I'm sure conservative talking heads are going to have a field day with this story of false abduction from Ohio.
A pregnant attorney who vanished for four days last week now says her tale of being kidnapped at gunpoint and taken to Georgia was fabricated, police said Tuesday. Her husband said she had "a meltdown."I can't help but notice the parallels and contrasts between this story and the ludicrous Jennifer Wilbanks: Runaway Bride, a few years back. In that story, a white Georgia woman disappeared days before her wedding, and called from the road with a Susan Smith-like story about being abducted by a Hispanic man and white woman. A media circus ensued, and Wilbanks' disappearance was the lead news story for days.
Karyn McConnell Hancock, a former Toledo city councilwoman, had disappeared Wednesday and was found Saturday near Atlanta. Her husband said Monday that his 35-year-old wife, six months pregnant with her second child, claimed she was kidnapped.
Cobb County police say she claimed two white men and a black woman abducted her.
Police said at a news conference that she recanted Monday after eight hours of questioning. Hancock will likely be charged with making a false police report, said Police Chief Mike Navarre. Police would not discuss a motive, but Hancock's husband, Lawrence Hancock, said his wife has been having psychological problems for several years.
Once Wilbanks was "found" in New Mexico, the house of cards unraveled, and it turned out that she was simply having a case of cold feet. Wilbanks was charged with felony indictment of giving false information to police, but the charges were eventually dropped. This being America and all, Wilbanks of course got a lucrative book and movie deal outta this whole debacle, and ended up suing her ex-fiance for half the cost of a home he bought with the proceeds in a very odd turn of events. And they say love is unconditional. P'shaw.
By contrast, I didn't hear jack squat about Hancock's disappearance until her story also unraveled. This is of course no real surprise, given the media's "who the f**k cares?" attitude toward missing black women, and heck, missing black people in general. But it is interesting that both Wilbanks and Hancock blamed their disappearances on someone of the opposite race. Anyone care to offer an opinion on this rationale? I'm fresh outta PoV's on that one. You know where to weigh in.
Hancock's family seems to indicate that she's been having some emotional problems in addition to being in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. Those are classic signs of "crying out", and I wish her the best. I just pray nobody was unnecessarily detained for her false allegations, as in the case of Smith and Wilbanks.
That said, I'm pretty sure this will be both the first and last we hear of Hancock. She will probably get a similar sentence to that of Wilbanks, but there will absolutely be no WifeTime™ Movie of the Week.
Cause Hollywood doesn't give a crap about missing black women either.
[Editor's Note: Just in case you were wondering, no new news on Stepha Henry. Pray for the family. I would imagine the holidays are going to be especially rough.]
Ohio Attorney Recants Abduction Story [AP]
