 32-year-old Jennifer Carol Wilbanks, who was to be married Saturday. With authorities acknowledging Friday they have no solid leads, relatives offered a $100,000 reward and said wedding guests will likely still gather at the church, but for a prayer vigil instead.</p><p>As Duluth Police Chief Randy Belcher announced the search was over _ saying they'd "turned over probably every leaf in the city" _ attention turned to fiance John Mason, who lived with Wilbanks and reported her missing Tuesday night.</p><p>Mason has refused to take a police polygraph test except under conditions outlined by his attorney, Belcher said. Mason's lawyer turned in results from a privately administered polygraph, which family members said he passed, but Belcher said police still wanted to talk to him.</p><p>The fiance and his lawyer have requested the police polygraph to be videotaped, something Belcher said no law enforcement agency "that's worth anything" would do. Belcher said negotiations about the polygraph would continue. Mason's lawyer did not immediately return phone calls for elaboration.</p><p>Three computers seized at the home Thursday were being analyzed, but Belcher wouldn't say whether police found anything useful.</p><p>Meanwhile, tearful family members gathered at the home Mason and Wilbanks shared. They told reporters they were crying a lot, frustrated by the lack of clues. Police are testing some strands of hair and a few articles of clothing turned in, but added they had no reason to believe yet that any of it belonged to Wilbanks.</p><p>"There's nothing for us to focus on, nothing for us to talk about," said Wilbanks' uncle, Mike Satterfield. He said he didn't fault police for wrapping up the search: "You can only search so much and so many times."</p><p>The hunt for Wilbanks consumed this tight-knit town for days. Her picture and newspaper articles about her disappearance were on telephone poles and shop windows.</p><p>A friend of Wilbanks', Killie McCauley, said the wedding was "the talk of the town."</p><p>"She was so in love," McCauley said before heading out to search the woods Thursday. "Everybody knows her."</p><p>The bride, a nurse who works at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic, is recognized in town from her long jogs. Fourteen bridesmaids were planning to stand beside her as she married Mason, a 32-year-old office manager whom a friend described as "a big teddy bear."</p><p>Mason works at Mason Primary Care, which his family owns, said Andy Parsons, the Mason family's management consultant.</p><p>"He is one of the most decent, upstanding Christian men I've ever met," said Parsons, who meets weekly with Mason for a private Bible study session. "He's the teacher. I'm the pupil."</p><p>Mason, who teaches a Sunday school class and coaches his church's youth basketball team, is frightened, Parsons said.</p><p>"He is scared at the moment. His fiance disappeared. He's scared for Jennifer's safety," said Parsons, who has visited Mason at home since Wilbanks' disappearance. "I would say he's drawing on every ounce of strength that he's got. He's still trying to remain positive."</p><p>Melinda Larson, a friend of Mason's, said he was excited about the wedding. "Jennifer had a dream of this huge, elaborate wedding, and John was so supportive."</p><p>Mason attended the family news conference but did not talk to reporters. Satterfield, the bride's uncle, said Mason wanted to talk but wasn't sure what to say.</p><p>"There's not much John can say that wouldn't make speculation worse," Satterfield said.</p><p>After the family and police spoke with reporters Friday, police started dismantling a search center that had been set up in a strip mall parking lot about a mile from Wilbanks' house. A mobile police unit was packed up and yellow crime tape was rolled up and put away.</p><p>Family members said they'd spend the night once planned for a rehearsal dinner praying for Wilbanks.</p><p>"We'd like to request a prayer for Jennifer and her safe return," Satterfield said.</p><p>___</p><p>Associated Press writer Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report.</p>
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