The opposite of a shotgun wedding

A friend sent me this article. I can't believe that these parents thought this was going to work!

Here’s one way to stop a wedding
Parents drove their daughter out of state, face kidnap charges

SALT LAKE CITY - The parents of a bride-to-be told their daughter they were taking her on a shopping trip, but then drove to Colorado and kept her there until she missed the nuptials, officials said.

Did they tie her up? How hard would it have been to take a bus, call a friend, or even hitchhike! She obviously didn't take to heart Eliza Dolittle's dad's song, "Get me to the church on time." For most people, wild horses couldn't keep them away (although I have heard of some being delayed by hunting season.)

Lemuel and Julia Redd have been charged with second-degree felony kidnapping. Utah County Attorney Kay Bryson said Tuesday he met with the couple’s daughter, Julianna, and her now-husband Perry Myers before charging the parents.

“I’ve never had a case quite like this,” Bryson said. “It is strange that parents would go to that extent to keep an adult daughter from marrying the man that she had chosen to marry.”

You have to wonder what this guy was like thtat they would take such an extreme measure. Was he horribly disfigured? Weak testimony? or the worst: POOR?

The Redds told their 21-year-old daughter they were taking her on a shopping trip Aug. 4 and then drove 240 miles from Provo to Grand Junction, Colo., according to Provo police Capt. Rick Healey. Myers, 23, called police when his bride didn’t attend a pre-wedding dinner with his parents that night.

She should have been suspicious at that point--prior to that they'd only taken her to the Provo Wal-Mart! Plus why in the world did she agree to go to Colorado on a shopping trip THE DAY BEFORE HER WEDDING!?!

The Redds spent the night in Colorado and drove back to Provo, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, the next day, Healey said. They arrived after the young couple was supposed to have been married in a ceremony that day at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Temple in Salt Lake City.

The couple, both students at Brigham Young University, were married in the temple on Aug. 8, Myers said. They are expecting their first child in May.

Hmm, seems a little fast. Maybe they knew that without a child on the way, the parents would have tried to have the marriage annulled.

The Redds didn’t want their daughter to get married, but the bride has been reluctant to say what happened on the drive. Myers said he and his wife were not discussing details of the car ride but said her parents’ objections were not about him.

Can you imagine that 6-hour car ride, with an anxious bride and conniving parents? Did they play it cool and try to convince her that they were shopping for the wedding or did they use the opportunity to give a 6-hour sermon to a captive audience? Maybe they just distracted her the entire way by singing "999 Bottles of Beer on the Wall."

“It really has nothing to do a lot with me. It really is some issues with the family,” he said.

SUUUURE.

Bryson said after reviewing the police investigation it was clear a crime was committed. Charges were filed Friday.

Lemuel, 59, and Julia Redd, 56, are scheduled to make an initial court appearance Oct. 26. If convicted, the Redds could face one to 15 years in prison.

Talk about awkward family dinners. I guess you just try to steer clear of the 800-lb. gorilla of OUR DAUGHTER SENT US TO PRISON FOR FIFTEEN YEARS!

A call made to a listing for Lemuel H. Redd at the address in Monticello, Utah, listed in court documents went unanswered Tuesday. No attorney for the Redds is listed in court documents and it couldn’t immediately be determined if they had legal representation.

Now these parents are going to be forced to break up the marriage the old-fashioned way: by systematically ostracizing, belittling, shunning, and criticizing the new husband until he leaves their daughter destitute and pregnant. That's a much more effective method than going on an extended shopping trip. Amateurs!