How 'runaway bride' Jennifer Wilbanks found love five years after the scandal that made global headlines

The 'runaway bride' who sparked a nationwide manhunt has revealed she married her new husband several years later — and has since divorced him.

US woman Jennifer Wilbanks was meant to marry fiance John Mason in April 2005 in front of more than 600 guests.

However, things took a mysterious turn when Wilbanks, then 32, disappeared days before the wedding, causing her distraught family to make a plea for her whereabouts on TV.

READ MORE: Prince Albert of Monaco and his 'runaway bride'

Claiming she wasn't the 'type' to run off, Wilbanks was discovered three days later in Albuquerque.

She claimed to have been sexually assaulted and kidnapped by a male and female couple while out for a run.

READ MORE: 'Runaway bride' refuses to pay for elaborate wedding gown

The New York Times reported Wilbanks said a "Hispanic man" and his white female accomplice had kidnapped her in a van and released her four days later, half a country away.

The claims turned out to be false, with Wilbanks confessing she fled her home town in Georgia on a bus due to "personal issues".

Her fiance Mason broke up with her.

Wilbanks' story was revisited on the show Scandal Made Me Famous, in which Albuquerque Police sergeant Trish Hoffman said, "I was glad that she was okay, and not murdered in this horrible incident."

Hoffman added she was "mad" when the truth of Wilbanks' disappearance came out.

"She couldn't handle what was happening at home. She made up all these horrible things that she said about what people did to her," she said.

"Of course, none of it was true. I mean, not one single bit of it."

After grappling with her anger, Hoffman admitted the feelings transition from "disappointment to feeling sad for her."

"I mean, it's very desperate to do that," she added.

Earning the title "The Runaway Bride", Wilbanks' bizarre scenario made international headlines and saw her charged for lying to police.

After pleading guilty to a felony count of making a false statement, Wilbanks served two years of probation, 120 hours of community service and mental health treatment.

In addition, she was ordered to pay over $15,800 (approx $) in damages to cover the cost of searching for her, both to the sheriff's office and to the city of Duluth, Georgia.

According to Today, the Wilbanks' search fees set back the police department $60,000.

Since Wilbanks' rise to infamy 16 years ago, People reports she fell in love again in 2010 to a landscaping company owner Greg Hutson, who she married.

At the time, Wilbanks — now a Human Resources Director — detailed her new relationship on Facebook, writing, "Everybody needs someone to love … I'm so glad I have that someone!"

The couple divorced in April this year. According to online court records, Hutson filed for divorce in March, which was finalised 30 days later, for unspecified reasons.

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