Katie Couric interviews 'runaway bride'

Katie Couric 'Today' anchor

So what could she possibly have been thinking? Eight weeks ago, bride-to-be Jennifer Wilbanks hopped on a Greyhound bus. She certainly would not have been the first young woman to get cold feet on her way to the altar. But she disappeared without a trace. And the search that followed gripped the nation.

Now, Jennifer and her fiancé, John Mason, finally tell their side of the story. Jennifer has received sympathy from some quarters. But she's also been mocked and ridiculed. And many people are just plain furious about her escapade. Now, speaking out for the first time, Jennifer Wilbanks gives compelling details about the wedding that never was.

Now undergoing psychiatric treatment Jennifer Wilbanks is confronting the issues she says turned her into the "Runaway Bride". An avid marathon runner, she now admits she's been running from her problems most of her life.

Jennifer Wilbanks: And ironically, you know, when I told john I was going to run, that's what I was doing. I was running away. Because that's what I've always done. That's what's comfortable to me.

Why would Jennifer Wilbanks take off just days before her wedding and without telling a soul? And what would prompt her to bring untold agony and heartache to so many people, including her fiancé, John Mason, who has remained by her side?

Wilbanks: First of all, that night, my running had absolutely nothing to do with this wonderful man sitting right here beside me. 

She says there are no easy explanations. But there might have been clues and warning signs of trouble, deep in Jennifer Wilbanks' past.  

Her story starts in Gainesville, Georgia, a town that could have doubled as the set for Andy Griffith's Mayberry, about an hour's drive from Atlanta. 

By all appearances, hers seemed an idyllic southern upbringing. She had a twin brother. Jennifer's mother co-owned a sporting goods store. Her father handled land sales for the Georgia Department of Transportation. Life seemed good.

But there had been some tough times as well. Her parents divorced when Jennifer was just six. Her mom remarried. From first grade until the end of high school, she alternated living each week between her mom and dad.

KATIE COURIC SPECIAL: FREE VIDEO NBC   The 'runaway bride' Jennifer Wilbanks talks for the first time about her fiance, their wedding plans, why she disappeared and fabricated an abduction story, her return home, and her recovery process.   Runaway bride: Part 2   Runaway bride: Part 3   Runaway bride: Part 4   Runaway bride: Part 5   Runaway bride: Part 6

Later, her childhood home was destroyed by a tornado. But through it all, Jennifer says her love for her family stayed intact.

Wilbanks: I still kiss my dad on the lips, you know. Every phone call we end with, "I love you." I had a great life, Katie. My parents, fortunately, were able to provide for me and my brother. I grew up in an honest home. We went to church. We had our faith.

Jennifer was an honor student and varsity athlete at North Hall High school. But college, at the University of Georgia, about 40 miles from home, became one of the first challenges Jennifer would run from.

Wilbanks: And you know, there, I was just a number. And that was hard for me. It was very overwhelming.

Couric: What did you study there?

Wilbanks: I started off pre-med with biology. But then I didn't finish that. I got very overwhelmed. And very caught up in the social scene.

Couric: Everybody obviously dreams about what they want their lives to be like. What did you dream about?

Wilbanks: I dreamed of, I mean, if you want to know the truth, my mom has said this. She thinks that I was put on this earth to be a mom. 

She dropped out of college after two years and came home to take a medical assistant's position in a Gainesville hospital in the labor and delivery unit.

Wilbanks: Oh, I loved it. I used to kid around, joke around, and tell everybody that they better check my bags before I leave to make sure I didn't have any of the babies with me. 

By her twenties, Jennifer Wilbanks appeared to be a successful, happy young woman. But she says for most of her life she struggled with being a perfectionist, trying to please everyone all the time.

Wilbanks: To me, in my mind, it meant admitting that I wasn't perfect. I wasn't about to admit that I needed help.

It would be a while before trouble surfaced in public. In the mid-1990s, Jennifer Wilbanks was a popular figure in Gainesville, and had frequent dates.

Couric: Had you had any serious boyfriends before you met this guy?

Wilbanks: Yes. I have.

Couric: But were you ever engaged or ultra-serious about anybody or--

Wilbanks: I've been engaged before, yes. But we were engaged just for a few months before the wedding was called off. But the wedding was over a year away.

John Mason: That was, what, 10 years ago?

Wilbanks: Yeah.