Kristi Cornwell -- Missing 8/11/09

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. -- Authorities continued to investigate the disappearance of a woman last seen walking for exercise Tuesday night on Jones Creek Road in Blairsville.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Jodie Fleischer confirmed that Kristi Leigh Cornwell was on the phone with her boyfriend when a car pulled up alongside her and she started screaming.

Investigators expanded their search for the missing 38-year-old woman Thursday. Search teams scoured the wooded areas along Jones Creek Road where Cornwell was last seen taking a walk Tuesday night.

Hundreds of volunteers will join the search for Cornwell on Friday.

Read more: http://www.wsbtv.com/news/20388155/detail.html

Nancy Grace will be covering this case tonight. I hope Kristi is found unharmed, but it doesn't look good.

I've been watching this case on the news. It's tragic, and also very scary. I also heard tonight that Kristi had been approached by a car trying to grab her the week before her abduction! I'm surprised that she didn't see this as an "omen" or warning. It's a shame she didn't pay closer attention. While I'm praying for her safe return, I don't think this case will have a happy ending.

I didn't hear that book. That seems VERY odd to me. I wonder if it was not a happenstance then??? Maybe it was something planned.

FystyAngel wrote:I didn't hear that book. That seems VERY odd to me. I wonder if it was not a happenstance then??? Maybe it was something planned.

Hi, Fysty! Yes, I heard that last night on HLN, I believe. I think it was most probably the same person, or persons involved in her abduction. It's so sad. Sadly to say, I don't think this is going to end well. I wonder if it had anything to do with her being a former Probation Officer? I hope this makes women more aware of their safety.

GBI: Time Running Out To Find Missing Woman Alive

Posted By - Duffie Dixon
Last Updated On: 8/16/2009 10:53:08 PM

UNION COUNTY, Ga. -- For the first time, GBI investigators gave a frank assessment of where things stand in the search for a missing Blairsville woman.

It's believed 38-year-old Kristi Cornwell was abducted five days ago.

GBI Spokesman John Bankhead say searchers are still hoping to find her alive, but conceded that with each passing day the statistics do not support that theory.



"The farther away you get from the original abduction time the less chance you have of finding her alive, but we're going on hope that she is still alive", said Bankhead.

Sunday morning, friends and neighbors gathered at the New Union Baptist Church to pray for Cornwell. The church served as a command post for search crews early on in the investigation.

Two of Cornwell's childhood friends echoed descriptions given by her family saying she is a motivated, strong mother of a 15-year-old son. Cornwell was once a probation officer and a counselor who they say knows how to protect herself.

"I feel very sure that whatever situation she's in, if there's anyway for her to get out she'll fight her way out and we'll find her safe. She'll come home to her son. She's fighting for him," said Tracy Floyd Chambers.

Tuesday night, Cornwell went walking down Jones Creek Road around 9:00pm. She was on her cellphone talking to her boyfriend who lives in Atlanta. He told investigators she mentioned a car approaching and said she was going to move off to th side of the road. He said he then heard a conversation and the unmistakable sounds of her being abducted.

Investigators later found some of her personal items in that same area and say there were signs of a stuggle.

On Friday, Cornwell's cellphone was found on the side of Nottely Dam road, about 3 and a half miles north of where she disappeared. A homeowner was mowing his lawn and noticed a cell phone lying in the grass near the roadside.

The GBI has asked that anyone who was driving on Jones Creek Road Tuesday night between 8 and 10 or anyone who traveled Notelly Dam Road that same night between 8 and midnight to call the Union County tip line 706-835-2900 or 706-835-2902.

Investigators have also said they're looking for a white SUV van and a tan or gold Nissan or Toyota older subcompact car. The GBI says both vehicles were spotted in the area around the time or Cornwell's disappearance, but do not belong to anyone who lives nearby.

Any leads beyond that have been hard to come by.

"We still don't know whether or not it was a random abduction or a targeted abduction, which is making the investigation very difficult", said Bankhead.

At the same time, Cornwell's family and friends have made several pleas publically hoping to reach the person who abducted Kristi.

Tracy Wintermute has known Cornwell since the 4th grade and has helped in the search for her.

"Bring her home. Let her go. Bring Kristi back to her family and friends because we need her", said Wintermute.

For searchers it all brings back painful memories of a similar case a year and a half ago that occured just 20 miles from where Cornwell disappeared. 24-year-old Meredith Emerson was kidnapped while hiking on Blood Mountain.

Family members, friends and complete strangers searched huge areas for days.

GBI investigators eventually caught Emerson's killer, only to learn that she had survived for days and that several times law enforcement was right on his heels. He killed her just hours before they captured him.

http://www.11alive.com/rss/rss_story.aspx?storyid=133869


Divers Join Search for Missing Woman

By Jay Black
August 16, 2009 4:53 AM

(WSB Radio) Divers from Hall County joined the search for a missing Union County woman.

The dive teams focused their search for Kristi Leigh Cornwell, 38, in the water near Young Cane Creek.

"That might be a point where somebody might dispose of evidence or a person." Mike Ayers with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. "So far nothing has turned up."


Friday by a man mowing his lawn on Nottely Dam Road in Blairsville.

Investigators believe it was the phone she was using to talk to her boyfriend when she was abducted Tuesday night.

Investigators said the phone was found about 3 1/2 miles from where they were focusing the search.

"We know now from the cell phone having been found, the person or persons involved in this incident passed by this way," GBI Director Vernon Keenan said.

Keenan said they still have no suspects. Authorities are looking for two vehicles seen in the area of Jones Creek Road where Cornwell was last seen. Witness said they saw a large, white SUV and a gold or tan car driving slowly in that area.

Cornwell was walking home and talking to her boyfriend along that road Tuesday night. Her boyfriend told authorities he heard her yell, "Don't take me" and then the line went dead. Authorities found some of her belongings on the side of the road. They do show signs of a struggle.

"She is in danger," said Mike Ayers with the GBI. "She was abducted, placed in a vehicle and removed from the area."

"We just keep hope," brother Richard Cornwell told WSB-TV. "Keep hope alive and we'll continue to do so until we find her."

Cornwell was a probation officer before going back to school.

Anyone with information about the case or the two vehicles seen in the area should call the Union County Sheriff's Office at 706.835.2900 or 706.835.2902.

http://wsbradio.com/localnews/2009/08/divers-join-search-for-missing.html


GA. police search for missing woman

Posted: Aug 13, 2009 9:15 PM EDT
Updated: Aug 17, 2009 9:48 AM EDT

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. (AP) - Hundreds of people are searching for a woman missing since Tuesday who authorities say may have been abducted.

Kristi Cornwell was last seen walking along a north Georgia road and talking to her boyfriend. Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead says the boyfriend heard a "struggle" and called 911.

He said "the belief is it was a kidnapping and she is in danger."

Bankhead said investigators have interviewed her friends, scoured bank and phone records and conducted road checks. He said police have also interviewed all registered sex offenders in the area.

Several hundred people, including authorities from nearby police departments, are combing the north Georgia woods for the 38-year-old.

Bankhead said authorities are following a few leads but "we don't know if anything's promising."

http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10928349


Blairsville Prays for Missing Woman

Updated: Sunday, 16 Aug 2009, 10:42 PM EDT
Published : Sunday, 16 Aug 2009, 6:24 PM EDT

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. (MyFOX ATLANTA) - A Blairsville church prayed for Kristi Cornwell and her family Sunday, as the search for the missing woman entered the sixth day.

The 38-year-old Cornwell vanished Tuesday night and her disappearance has rocked the small mountain community of Blairsville.

Investigators said Cornwell was walking near her family's home and talking on her cell phone to her boyfriend when she was abducted.

Cornwell's phone was found Friday night about 3.5 miles away from where she disappeared. The area where investigators found the phone remains the focus of the search.

Dozens of people from 17 different law enforcement agencies searched on foot, ATVs and horseback in hopes of finding any clues in Cornwell's disappearance.

A team of divers joined the search effort Saturday and looked for Cornwell near a bridge on Pat Colwell Road.

Authorities said some of Cornwell's personal items were recovered along Jones Creek Road where she was walking at the time of her abduction.

Investigators said they were also searching for two vehicles reportedly seen in the area around the time of Cornwell's disappearance.

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/Blairsville_Prays_for_Missing_Woman_081609


Search Enters 6th Day for Missing Woman

Updated: Monday, 17 Aug 2009, 10:29 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 17 Aug 2009, 4:47 AM EDT

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. - Rescue teams fanned out in Union County for a sixth straight day as they continued the search for missing Blairsville woman Kristi Cornwell.

Divers from Hall County are also expected back in the water of a nearby lake llooking for evidence. Divers were in the water Saturday.

Sunday, more than 100 officers scoured woods and fields in Union County while looking for clues.

The 38-year-old Cornwell vanished while out for a walk Tuesday night.

Police said Cornwell was talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone when she was abducted.

Investigators are focusing their search near where the cell phone was found on Friday.

Investigators said they aren't sure whether Cornwell's abduction was random -- or if she was being targeted.

Police have not identified any suspects.

On Monday, Kristi Cornwell's mother, brother and cousin appeared from Blairsville Monday on both NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "Good Morning America."

Investigators are asking anyone with information about the case to contact them at (706) 835-2900.

They're interested in two vehicles seen in the area at the time of Cornwell's disappearance, a white suburban SUV and a tan or gold Toyota or Nissan compact car.

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/Search_to_Continue_for_Missing_Woman_081709


Family of Missing Georgia Woman Plead for Her Release on National Television

Monday, August 17, 2009



BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. — Relatives of a Georgia woman who authorities believe was abducted while walking last week are making an emotional appeal for her return.

Kristi Cornwell's mother, brother and cousin appeared on NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday from Blairsville in rural north Georgia.

Mother Jo Ann Cornwell pleaded through tears for her daughter's release. She said Kristi's 15-year-old son also needs his mother back and that they believe she will be returned.

Brother Richard Cornwell said his sister is well suited to deal with emergency situations as a former probation officer with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.

Authorities believe Cornwell was abducted while talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone. The phone was found by a man mowing his lawn Friday.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,539942,00.html


Missing Woman's Mom Calls for Mercy
Georgia Investigators Say They Have "No Indication" of Where 38-Year-Old Mother Might Be; Her Cell Phone the Only Evidence



(CBS) A massive search through the Georgia mountains continues for 38-year-old Kristi Cornwell, who was apparently abducted during a walk down a two-lane road near her family home in the rural town of Blairsville, Ga.

The only evidence found so far in her disappearance is her cell phone, police say, adding Kristi was using her cell phone last Tuesday as she walked down the desolate Jones Creek Road. She was talking to her boyfriend, Douglas Davis, who lives in Atlanta. That's when, police say, Kristi told Davis a car pulled up. Seconds later, police say, Davis heard a struggle on the line, then the line went dead. Davis called Kristi's mother, Jo Ann Cornwell, who then called police.

Kristi's cell phone was found Friday by a private citizen, three-and-a-half miles from where she disappeared.

No further clues have been found in her disappearance, authorities say, and Georgia officials note they haven't focused on one suspect.

On "The Early Show" Monday, Jo Ann called for compassion from her daughter's abductor: "Whoever took her, (I want to) just ask them to please have mercy on her, and know that she has a 15-year-old son who needs his mother. And we need her back."

Jo Ann called her daughter's disappearance "the worst nightmare" of her family's lives, adding she wanted Kristi to know, if she was watching the show, that hundreds of people are looking for her.

Kristi was living with her mother in Georgia while on break from school, and had walked Jones Creek Road often.

Jo Ann told "Early Show" co-anchor Julie Chen she always considered the road and small neighborhood safe.

However, she described the road as "very isolated, (with) no houses nearby."
John Bankhead, spokesman of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said on "The Early Show" Monday, "We have no indication of where she might be."

As for Davis, Richard Cornwell, Kristi's brother, refused to answer any questions about him on "The Early Show."

Richard said, "He's very critical in this investigation, since he was apparently the last person to talk to her before the abduction. So we're just going to withhold any comments about Mr. Davis right now."

Bankhead didn't indicate whether Davis is considered a suspect in the investigation.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/17/earlyshow/main5246717.shtml

Kristi Cornwell Missing Stirs Up Quiet Town of Blairsville, Georgia
Not Much to Go On, Blairsville and Georgia Authorities Search for Missing Woman

Published August 17, 2009 by: Saul Relative

Blairsville, Georgia. Home of the annual Sorghum Festival and Kristi Cornwell. Not much going on in Blairsville, Georgia, most of the time, situated as it is off the Chattahoochee National Forest, but it has been a beehive of activity since Kristi Cornwell went missing last week.

According to ABC News, the 38-year-old mother seems to have been taking a walk last Tuesday night, a fairly routine outing for her, when she was abducted right off the side of the county road. Kristi Cornwell was on her cell phone at the time, talking to her boyfriend, who had made a trip to Atlanta that day. The boyfriend said she became nervous because an approaching car had stopped near her. Then she screamed, "Don't take me!" And then nothing...

Since then, more than 100 personnel from 15 different agencies have scoured the rural northern Georgia county (Union) as well as the small town of Blairsville (population less than 700 in 2000) searching for Kristi Cornwell. Although the boyfriend, Douglas Davis, has not spoken with reporters, he has cooperated with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

Little is known about the possible abduction. Some articles known to have belonged to Kristi Cornwell were found along the county road where she was last known to have been. Her cell phone was found three miles from where the point of abduction supposedly occurred. But authorities aren't disclosing too many details and little is known about the progress -- or if there is any progress -- in the investigation.

The GBI are currently looking for two vehicles that were seen driving along the county road that night -- a large-style white SUV and a tan or gold subcompact car, possibly a Toyota or Nissan. Both of those vehicles were reported as unfamiliar to the area.

Officials are also looking into motive. Kristi Cornwell at one time worked as a probation officer. Enrolled at Dalton State College, Cornwell was taking classes in medical laboratory technology.

Family members report that Douglas Davis, the boyfriend, is not a suspect or a person of interest.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2073201/kristi_cornwell_missing_stirs_up_quiet.html?cat=9


Family appeals to kidnappers

Date: August 17, 2009
Blairsville, GA

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. -— Relatives of a Georgia woman who authorities believe was abducted while walking last week are making an emotional appeal for her return.

Kristi Cornwell's mother, brother and cousin appeared on NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday from Blairsville in rural north Georgia.

Mother Jo Ann Cornwell pleaded through tears for her daughter's release. She said Kristi's 15-year-old son also needs his mother back and that they believe she will be returned.

Brother Richard Cornwell said his sister is well suited to deal with emergency situations as a former probation officer with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.

Authorities believe Cornwell was abducted while talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone. The phone was found by a man mowing his lawn Friday.

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/latest/lat_701078.shtml?v=1000


Missing Georgia Mother Snatched Off the Street
Georgia Woman's Boyfriend Heard Her Abduction; Family Praying for Her Safe Return

By STEVE OSUNSAMI, CHRIS STRATHMANN and JOSHUA GAYNOR
Aug. 17, 2009

The family of a missing Georgia woman clings to hope nearly a week after she was snatched off the street while on the phone with her boyfriend.

Woman's boyfriend heard entire scuffle as they talked on a cell phone.

"I just know God is looking after her," Jo Ann Cornwell told "Good Morning America" today of her daughter. "And she has great faith in God. And that's where I'm putting my strength."

Kristi Cornwell, 38, was taking a routine evening walk Tuesday when police believe she was abducted down the street from her family's home in Blairsville, Ga.

Cornwell, mother to a 15-year-old son, Brody, was on her cell phone with boyfriend Douglas Davis as she was out for a stroll around 9 p.m.

Davis told the police that Cornwell said a car was approaching her. He then heard a struggle and Cornwell yelled, "Don't take me".

Then Davis lost reception.

Jo Ann Cornwell said Davis' next call was to her to tell what he had heard. Horrified, she then called 911.

"It terrified me," she said, her voice cracking. "I couldn't believe what he was saying."

Cornwell's brother, Richard Cornwell, told "Good Morning America" that investigators with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are still unsure whether his sister's abduction was random or if she was targeted, possibly in relation to her job as a former probation officer.

"Her son needs his mother back, and I need my baby back," Jo Ann Cornwell said, crying. "And we believe we're going to get her back."

Cornwell's cell phone was found Friday evening, according to police. A man was mowing his lawn when he found the phone, more than three miles from where investigators believe Cornwell was kidnapped.

Richard Cornwell said that single piece of evidence has given the family the most hope that Cornwell would be brought home.

Found along a major thoroughfare, not the back street from where Cornwell disappeared, the phone indicates the kidnappers' route, Richard Cornwell said.

"That's very encouraging to me, because we know the direction of travel," he said. "We know they were heading north on State Route 325."

From there, he said, they could have driven into Tennessee or North Carolina. Or, he said, just doubled back into Georgia.

"That gives me hope that there is still a good chance she's out there somewhere," he said.

Police, however, have told ABC News that they may soon be forced to scale back their search.

Police Believe Kristi Cornwell Is in Danger

At the scene of the kidnapping, police have also discovered signs of a struggle and some of Cornwell's belongings along Jones Creek Road, a rural road in north Georgia.

"The belief is it was a kidnapping, and she is in danger," said John Bankhead, spokesman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation believes Cornwell was abducted by vehicle and is now searching for a white SUV and a tan or gold subcompact car, possibly a Toyota or Nissan, that were seen in the area on the evening of Aug. 11.

For nearly a week, 100 people from more than 15 agencies have been searching for Cornwell.

Richard Cornwell said that his sister's boyfriend was not considered a suspect or a person of interest in the case.

Last year, another woman, Meredith Emerson, disappeared in the same area of northern Georgia. She was found murdered and her killer was caught and put behind bars.

But the people combing the countryside for Cornwell can't believe this is happening again. "We're in a rural community, you wouldn't think it would be like this," one man who lives in the area said.

Friends and family started a "Pray for Kristi Cody Cornwell" group on Facebook. There are more than 3,000 members so far.

One message read, "We love you and Brody and are praying for your safe return."

Cornwell was very active in her community and her church, taking part in a mission to Jamaica with her son Brody.

Anyone with information can call the Union County Sheriff's office at (706) 439-6038, or the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at (800) 597-8477.

Georgia mother Kristi Cornwell has been missing since last week, when she was snatched off the street during her evening walk.
(http://kristicornwell.com/)

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=8341741


Abducted woman’s mother: ‘Let her come back’
Kristi Cornwell was on cell phone when she yelled, ‘Please don’t take me!’

By Michael Inbar
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 8:57 a.m. ET, Mon., Aug 17, 2009

The mother of a woman missing and believed abducted off a rural Georgia road last Tuesday made an impassioned plea on TODAY Monday for her captor to show mercy and release her beloved daughter.

Kristi Cornwell, a pretty, 38-year-old single mom, went for an exercise walk near her home in Blairsville, Ga., Tuesday evening. As she chatted with her boyfriend, Douglas Davis, on her cell phone, she said she had to wait a moment for a vehicle to pass. Davis then heard a struggle and screams over the phone line, and Cornwell shouting, “Please don’t take me.”

While the tiny, tight-knit community rallies around Cornwell through prayer circles and some 100 law enforcement personnel from 15 agencies search for her, Kristi’s mother, Joanne, gave TODAY’s Ann Curry a message for whoever may have taken her daughter.

“I just want to ask them to have mercy on her, to let her go, let her come back to us,” Joanne Cornwell said live via satellite from Blairsville. “She has a 15-year-old son that desperately needs his mother. Let her go.”

Well trained
Choking back tears, Cornwell added a message to her daughter. “I would tell Kristi that we’re praying, and she’s praying I know; she’s a woman of faith. And we are, too. To hang in there, and her chance to be free will come. She will be able to get away.”

If anyone could be prepared for the horror of dealing with being abducted, it would be Kristi Cornwell. She has a degree in criminal justice, is trained in firearms, worked at a local prison and taught self-defense courses. She abandoned that career and was currently studying medical laboratory technology at Dalton State College, but her brother, Richard Cornwell, appearing with his mother on TODAY, told Curry Kristi could handle herself.

“She’s very well educated and well trained to deal with this situation,” he said. “I don’t think anyone would have a better set of tools than she does to get through this.”

Some leads have surfaced in the case that has rocked rural Union County, Ga., where another young hiker was murdered in January 2008. On Thursday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation found some of Cornwell’s personal belongings and signs of a struggle. And on Friday, a local man found Cornwell’s cell phone while mowing his lawn. The phone was found some 5 miles from where Cornwell was thought to have been abducted, with police believing whoever picked her up may have headed toward North Carolina.

In addition, reliable tips have come in reporting a white SUV and also a gold or tan compact car cruising in the area at the time of Cornwell’s abduction — vehicles that don’t belong to anyone living on the rural road. Still, the GBI has not nailed down a suspect. They have ruled out Cornwell’s boyfriend, her three ex-husbands, and a list of the registered sex offenders in the area.

“We don’t have a solid lead right now on who might have done this,” the GBI’s John Bankhead told NBC. “We don’t have any target suspects at this point.”

Reasons for hope
While the Cornwell family deals with its fear and dread about the safety of Kristi, her brother Richard told Curry he’s still at a complete loss as to why anyone would take their family member away.


Kristi Cornwell’s family members, including her mother, Joanne, held out hope for her safe return.

“I just can’t imagine someone would do a thing like this, it’s just beyond our wildest dreams,” he said. “We can’t even dream about anything this horrible.”

Former FBI profiler and NBC news analyst Clint Van Zandt told Curry Monday that he sees hopeful signs in the investigation — especially the discovery of the cell phone. “If it’s a kidnapping, you may have that the assailant grabs the cell phone out of her hand and throws it out the window. Then we’ve got fingerprints and perhaps DNA to work with,” he said.

Van Zandt added Cornwell likely knew exactly what she was doing by screaming “Please don’t take me” into her cell phone at the time of her abduction.

“For her to say that, that tells her boyfriend this is no accident; this was a kidnapping, so in those few words she expressed what was going on, and how frightened she was,” Van Zandt said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32445420/


Family of missing mom goes on TV

GEORGIA -- Relatives of a Georgia woman who authorities believe was abducted while walking last week are making an emotional appeal for her return.

Kristi Cornwell's mother, brother and cousin appeared on NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday from Blairsville in rural north Georgia.

Mother Jo Ann Cornwell pleaded through tears for her daughter's release. She said Kristi's 15-year-old son also needs his mother back and that they believe she will be returned.

Brother Richard Cornwell said his sister is well suited to deal with emergency situations as a former probation officer with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.

Authorities believe Cornwell was abducted while talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone. The phone was found by a man mowing his lawn Friday.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/national_world&id=6969164&rss=rss-wabc-article-6969164

Family of missing Georgia woman goes on national TV

POSTED: 12:20 p.m. EDT, Aug 17, 2009

BLAIRSVILLE, GA.: Relatives of a Georgia woman who authorities believe was abducted while walking last week are making an emotional appeal for her return.

Kristi Cornwell's mother, brother and cousin appeared on NBC's Today show and ABC's Good Morning America today from Blairsville in rural north Georgia.

Mother Jo Ann Cornwell pleaded through tears for her daughter's release. She said Kristi's 15-year-old son also needs his mother back and that they believe she will be returned.

Brother Richard Cornwell said his sister is well suited to deal with emergency situations as a former probation officer with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.

Authorities believe Cornwell was abducted while talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone. The phone was found by a man mowing his lawn Friday.

http://www.ohio.com/news/nation/53420052.html


Ga. Woman Believed Abducted
Woman's Boyfriend On Phone With Her At Time

POSTED: 11:39 am EDT August 17, 2009
UPDATED: 3:01 pm EDT August 17, 2009

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. -- Family members of a Georgia woman who authorities believe was abducted last week appeared on NBC's "Today" show Monday morning.
Kristi Cornwell's mother, brother and cousin appeared from Blairsville on the "Today" show.

Richard Cornwell, the woman's brother, said that his sister, a former probation officer, has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and is well-suited to deal with emergency situations.

On "Today," Jo Ann Cornwell, Kristi's mother, shared what she would want to say to her daughter.

"I would just tell Kristi that we're praying. She's praying, I know. She's woman of faith and we are too and that to hang in there and her chance to be free will come and she will be able to get away."

Authorities believe that Kristi Cornwell, who has a 15-year-old son, was abducted while talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone Aug. 11.

Investigators said that they have confirmed that the last call on Cornwell's phone was to her boyfriend, who was in Atlanta at the time.

A man who was mowing his lawn on Friday night found Cornwell's phone a few miles away from where Cornwell was last known to be walking.

http://www.wyff4.com/news/20430542/detail.html


Boyfriend heard struggle before woman's abduction

Monday, August 17, 2009

ATLANTA — The boyfriend of a Georgia woman who vanished near her parents' home said he overheard a struggle as the two talked by cell phone, and police are investigating whether her former job as a probation officer was linked to her disappearance.

Authorities scoured the north Georgia woods near Blairsville Monday for a sixth day looking for Kristi Cornwell, who police say was abducted Aug. 11. Cornwell told her boyfriend that she believed a car was following her and he said he called police when he heard her struggle.

"At this point, we don't know if it's a random abduction or a targeted abduction," said John Bankhead, a spokesman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Investigators are looking at the 38-year-old woman's past employment, including her last job as a state probation officer in 2002, Bankhead said. That is standard in missing persons cases, he said.

Cornwell, who graduated from nearby North Georgia College with a degree in criminal justice, also worked at the state prison in Blairsville and the Towns County Sheriff's Office.

A 3.5-mile swath was covered near the area Cornwell disappeared, and a dive team searched the water near a bridge nearby, Bankhead said. The window to find her may be closing, he said.

"Time is an enemy, as far as that's concerned," Bankhead said, adding the heat has also slowed the search as volunteers had to stop periodically to stay hydrated.

Cornwell's family told reporters she's been divorced three times and is the mother of a 15-year-old son. Her brother, Richard Cornwell, also said she took firearms classes, taught self-defense and enjoyed riding her motorcycle.

Cornwell's cell phone was found about two miles north of the spot where she was last seen. Police said the GBI is also looking at an abandoned car found in the woods several miles from the abduction.

Investigators have interviewed 150 registered sex offenders in the four-county north Georgia area. They will next contact registered sex offenders across the state line in North Carolina.

Cornwell's family, meanwhile, has set up a Web site at www.kristicornwell.com to gather information. Richard Cornwell said he had hope his sister would safely return.

"We really want her back, and we would appreciate it if they would have mercy on her and just understand that we need her back," he said.

http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/state/boyfriend-heard-struggle-before-womans-abduction-780633.html

This is a very tragic story. Based on what we already know about this case, I don't think it will have a happy ending. I hope that more women will start realizing that just because they have their cell phone with them while they're walking along, it does not necessarily mean that they are safe from harm. My heart goes out to Kristi & her family.

Agents in Kristi Cornwell case interview N.C. jogger
She avoided attempted kidnapping two weeks earlier

7:51 p.m. Wednesday, September 2, 2009
By Christian Boone
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

GBI agents are investigating the attempted kidnapping of a jogger one town over from where Kristi Cornwell was abducted.

The failed kidnapping occurred on July 26 in Murphy, N.C., roughly 20 miles from Blairsville, where Cornwell disappeared Aug. 11.

“There aren’t any real similarities, but there is proximity,” said GBI spokesman John Bankhead.

The attempted kidnapping occurred at 9:30 p.m. -- right about when Cornwell, 38, was grabbed while walking along Jones Creek Road, not far from her home. She was chatting on her cellphone with her boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, authorities say.

The GBI identified a large-size white SUV, and a tan or gold subcompact car, as vehicles possibly driven by Cornwell’s abductor. In the Murphy case, witnesses say the man was driving a red Ford Ranger.

“We’re following up on it, but right now there is no connection,” Bankhead said.

Cornwell’s case remains a mystery, despite national media coverage and a $50,000 reward.

http://www.ajc.com/news/agents-in-kristi-cornwell-129879.html?cxtype=rss_news_81960


New Lead in Cornwell Case

By Jon Lewis @ September 3, 2009 6:56 AM

(WSB Radio) There could be a new lead in the case of a missing Blairsville woman.

The GBI confirms it's looking into the case of a woman who was almost abducted about a week before Kristi Cornwell's disappearance.

Bill and Sara Sherill were sitting on their front porch in Murphy, North Carolina, about a half hour from where Cornwell vanished in Union County. The Sherill's spotted one of their neighbors out for her evening run and, as she passed their house they saw a man following her.

"Obviously he was going after her," Mrs. Sherill says.

The Sherill's became alarmed, with Mr. Sherill saying to his wife, "maybe I should go rescue her because it looked like he intended to do something.

"It was really scary," he says.

They saw the man climb into a red pick up truck and follow the woman some more.

Mr. Sherill went so far as to get into his own car, but stopped when he saw the red pick up pass him going the other direction.

Sherill drove to find the woman and discovered Brigitte Townsend safely running to her home. She told him she was unaware of the other man's presence.

Cornwell disappeared the evening of August 11 while walking along Jones Bridge Road, in Union County. Extensive searching by law enforcement has turned up few clues as to what happened to the 38 year old mother.

http://wsbradio.com/localnews/2009/09/new-lead-in-cornwell-case.html


Sex offender made phony posters of Blairsville woman

6:07 p.m. Thursday, September 3, 2009 By MEGAN MATTEUCCI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The GBI questioned Gibson Williams after he made posters offering a phony reward for a missing Blairsville mom. Investigators have ruled him out as a suspect. Williams said he made a mistake.

A convicted sex offender said he was just trying to help when he made phony reward posters for a missing Blairsville mom.

Gibson Williams said Thursday that he had no attention of harming missing mom Kristi Cornwell’s family when he copied the woman’s photograph, listed his phone number and printed up several posters promising a $100,000 reward.

Cornwell, 38, was reportedly abducted Aug. 11 while walking near her parents’ Blairsville home. She was chatting on her cellphone with her boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, investigators said.

Williams, 38, said he doesn’t know the Cornwells and learned of the abduction when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation questioned him and about 180 other sex offenders in the area.

“They showed me the poster and I thought I got a mother, a wife, a sister,” Williams said. “From my time in prison, I know money makes a difference. I wasn’t trying to fraudulent. I was just trying to put a number out there, something that couldn’t be ignored.”

GBI agents questioned Williams about the phony posters and ruled him out as a suspect.

“He was trying to help and thought it would bring attention to it. There just wasn’t $100,000,” GBI spokesman John Bankhead said Thursday. “There was nothing to charge him with.”

Richard Cornwell, the missing woman’s brother, said a cousin was hanging posters at a Union County store and saw the sign offering $100,000.

The family called the number and began checking it online to find out who it belonged to. Within minutes, Richard Cornwell traced the number to Williams.

“Then we did a Google search and he came up on the sex offender registry,” he said. “I saw he had committed a kidnapping. It was shocking. My adrenaline was pumping. I thought we were really on to something hot.”

The GBI searched Williams’ Hiawassee home and found no evidence he was involved in the abduction.

Williams said he was 17 when he was convicted of kidnapping and robbing a “dope dealer” in Douglas County. He was convicted in 1991 and sentenced to life plus 20 years, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.

He was released from prison in January 2008 and placed on the sex offender registry because the kidnapping victim was a minor.

“They retroactively made me a sex offender. There is no sexual elements to the crime,” Williams said. “I did a lot of time in prison and I like think I can be a normal citizen now.”

Richard Cornwell said the sex offender scare occurred during the second week of the search, but he was not permitted to talk about it until this week after the GBI closed that portion of the investigation.

Williams said he has since taken all of his posters down and wants to apologize to the Cornwell family.

“I made a mistake,” he said. “I hate that I complicated what they are feeling at this time. I wanted to go out and help her, but I couldn’t.”

Richard Cornwell said he just continues to pray that someone will find his sister alive.

“We’re still hopeful she’s out there alive and just waiting on us to find her,” he said.

The GBI continues to look into leads, but still have no clues what happened to Cornwell. They investigated reports of an attempted kidnapping of a jogger in nearby Murphy, N.C. and determined it is not connected, Bankhead said.

The GBI identified a large-size white SUV, and a tan or gold subcompact car, as vehicles possibly driven by Cornwell’s abductor.

The family is offering a $50,000 reward. Anyone with information may call the GBI at 1-800-597-8477.




Sex Offender Prints Bogus Cornwell Posters

By Jon Lewis @ September 4, 2009 7:30 AM

(WSB Radio) A convicted sex offender says he meant no harm when he printed up bogus reward posters for a missing Blairsville woman.

38 year old Gibson Williams photocopied Kristi Cornwell's picture, then listed his phone number on the poster and put them out to the public, offering a reward of $100,000.

Cornwell, 38, vanished the evening of August 11, while walking in Union County. A massive search turned up no signs of her.

Williams says he learned of Cornwell's disappearance after GBI agents questioned him and dozens of other known sex offenders in the area.

http://wsbradio.com/localnews/2009/09/sex-offender-prints-bogus-corn.html

Sex Offender Apologizes For Kristi Cornwell Poster
Poster Solicited Donations

Posted: 10:26 am EDT September 3, 2009
Updated: 11:10 am EDT September 3, 2009

ATLANTA -- The convicted sex offender who printed up a reward poster about a missing Blairsville woman told Channel 2 Action News Thursday he wants to apologize to Kristi Cornwell's family.

"I intended only to help," Gib Williams said of the poster that solicited donations and featured a photo of Cornwell.

The poster was discovered in the days following Kristi Cornwell’s disappearance, said Richard Cornwell.

It offered a $100,000 reward, but the Cornwell family had not yet set up a reward fund.

"It really is unbelievable that there are people in the world that will try to gain financially from this disgusting crime," said Richard Cornwell.

"I sincerely hope that my impulsive actions, as well intentioned as they were, do not cause lasting undue hardship to the Cornwell family at this terribly difficult time in their lives," he wrote. "I can only offer my sincerest apologies. I AM SORRY."

Investigators believe that Kristi Cornwell was abducted while she was walking along Jones Creek Road in Blairsville more than three weeks ago.

Kristi Cornwell’s family believes that Williams was trying to profit off the case, but the GBI said it couldn’t charge him because Williams didn’t take any money.

Williams said in an e-mail sent to Channel 2 Action News reporter Jodie Fleischer that he did not intend to profit off the search for Cornwell.

READ: Sex Offender's Apology

Posted: 11:03 am EDT September 3, 2009Updated: 11:11 am EDT September 3, 2009
Here is the e-mail convicted sex offender Gib Williams sent to Channel 2 Action News reporter Jodie Fleischer about the missing woman poster he produced:

Dear Ma'am:

I have wanted to extend my apologies to the family of Ms. Cornwell for any feelings my actions may have stirred in them. I intended only to help by pledging an amount that I felt anyone connected to the kidnapping couldn't ignore, as I saw no other means by which I could assist.

I am a registered sex offender by the same default law that is meant to be addressed by Senate Bill 157, i.e., the kidnapping of a 17-year old drug dealer in 1991 when I was 17-years old myself.

There was no sexual element to my case whatsoever.

Since coming home, I have endeavored to build an honest and dependable life and livelihood.

This does not include profiting off someone else's misery.

I sincerely hope that my impulsive actions, as well intentioned as they were, do not cause lasting undue hardship to the Cornwell family at this terribly difficult time in their lives.

I can only offer my sincerest apologies. I AM SORRY.

Gib Williams

Kristi Cornwell is Missing: Sex Offender Investigated in Missing Woman's Case

September 04, 2009

Police Believe Gib Williams Attempted to Profit from Kristi Cornwell's Disappearance

For the briefest of moments, the family of Kristi Cornwell felt a flash of hope. Authorities discovered that a $100,000 reward poster had been issued for Kristi Cornwell, but there was a problem with the poster. Kristi Cornwell's family had not yet issued a reward when the poster was found. No other organization had, either. And on the poster was contact information. Those investigating the case of Kristi Cornwell thought they had a solid lead and went to work.

They soon found out that the person who issued the reward poster, Gib Williams, was a registered sex offender. Things seemed to be breaking the investigation's way.

Then... nothing.

Authorities believe that Gib Williams took advantage of the situation of Kristi Cornwell's disappearance hoping to make some money. Kristi Cornwell's worried and distraught family members feel the same way. Richard Cornwell, Kristi's brother, said, "It really is unbelievable that there are people in the world that will try to gain financially from this disgusting crime."

Police had nothing to hold Gib Williams on, so he was never arrested. They said that since Williams had not taken any money, he could not be charged with a crime.

Williams later apologized to the family of Kristi Cornwell. In an e-mail to Channel 2 Action News reporter Jodie Fleischer, Williams wrote: "I sincerely hope that my impulsive actions, as well intentioned as they were, do not cause lasting undue hardship to the Cornwell family at this terribly difficult time in their lives. I can only offer my sincerest apologies. I AM SORRY."

He also said that he had never intended to profit from the poster and that he had only been trying to help.

Which seems to be the excuse of so many that are involved somehow in missing person investigations, such as Misty Croslin Cummings, who recently failed a polygraph test and a voice stress analysis test in the case of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings. Some of the information given during the tests and during questioning has produced new leads, causing the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, the law enforcement agency investigating Haleigh Cummings' disappearance, to focus on the child's babysitter once more. Misty Croslin Cummings, who married the missing child's father a month after the little girl went missing, was the last person to see Haleigh Cummings alive. She called Equusearch, the search company that set up the polygraph test and stress analysis test at her request, to help "clear her name" so that authorities would again focus the investigation on finding her missing stepdaughter.

The same helpful attitude seemed to be behind the actions of Louis Ross, the foster parent of missing 5-year-old Hassani Campbell, when he agreed to take a polygraph test to get it out of the way so it wouldn't distract from the investigation, or so he claimed. But Louis Ross failed the polygraph test and Oakland Police arrested him and his fiancee, Hassani Campbell's aunt, Jennifer, and held them over this past weekend. They were released earlier this week but Oakland Police made it clear that they believe that Hassani Campbell is dead and that their investigation is now one of homicide and not a missing person.

As for Kristi Cornwell, she has now been missing since August 11. The 38-year-old north Georgia woman is believed by police to have been abducted off of Jones Creek Road in Blairsville while taking a routine evening stroll. Police found items belonging to Cornwell along the road in the spot where it is believed she was taken. Her cell phone was found a few days later three miles away.

The Cornwell family does have a reward fund set up in the amount of $50,000 for information as to Kristi Cornwell's whereabouts and/or about anything that might lead to the arrest of anyone that may have been responsible for her disappearance.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2139913/kristi_cornwell_is_missing_sex_offender.html?cat=9

Morgan County sketch possible lead to Cornwell



By Marcus K. Garner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
11:04 p.m. Thursday, December 10, 2009

Investigators are linking an attack on a Morgan County woman in June to the disappearance of a Blairsville woman who's been missing since Aug. 11.

A detective with the Morgan County Sheriff's Office contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation after seeing a sketch released earlier this week of the Ranger, N.C., suspect authorities believe may be involved in the abduction of the 38-year-old Kristi Cornwell, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said.

The Morgan County victim was attacked on June 5, around 5:30 p.m., when her car became disabled on Highway 441, just 10 miles north of I-20, authorities said.

As the woman was attempting to repair her car she was grabbed from behind, authorities said. She fought off the attacker and drove away without getting a look at the suspect's vehicle.

"The victim in this case feels the sketch of the Ranger, N.C., suspect looks similar to her attacker," Bankhead said.

At the time of her disappearance, Cornwell was talking on her cell phone to her boyfriend, Douglas Davis. The boyfriend, whom investigators have ruled out as a suspect, told investigators Cornwell complained that an SUV was following her. He heard a struggle before the call ended.

Nine days before Cornwell’s abduction, a North Carolina woman told police a silver Nissan Xterra struck her as she was walking near a community center in Cherokee County, the GBI said.

She called the North Carolina State Highway Patrol and said the driver got out of the SUV and approached her, but climbed back into the vehicle and left when another car approached. The woman received minor injuries, authorities said.

Authorities are describing the suspect as a 5-foot-6 or 5-foot-7-inch white man with slim build, short, light brown hair, a strong jaw line and a dimple on his chin.

The GBI has issued a nationwide bulletin to law enforcement agencies on these three incidents in the hopes of finding the suspect, Bankhead said.

Anyone with information that might identify the man in the sketch is asked to call the GBI tip line at 1-800-597-8477 or the Morgan County Sheriff's Office at 706-342-1502.

http://www.ajc.com/news/gbi-morgan-county-sketch-237492.html

Cornwell's Mother Hopes for Safe Return

Updated: Friday, 25 Dec 2009, 11:27 PM EST
Published : Friday, 25 Dec 2009, 10:36 PM EST
Reported By: Julia Harding | Edited By: Leigha Baugham

The mother of a missing Blairsville woman pleaded Friday for her daughter's safe return and talked about the void she felt not having her daughter home for Christmas.

"Christmas was always Kristi's favorite holiday," said Jo Ann Cornwell.

Jo Ann Cornwell's daughter, Kristi turned 39 just five days ago has been missing since August 11. Police said Kristi Cornwell was abducted while walking a remote road near her Blairsville home.

Earlier this month, investigators released a sketch of a man they believe may be involved and the car he may be driving.

It is believed that the man tried to abduct another woman 25 miles away in Ranger, North Carolina just days before Cornwell was taken.

"It's the first time I've never been with her at Christmas," said Jo Ann Cornwell. "Today has been very sad. I've spent a lot of time crying today, but I know wherever Kristi is, that she's celebrating Christmas because Christ is in her heart and she knows this day to celebrate Christ's birth."

Cornwell's mother said she has a gut feeling her daughter's alive and that she felt her presence with her.

"We feel like that someone is holding her captive somewhere and if she can just get a chance to escape and come home to us," Cornwell said.

Cornwell said she was hoping to have her daughter back by Christmas, and now she's praying she comes home before the New Year.

"Have mercy on her, realize her family needs her back, her son needs her back," pleaded Jo Ann Cornwell. "I know it's been almost five months now, but miracles happen and we know where miracles come from. God sends them. He's in control. You'd love a miracle before 2009 ends. I'd love one today."

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/cornwell%27s-mother-hopes-for-safe-return-122509

GBI Gets New Lead in Cornwell Case

Updated: Sunday, 17 Jan 2010, 11:39 PM EST
Published : Sunday, 17 Jan 2010, 11:39 PM EST



Investigators with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Sunday that they had a new lead in the case of missing Blairsville woman, Kristi Cornwell. Investigators said that someone saw a police sketch and contacted investigators in Cherokee County, North Carolina.

"We give it a high degree of credibility," said Cherokee County Sheriff Keith Lovin.

From his Murphy, North Carolina office, the sheriff said the letter was anonymous. The writer of the letter claimed to be a grandmother worried about her grandson and his possible involvement in Cornwell's disappearance.

"The letter itself is intriguing in that it has a good deal of details to it," said Sheriff Lovin.

The tipster wrote that the sketch looked like her grandson and the vehicle description matched the vehicle her grandson drives.

Both the sketch and vehicle description were released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in December.


Cornwell's abduction happened in August on a rural road near her parent's home at nightfall.

Investigators said Cornwell's abduction was similar to an attempted attack on a woman in North Carolina in June.

The details in the letter went deeper. The writer claimed her grandson was visiting from out of town at the time of the North Carolina attack and that she hasn't seen him since around the time Conwell vanished.

GBI investigators said the letter was one of the man tips they were following in the case.

"It's the tone of the letter itself. It seems to be written by someone who is genuinely concerned," said Sheriff Lovin.

Investigators in Cherokee County said they are concentrating on the writer of the letter. The GBI spent the week speaking with mail carriers, trying to track down exactly where the letter was mailed from. Investigators said they were confident the person who wrote the letter lives in Cherokee County.

Investigators are pleading with the letter's writer to come forward with information on the case.

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/gbi-gets-new-lead-in-cornwell-case-011710

Link possible in case of woman abducted in NC

Friday, December 11, 2009

MADISON, Ga. -- Authorities are investigating a possible link between an attack on a woman in Morgan County and similar incidents in Union County and Ranger, N.C.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said Thursday that a Morgan County Sheriff's Office investigator called the agency this week after seeing the sketch of a man suspected in an attempted abduction in North Carolina. The woman says she was assaulted in June while trying to fix her broken-down car on the side of a highway.

She said her attacker looked like the man in the Ranger sketch.

GBI agents hope the similar incidences will help them solve the disappearance of Blairsville mother Kristi Cornwell. Police believe she was abducted Aug. 11 as she walked along a road near her parents' home.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/state&id=7165073

Police give more details of tip letter
Family of missing woman asks writer to come forward

By Stephen Gurr
UPDATED Jan. 28, 2010 1:30 p.m.

A North Carolina law enforcement agency has released new information about an anonymous letter that could be the key to solving the case of a missing Blairsville woman.

Kristi Cornwell, 39, has been missing since she was abducted near her parents’ home on Aug. 11. Her family in recent weeks has asked that the writer of a letter sent to the Cherokee County, N.C., Sheriff’s Office come forward.

This week some of the contents of that letter were revealed by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office in a news release.

Officials said the unsigned letter came from a person purporting to be a grandmother of a man staying with her for two weeks in western North Carolina. The man was from Florida and was doing handyman work for the grandmother between Aug. 1 and Aug. 15, according to the letter.

The man drove a Nissan Xterra with Florida license plates and resembled a police composite sketch of a person who struck a woman with his car in Ranger, N.C., on Aug. 2, according to the letter.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has said there could be a connection between the Ranger incident and Cornwell’s abduction.

Today GBI Special Agent in Charge Mike Ayers would say little about the letter, except to confirm that investigators are now looking toward Florida.

“We think the person may be in Florida, if the letter is legitimate,” Ayers said. He said the GBI may be releasing more information on the case soon.

Investigators with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately return a phone message today.

Cornwell’s mother, Jo Ann Cornwell, said in a statement that she is “pleading with the writer of the anonymous letter ... to please come forward.”

“I know how hard it would be to implicate your own grandson in such a horrible crime,” Cornwell said. “I beg you, as the grandmother of Kristi’s possible abductor, to rid yourself of the guilt you must be feeling, knowing you may have the information that could lead us to Kristi.”

Source: http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/28841/

New clues in Cornwell missing person's case

Posted: Jan 28, 2010 06:10 PM
Updated: Jan 28, 2010 06:35 PM

And there are new clues in another missing person's case, this one in north Georgia. Investigators believe the key to solving a missing mom's disappearance may hinge on the identity of a Florida man.

Kristi Cornwell disappeared August 11th while taking an evening walk. But Georgia investigators now think her disappearance may be connected to a similar incident that took place a few days earlier in North Carolina.

The woman in that attempted abduction described the suspect for a sketch artist and gave police a description of the car. A few months later, investigators in North Carolina and Georgia received an anonymous letter from a woman who said the sketch looked like her grandson and that he was from Florida.

Investigators also say the grandmother in the letter wrote that her grandson was gone the night Kristi went missing, but he came home the next morning with scratches on him.

http://www.wtxl.tv/Global/story.asp?S=11897852

There is a bit of sad irony here. In November of 2009, I was in a local Walmart late at night. I noticed a silver xTerra as I went in. It was cold, late, and not many people there. I was in a rush, and I had parked on the far edge of the parking lot. I didn't really think anything about it.

I came out of the store with my groceries, and noticed this vehicle start moving towards me. I got incredibly nervous and moved away from the trunk of my car and called my husband. I made him talk to me as I tried to finish loading my groceries (including 2 50lb bags of dog food) with one hand and away from the trunk. This vehicle started circling my car slowly, but I kept moving away from my trunk and next to a concrete parking thing. Finally, when he passed me for the 4th time, I stepped out behind him and read his tag number out loud to my husband. He then pulled out of the parking lot and drove off.

I did not know they were looking for that kind of vehicle. I had heard about Kristi Cornwell, but decided she was located too far from where I was. Then I hear about this guy! This was in April. I graduated from Kennesaw State University. And I live within 15 miles of the campus. I was right in the same area as he was.

I am a 40+yo woman, but I put myself at risk. I didn't report this when it happened because it was a creepy guy in parking lot who didn't really do anything but make me nervous. Now, I wonder if I missed a chance to prevent some of his other crimes.


Authorities work lead in Cornwell abduction case
Kristi Cornwell went missing in August

By Stephen Gurr
sgurr@gainesvilletimes.com
POSTED: May 12, 2010 10:15 p.m.

As authorities continue to investigate the suicide of an accused rapist as a possible lead in the abduction of Kristi Cornwell, the missing Blairsville woman’s family remains vigilant but cautious.

“We’ve had our hopes up before and things didn’t pan out,” said Jo Ann Cornwell, the mother of 38-year-old Kristi Cornwell. “I’m not going to get too excited about this until we see something more concrete. Right now it’s still just another lead like all the others.”

James Scott Carringer’s DNA has been entered into an investigative database in Alabama, where he was a suspect in last month’s attempted abduction of a 10-year-old girl, Montgomery Police Department Capt. Keith Barnett said.

Authorities are checking to see if Carringer’s DNA matches evidence from any unsolved crimes in the state.

Carringer shot and killed himself in a standoff with Atlanta police on April 10. He was wanted for kidnapping a young woman he knew and raping her in Gilmer County.

Since then, Georgia and Alabama authorities have taken an interest in Carringer, who worked as a real estate appraiser with his wife in Young Harris.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation officials said this week they have investigated Carringer’s whereabouts on Aug. 11, the day Cornwell was abducted while walking alone on a rural Union County road. Nothing they’ve learned so far has led them to rule Carringer out.

Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange this week told WFSA-TV that Carringer’s wife said he would leave home for two to three days at a time.

Though he was in a black Nissan Xterra when he killed himself, officials said Carringer was also known to drive a silver Xterra like the one involved in an incident in Ranger, N.C., on Aug. 2. In that incident, a woman was walking alone when she was intentionally struck by the truck. The driver got out of the truck but then got back in and drove off when another car approached. The case had enough similarities to Cornwell’s abduction for investigators to pursue a connection.

News of Carringer’s name surfacing in the investigation has drawn renewed media attention to the case, publicity the Cornwell family welcomes. Jo Ann Cornwell gave several interviews Wednesday, including one with national cable news network HLN.

“I’m glad any time Kristi’s case is in the media because I hope it will help her be found,” Jo Ann Cornwell said. “I’m glad that people won’t forget her and know she’s still missing.”

Carringer has a criminal record in Clay County, N.C., where he was sentenced to probation in 2000 for harassing and threatening phone calls and misdemeanor assault, according to North Carolina Department of Corrections records.

Carringer operated The Appraisal Agency in Young Harris, which specialized in appraisals of residential property in North Georgia. His appraiser’s license was revoked in 2003 by the Georgia Real Estate Commission and Appraisers Board, according to the agency’s website.

Authorities have said that a woman who wrote a letter to the Cherokee County, N.C., sheriff’s office may have information they are looking for. The letter-writer claimed to have a grandson who might be involved in the unsolved cases, but did not provide a name.

Investigators have unsuccessfully tried to locate the person who wrote the letter.

At least one of Carringer’s grandmothers was dead before the letter was sent. Bertha Carringer died at age 100 in September 2008 in Cherokee County, N.C., according to her obituary in the Cherokee Scout newspaper.

Like the GBI, Cornwell cautions that Carringer may not be connected, and wants potential tipsters to keep an open mind.

“I don’t want us to get tunnel vision and just focus on this one person,” she said.

Jo Ann Cornwell also said she realizes that if Carringer did abduct her daughter, finding her will be more difficult with him dead.

“If he did have something to do with it, then it would be frustrating,” she said. “But I’m not giving up hope. Nobody’s coming up with proof she’s not alive, so that’s where I’m going to keep my hopes.”

Anyone with information about the disappearance of Kristi Cornwell is asked to call 800-597-8477. A $50,000 reward is available.

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/archives/33111/

Maat, you certainly did the right thing by calling your husband and keeping him on the line with you. That is a terrifying situation and you felt threatened. You may have very well saved your own life by thinking so quickly. What's even more frightening is reading this woman's letter above, and realizing it may have been the same guy.

We cannot be too careful, even walking the dog in the evening. I'm glad you were able to escape the creepy situation. Which leaves the question...when do we call the police?

Welcome Maat. Hope you enjoy it here as much as we all do.

What a scary thing to happen.
Luckily he left after you read his license plate number out to your hubby. You must have said it loud enough for the guy to hear you, good thinking!

Welcome Maat. That must have been a scary experience. I'm glad he got scared off when you started reading his plate number to your husband. It very well could have been the person who abducted Kristi and/or the guy who killed himself after kidnapping and raping another woman.

I did consider calling the police when it happened, but I didn't really know what I would tell them. Piper brings up a good point. When do we know we should call the police? And what do we tell them? In this case, I really had nothing to report. He creeped me out. That isn't really a crime. I don't think the police would have done anything with it.

And I did make it very obvious that I was reporting his tag number. I even sent it in a message, so that it was in print. I made sure he knew I was relaying information about him while he was far enough away from me.

Maat, welcome to RC!

That was some quick thinking on your part! Makes me wonder how I would react given a similar situation. Your actions very well may have saved your life.....

Thank you for posting about your experience. I'm sure that wasn't easy.

Cornwell's mother still hopeful one year after disappearance

By Ty Tagami
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
August 10, 2010

It has been a year since Kristi Cornwell disappeared, but her mother hasn't given up hope.

Jo Ann Cornwell has lived through the peaks and troughs of an investigation that at times seemed on the edge of success. Yet each new and seemingly important tidbit of information has not brought Kristi home, and her mother has adopted a stoic attitude.

"I don't get my hopes up too high when something comes out," she told WSB Radio News. "That makes it easier."

Kristi Leigh Cornwell disappeared while walking near her Blairsville home on Aug. 11. She left no trace, except her cell phone.

Investigators found it along a state highway a couple miles away. They also found signs of struggle where they think she disappeared.

Her boyfriend, Douglas Davis of Carrollton, told authorities he was talking to her on that cell phone as she walked down the isolated road that night. She told him that a car that had been following her had stopped. Investigators said Davis, who has been ruled out as a suspect, told them that he heard a scuffle and Cornwell shout, “Don’t take me!”

Read more: http://www.ajc.com/news/cornwells-mother-still-hopeful-588536.html

GBI releases letter from ‘concerned grandmother' in Kristi Cornwell case

Woman wrote that she suspected her grandson in the kidnapping

By Rhonda Cook
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
August 11, 2010



A “concerned grandmother” wrote state and local investigators that she suspects her grandson is the person they want to talk to about the disappearance of Kristi Cornwell a year ago.

“I pray this information is meaningless and I have no proof of any wrongdoing," the anonymous grandmother wrote to sheriff's offices in Union County and Cherokee County, N.C. “I want to give my grandson the benefit of doubt until proven otherwise. However, I will not turn a blind eye to my suspicions.”

The letter also suggested the grandson may have committed other crimes similar to Cornwell's disappearance.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation acknowledged in January that it received a letter voicing suspicions, but did not release the contents until Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of Cornwell's disappearance. The GBI said it hopes someone will recognize it. The letter writer did not provide any information that would lead investigators to her or her grandson.

Read more: http://www.ajc.com/news/gbi-releases-letter-from-589786.html?cxtype=rss_news_81963

Letter from grandmother

http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/archive/00648/See_letter_from_gra_648022a.pdf

Letter from GBI to grandmother

http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/archive/00648/See_letter_from_GBI_648106a.pdf

'Grandmother' Letter Released In Kristi Cornwell Case

Posted By - Kevin Rowson
Last Updated On: 8/12/2010 12:00:16 AM

BLAIRSVILLE, GA -- The Georgia Bureau of Investigation believes a letter from a "Concerned Grandmother" holds the key to solving the disappearance of Kristi Cornwell. The GBI released the text of that anonymous letter writer who believes her grandson was involved in the disappearance of Kristi Cornwell one year ago.

Click here for PDF copy of letter to Police

Click here for image of envelopes to Police

Police say the 38-year-old woman was abducted while talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone. She was last seen walking on Jones Creek Road near Blairsville on Aug. 11, 2009.

Nine days before Cornwell disappeared a man tried to abduct a woman in Ranger, NC. The two cases have become so entwined that the GBI is operating under the assumption they are connected.

The letter writes said her grandson matched a sketch of a man wanted in the Ranger attack. She also wrote that her grandson drove a Nissan Xterra which was described by witnesses in both cases.

In the letter released Wednesday, the woman wrote "I was horrified to see a newspaper photo of a man that looks like my twentyseven year old grandson."

Read more: http://www.11alive.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=149878

After reading the letter and seeing the envelope, heres my ideas...

First, I think the writing on the envelope looks like a mans..probably used the wrong hand..

I absolutley think the letter is connected with the case, and possibly from the killer....

I think the reason for the letter is part of his sick twisted game...

but mostly to distract.... where he hopes that LE will keep looking for an xterra when it was prolly not the vehicle and not the age, and not a florida rez..

The reason I say this is because the letter gives specifics like his age, what he drives and that he lives in Florida, not in that town.....

I bet he lives right in that town and I bet the vehicle is not that of a Xterra and I doubt he is the age that was stated in the letter...

I have to be sinnicle, but honeslty, I seriously DOUBT, whoever wud take the time to write the police to describe the killer, and things about the killer, wud do this anonymously...

If this person was sick about it, why wud she write this and not give him up????

It doesnt make nay sense.. I think the person responsible for the crimes is the author... why wud a normal concerned citizen ..play games like this?????

Kristi Cornwall: Plea from Kristi Cornwell's Mother