<p>The man whose bride-to-be skipped town days before her lavish wedding and claimed she was abducted says he still wants to marry her, but his father said Tuesday he's cautioning his son to go slowly.</p><p>John Mason is defending his fiancee's actions, and says he still wants to walk down the aisle with Jennifer Wilbanks. The guilt she is dealing with "has got to be consequence enough to me," Mason said Monday in an interview with Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes" show.</p><p>It was Mason's first public statement since he learned on the morning of his planned wedding day Saturday that Wilbanks had turned up in New Mexico and admitted she had gotten cold feet. Her disappearance four days earlier had set off an extensive manhunt and nationwide publicity.</p><p>Mason's father, Claude Mason, said Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America" that he has told his son: "Take it slow and if this is what you still want, we're behind you."</p><p>Asked if he would be concerned if the couple heads into another big wedding, Claude Mason said: "I have mixed emotions about that. I think the wedding plans got a bit out of hand, but I couldn't say a whole lot. I'm the father of the groom."</p><p>John Mason and his fiancee's father, Harris Wilbanks, who also appeared on the Fox show, said the 32-year-old woman was working on a public statement. "She just needs some space and some time," Mason said. "She just wants the whole world to know she's very, very sorry."</p><p>However, Carter Brank, an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said that while the would-be bride "was somewhat remorseful" when he interviewed her, she "didn't come right out and apologize."</p><p>District Attorney Danny Porter said Wilbanks could face a misdemeanor charge of false report of a crime or a felony charge of false statements. The misdemeanor carries a penalty of up to a year in jail; five years in prison is the maximum sentence for the felony.</p><p>Officials are also looking into the possibility of suing Wilbanks for the estimated $40,000 to $60,000 cost of searching for her.</p><p>"We feel a tad betrayed and some are very hurt about it," Mayor Shirley Lasseter said.</p><p>Duluth police continued their investigation on Tuesday, and the district attorney said he expected no new developments from his office during the day.</p><p>Mason said he has given Wilbanks her ring back _ she had left it at the house _ and said they still planned to marry. She was wearing the engagement ring during questioning Monday, authorities said.</p><p>"Just because we haven't walked down the aisle, just because we haven't stood in front of 500 people and said our 'I do's,' my commitment before God to her was the day I bought that ring and put it on her finger, and I'm not backing down from that," Mason said.</p><p>At a news conference Monday, Duluth Police Chief Randy Belcher provided details of Wilbanks' travels. He said Wilbanks bought a Greyhound bus ticket to Austin, Texas, a week before running away April 26.</p><p>Instead of continuing to Austin, she got off the bus in Dallas and bought a ticket to Las Vegas, Nev., where she spent most of her time hanging out at the bus station before going to Albuquerque, N.M., authorities said.</p><p>It was in Albuquerque that she called Mason and police from a pay phone, saying she had been kidnapped.</p>
