The "Runaway Bride"?

Hi Folks, one thing that has been buggin' me lately is all the news coverage of that so-called "Runaway Bride" story. For those of you who don't know what that is...... first of all, I'm surprised, LOL* but it is the story of a woman who (and this is just opinion formed from news reports, so don't think of suing me, because opinion is still protected by the First Amendment, at least for now) ran away to another state just days before her marriage. Her disappearance prompted a police investigation and search, several press conferences, and a media storm. Days later she turned up in another state, called 911 emergency services, to report her abduction and assault, complete with a description of a "hispanic man with rotten teeth in a blue van". Her story unraveled after she was picked up and questioned by police, as she admitted to orchestrating a hoax. I do feel sorry for the girl, as she might have had problems of a personal nature, but I can't help but consider the trouble she might have made had she persisted in her story and description. Imagine some hispanic man driving down the highway, perhaps in a blue van or SUV, rotten teeth or not (sheesh, that was lame of her to say), such a person might have been stopped by the police. Factor in the possibility of a language barrier getting in the way of that man not responding to commands in a timely manner at a felony stop, and the result could have been tragic. That is the source of my most pressing question of "why?", though it is countered by compassion for a person who has exhibited signs of being desperately in need of help. While I'm at it, I might as well go into the whole name given to this sad situation, "The Runaway Bride", kinda catchy as it evokes images of Julia Roberts running away from some male actor in a romance-comedy movie of the same name. How unfortunate, as we are left wondering, "will things work out?", "will they get back together?", "where is the happy ending?". I sure dunno the answers to those questions, but this particular real life situation reminded me more of another movie, "Rosewood", where a blonde woman falsely claims rape at the hands of an African-American man in her community, with tragic results. This bride might have run away, yes, but when she made up a story which involved fictitious accounts and descriptions, at least in my opinion she broke the law. Time will tell what the outcome of this story will be.