Kristi Cornwell Missing Blairsville, Georgia [Archive]

zorro

08-18-2009, 01:13 AM

Boyfriend heard struggle before woman's abduction

By GREG BLUESTEIN (AP) – 4 hours ago

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 http://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.

Associated Press Writer Errin Haines contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Related articles

zorro

08-18-2009, 01:18 AM

Finding Kristi Cornwell: 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.
Share
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.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=8341741&page=1

zorro

08-18-2009, 01:22 AM

Police to resume search for Blairsville woman

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

After interviewing dozens of neighbors and 180 sex offenders, police still are no closer to finding a Blairsville mom who went missing a week ago.

More than 100 searchers from 17 agencies looked for Kristi Cornwell on Sunday, 5 days after she was abducted from a secluded Blairsville road.

Kristi Cornwell, 38, has been missing since Aug. 11.

At 6 p.m. Monday, divers called off their search of Lake Nottley, which is about five miles from where Cornwell’s cellphone was found. Police also completed a search of the three-mile radius surrounding the location where Cornwell was last seen, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said.

Police say Cornwell, a former probation officer, was taken while on an evening walk along a little-traveled road near her parents’ Blairsville home. At the time, police believe she was on her cellphone telling her boyfriend Douglas Davis in Atlanta that a car was following her.

Divers had hoped to find possible evidence thrown off a bridge by the abductor, but the search turned up nothing, Bankhead said.

Divers said the 27-feet deep lake was murky and visibility was limited, but they are confident there is nothing in the lake.

The Hall County Sheriff’s dive team does not plan to return on Tuesday, but GBI agents and local law enforcement officers will continue their search on foot and all-terrain vehicles.

Although the number of searchers will be less than previous days, the GBI said it remains committed to finding Cornwell.

“We’re going to try and not allow budget cuts to interfere with our mission to find Kristi,” Bankhead said, referencing the GBI’s furloughs.

On Monday, the GBI sent 30 extra agents to knock on doors and interview residents in the neighborhood surrounding the location where Cornwell was abducted.

Meanwhile the family set up a fund at United Community Bank in Blairsville to solicit money for a reward, said Keith Hogsed, Cornwell’s cousin.

On Monday, agents interviewed 30 sex offenders who live in North Carolina along the Georgia border. The GBI has already interviewed 150 sex offenders in Union, Fannin, Towns and Lumpkin counties, Bankhead said.

Bankhead said the sex offenders and divers were standard procedure and the only main evidence is the cellphone.

Fred Roberts found the cell while mowing his yard on Friday night. He checked out the numbers, which his son recognized, and called the GBI, he said.

“We’re just proud that we found something that might help,” Roberts said Monday.

Investigators ruled out the possibility that Cornwell’s abductor had staked her out as she exercised, saying that she normally doesn’t walk that four-mile loop that late at night.

“The most difficult thing is we still don’t know whether it was random or a targeted abduction,” Bankhead said.

On Monday, the family made a national plea for help and appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and NBC’s “Today” show.

Although concerned a possible kidnapper may be loose in the area, Blairsville residents said they are skeptical about the abduction being a random act.

The boyfriend, Davis, told investigators he was on the phone when he heard the struggle between Cornwell and her abductor. She said “don’t take me,” and then hung up, investigators said.

Davis then called Jo Ann Cornwell, his girlfriend’s mother, Bankhead said. The mother called 911.

Davis, who was in Atlanta at the time, also called police, the GBI said.

Details about those calls and the 911 tapes are part of the investigation and not available, Bankhead said Monday.

Investigators questioned Davis and Kristi Cornwell’s three ex-husbands – and have ruled them out as suspects, said her brother Richard Cornwell.

http://www.ajc.com/news/police-continue-search-for-117175.html

zorro

08-18-2009, 01:29 AM

GBI unsure if Blairsville woman’s abduction was random or targeted

By Megan Matteucci

Kristi Cornwell spent years securing violent felons in prison and never got hurt.

Law enforcement officials say Kristi Cornwell, the Blairsville woman missing since Tuesday night, was abducted.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and other police agencies have set up a command post at the New Union Baptist Church in Blairsville.

More than 100 searchers from 17 agencies looked for Kristi Cornwell on Sunday, 5 days after she was abducted from a secluded Blairsville road.

She took firearms classes, taught self-defense and whizzed down the Dragon’s Tail – one of the most popular roads for bikers in the country – on her motorcycle. Yet she never had any problems.

But last week, the 38-year-old mother known for taking risks became victim at what her family calls one of the safest places in the world – near her Blairsville home.

“She could fight off almost anyone. She had firearms training, self-defense training,” her brother Richard Cornwell said Sunday. “I think she’s better prepared for this situation than anyone else. That’s what keeps us positive. She has the tools she needs.”

For the fifth day in a row, more than 100 officers scoured the small Union County town on foot, horseback and ATV searching for Cornwell.

Police say Cornwell, a former probation officer, was abducted Tuesday while on an evening walk along a little-traveled road near her parents’ Blairsville home. At the time, she was on her cellphone, telling her boyfriend in Atlanta that a car was following her.

The next thing the boyfriend heard was a struggle and then Cornwell was gone. He called police and that’s what began the second massive police search in the tiny Blue Ridge Mountain town in less than a year.

Last year, some of the same officers spent days searching the same woods for Meredith Emerson, a hiker who was later found raped and killed in nearby Dawson County.

Such a horrible crime can’t happen here twice, residents say.

“It’s very unusual for this to happen, much less in the same county where you don’t see this type of thing,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said.

That’s what keeps the Cornwell family going.

They know their missing loved one is strong and they are convinced she is alive.

Despite few clues coming in, temperatures above 90 degrees and budget cuts, the GBI said it remains committed to finding the woman. Officers, divers and K-9s plan to return to the search Monday morning, Bankhead said.

“The most difficult thing is we still don’t know whether it was random or a targeted abduction,” Bankhead said.

Family members say Cornwell worked with some of the worst of society – in prisons and with ex cons on probation. But they don’t think any one would want to hurt her.

GBI agents have already looked at all of those cases anyway and found no possible suspects.

Other than finding Cornwell’s cellphone about two miles from the site of the abduction, investigators have few leads.

On Sunday, more than 100 officers from 17 agencies rotated shifts and walked up and down rural roads throughout the Blue Ridge mountain town. They looked under bushes, scanned woods and climbed into ditches.

Bankhead said the search is like “finding a needle in a haystack” because Cornwell could be anywhere. Since the cellphone was found near the highway, officers initially assumed the abductor was fleeing the county, but no new leads in that area panned out.

“This is just the logical area to search,” Bankhead said Sunday afternoon. “But she could be anywhere. We have to start some place.”

By mid afternoon Sunday, officers had stopped searching the field where the phone was found and moved the search back to Jones Creek Road, the area where Cornwell was last seen walking.

Meanwhile, Cornwell’s family gathered at her parent’s house, making fliers, calling friends and soliciting money for a reward fund.

Kristi Cornwell spent most of her life in Blairsville. After graduating from North Georgia College with a degree in criminal justice, she worked at the state prison in Blairsville, the Towns County Sheriff’s Office and the state probation office.

But after years of counseling prisoners, she wanted to focus her help elsewhere, her brother said.

She enrolled in the medical technician program at Dalton State College and worked an internship at Union General Hospital.

“She’s dedicated her life to helping people. She just wanted to do something different,” Richard Cornwell said.

In her spare time, Cornwell took mission trips with her church to help disadvantaged children and got a motorcycle’s license.

She would let loose on the weekends, riding her bike with friends on U.S. 129 – the Dragon’s Tail – or camping, her brother said.

Her brother said she fell in love several times, resulting in three divorces and a 15-year-old son with whom she shares custody with her ex-husband, Richard Cornwell said.

Richard Cornwell said he met his sister’s most recent boyfriend Douglas Davis, but he didn’t want to talk about him – including the boyfriend’s claims that the couple was engaged.

“He was talking to her on the telephone. He is one of the few witnesses in the investigation. That’s why I’m not going to make any comment regarding him,” the brother said.

Investigators questioned Davis and the ex-husbands – and have ruled them out as suspects, Richard Cornwell said.

“I think there are a lot of questions about the whole situation,” said Denise Murphy, whose daughter was taught third grade by Cornwell’s mother.

“I’m not scared, I’m suspicious. This just doesn’t happen twice here,” Murphy said, referring to the Emerson killing.

Linda Wilson, a Blairsville mother of three, said her family has changed their routine since Cornwell’s abduction. She didn’t let her 21-year-old daughter go to a party this weekend and hasn’t let her 5-year-old son play outside.

“We’re not driving anywhere by ourselves,” said Wilson as she stopped at the Bi-Lo Sunday. “I mean this is Blairsville. I don’t lock my doors. I don’t even know where my house key is. We have to rethink how we do things.”

Although concerned, many residents said they are comforted by the dozens of law enforcement officers who have filled town – selling out the Holiday Inn at least two nights this week.

“It’s amazing how the community can come together like this,” Richard Cornwell said. “There’s been all these volunteers and many have experience in this type of operation. They have all worked together on the Emerson case. They know one another. ... They’ll find Kristi.”

http://www.ajc.com/news/gbi-unsure-if-blairsville-116696.html

zorro

08-18-2009, 04:37 PM

Missing Georgia Woman Heard Pleading 'Don't Take Me' Before Abduction

Christy Cornwell

The boyfriend of a Georgia woman who was apparently kidnapped while she was talking to him on her cell phone heard her say "Don't take me!" before their conversation was cut short.

Kristi Cornwell, a former probation officer, has been missing for a week. A man mowing his lawn Friday found her phone near where detectives believe she was out for a walk in Blairsville, Ga., when a car pulled up and she was abducted.

Newly released details about the call with her boyfriend reveal that Cornwell, 38, pleaded "Don't take me!" to her apparent captors before the connection was cut off.

Police are investigating whether her prior work as a probation officer may have factored in to her abduction.

"There's always a possibility that one of the inmates could have had a grudge," Cornwell's brother Richard Cornwell told FOX on Tuesday. "There's also a possibility that it could have been random. They don't know."

He said his sister's background as a probation officer and her criminal justice education make her well suited to deal with emergency situations.

He told FOX that some other personal items belonging to his sister were found near where she was taken, but he couldn't disclose what they were.

Detectives have interviewed Cornwell's three ex-husbands and have cleared them all of any involvement in the case, according to MyFOXAtlanta.com.

LIVESHOTS: Mystery in the North Georgia Mountains

Agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are helping in the search for the missing woman, which on Tuesday extended into Tennessee.

Teams are retracing their steps along the Union County road where Cornwell vanished, and more than 30 agents interviewed sex offenders and potential witnesses Monday, MyFOXAtlanta.com reported.

Dive crews also searched a lake near where Cornwell's phone turned up.

Cornwell's mother, brother and cousin have been making the media rounds this week from rural Blairsville in a stepped-up effort to find her.

They appeared Tuesday on FOX News Channel's "FOX & Friends" and Monday on NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "Good Morning America."

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.

The family has set up a Web site to help find Kristi Cornwell.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,540286,00.html

zorro

08-18-2009, 04:42 PM

GBI: Blairsville abductor may be from area

By Megan Matteucci and Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2:20 p.m. Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Investigators searching for a missing Blairsville woman believe she may have been taken by someone from the area, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan said Tuesday.

“Was she a target or was she a target of opportunity?”

That’s the question Keenan said investigators were trying to resolve.

They are leaning toward the theory that whoever took Kristi Cornwell on Aug. 11 most likely was a stranger to her, but not to the northeast corner of Georgia.

“Based on the facts, it’s logical the abductor has some connection to the area,” Keenan said.

Thirty of the 50 GBI agents dispatched to the Union County area are re-interviewing everyone living within 3 miles of where Cornwell was taken while on a walk at around 9:20 p.m.

They have also asked law enforcement in Tennessee to interview about 180 known sex offenders. That’s in addition to the 150 sex offenders who have already been interviewed in Union, Fannin, Towns and Lumpkin counties in Georgia, and 30 interviewed in North Carolina, according to GBI spokesman John Bankhead.

GBI agents are also continuing to knock on doors in the neighborhood surrounding the site of Cornwell’s abduction. This is the second neighborhood canvas intended to find information about any possible suspicious vehicles in the area.

Meanwhile, police are continuing to search woods and waterways in the area.

The GBI has also brought in intelligence analysts to set up a computer database of all of the leads that come in.

“Hundreds of leads have come in, but nothing has panned out of any significance,” Bankhead said Tuesday morning. “But we’re making sure investigators respond to every lead and indicate what he found in that lead.”

The GBI has been searching for seven days now since Douglas Davis, Cornwell’s boyfriend, told police the 38-year-old mother was abducted.

Davis told authorities he was talking to Cornwell on the phone when she said a car was following her. He then heard a struggle and Cornwell say “don’t take me,” he told police.

No one has seen or heard from the mother since then, police said.

Little else is known about the phone call, and any subsequent calls to 911. Davis and the GBI have refused to comment about the length and substance of Davis’ last conversation with Cornwell. The GBI also will not release audio of any 911 calls related to the case, saying they are part of the ongoing investigation.

Bankhead said he is not sure how long the GBI can sustain the search, since the agency is dealing with furloughs and having to respond to other crimes across the state.

Cornwell is a former state probation officer and was studying at Dalton State College to become a medical technician, her brother Richard Cornwell said.
Find this article at:

http://www.ajc.com/news/gbi-blairsville-abductor-may-be-from-area-118088.html

zorro

08-20-2009, 10:31 AM

Missing woman’s boyfriend believes she’s still alive

9:51 a.m. Thursday, August 20, 2009

The boyfriend of a Blairsville woman who was apparently abducted while walking near her parents’ home says he believes she is still alive.

Douglas Davis told NBC’s “Today” show Thursday that he believes 38-year-old Kristi Cornwell is OK because she is a “fighter.”

Davis was talking to Cornwell by cellphone on Aug. 11 when he overheard a struggle as she walked on a rural road in north Georgia. Cornwell is the mother of a 15-year-old son and formerly worked as a probation officer.

Davis urged his girlfriend to “hang onto your faith” and sent a message to whoever may have abducted her: “Please release her, let her go.”

Authorities called off the ground search for Cornwell Wednesday after nearly eight days of searching in parts of a three-state area but said the investigation will continue as a missing person case.

“We’re shutting down the general searches today,” GBI spokesman John Bankhead said Wednesday. “You can only search so much. We’ve covered the area where we thought she might be.”

Since Aug. 11, law enforcement officers from local, state and federal agencies have been scouring northeast Georgia, looking for evidence that might explain what happened to Cornwell.

The only significant find in the past eight days has been her discarded cellphone. A man cutting the grass found it last Friday about three miles from where investigators believe she was abducted.

Struggling with furloughs and other investigations across the state, the GBI had already begun to scale back earlier in the week even as FBI agents joined the operation two days ago.

“We had a debriefing from agents who did the road checks and neighborhood canvassing. After that, the command post was shut down. We will continue to search when and if we receive any tips or leads to a particular area,” Bankhead said.

Bankhead said Cornwell’s family was told of the decision and “they understood.

Bankhead said investigators are confident they will eventually find Cornwell but “we feel that she’s not in that area. We used every resource available to search that area of Union County and didn’t come up with anything.”

Cornwell left the house wearing flip-flops and carrying her cell phone around 9 p.m. on Aug. 11. She talked to her boyfriend in Atlanta as she walked along a secluded road.

Around 9:20 p.m., the 38-year-old woman told Douglas Davis there was a strange car. Davis said he then heard a struggle and Cornwell say “don’t take me” just before the call ended.

Investigators are still trying to determine if Cornwell’s attack was random or if she was targeted. They are leaning toward the theory that whoever took Cornwell was from the area.

Cornwell’s family said they are worried residents will forget about the search as time goes on and are asking the public to print out the woman’s photographs from www.kristicornwell.com.

“When you are out and about doing things, take the pictures and look around. When pumping gas at the gas station, look in the car next to you. Look at restaurants,” said Keith Hogsed, Cornwell’s cousin. “We want people actively looking for her, not just seeing the picture once and saying ‘I didn’t see her.’”

Staff writer Rhonda Cook and The Associated Press contributed to this article.

http://www.ajc.com/news/missing-womans-boyfriend-believes-120012.html?cxtype=ynews_rss

zorro

08-20-2009, 10:50 AM

Family of Missing Georgia Mother Kristi Cornwell Exhausted, Hopeful
Cornwell's Father Cautions Others to Be Careful, Mother Prays for Daughter's Safe Return
By SARAH NETTER, STEVE OSUNSAMI, CHRIS STRATHMANN and JOSHUA GAYNOR

Aug. 20, 2009 —

It's been more than a week since Kristi Cornwell was snatched off a Georgia street last week while taking an evening walk, and no one seems to know who took her or why.

While police initially considered the possibility that the abduction was connected to her former job as a parole officer, they are now leaning toward the likelihood that Cornwell, mother to a 15-year-old son, was kidnapped by a total stranger.

As police, state authorities and the FBI continue to comb the area and follow up on leads, Cornwell's family is trying to hold it together.

"We've still got that adrenaline pumping, and we're going to keep it going until we find her," brother Richard Cornwell told "Good Morning America" today.

Police do not yet have a suspect, and Cornwell's father Harold Cornwell said the kidnapper could be someone unknown to the family.

"I'd like to caution all young people and adults when using the Internet to meet people," he said.

Harold said that some nights the family get just one hour of sleep since his daughter's disappearance, but they have vowed to keep up their end of the search while police continue the investigation.

"I want them to know what a wonderful woman Kristi was ... a woman of great faith," her mother Jo Ann Cornwell said. "And I just want them to keep looking for her."

Also keeping vigil is Cornwell's son, Brody.

"He's holding up, he's a strong boy," Jo Ann Cornwell said. "We just tell him how many people are looking for her, praying for her."

Family Video Released, Reward Offered

Earlier this week, the family released a home video in hopes the images will generate new leads.

On the video, Cornwell can be seen on the 1994 video bouncing her then-infant son on her lap and opening Christmas gifts.

Richard Cornwell told ABC's Atlanta affiliate WSB that the family has set up a reward fund to encourage anyone with information to come forward.

"We're trying to get this reward fund built up," he said, "And we want this awful predator or predators put behind bars."

Mike Ayers, an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, told WSB that the FBI would bring in a behavioral scientist and assist with cell phone information.

Boyfriend Heard Kristi Cornwell's Abduction on the Phone

Cornwell was on her cell phone with boyfriend Douglas Davis as she was out for a stroll around 9 p.m. on Aug. 11.

Davis told 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 called 911.

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

"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."

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

Cornwell's cell phone was found Friday evening, according to police. A man found the phone while mowing his lawn 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 also discovered signs of a struggle and some of Cornwell's belongings along Jones Creek Road, a rural road in north Georgia.

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.

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.

CLICK HERE for more information about Kristi Cornwell and the reward for information leading to her whereabouts.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=8371075

One2Snoop

08-20-2009, 02:14 PM

http://i27.tinypic.com/e5fqc3.jpg
Kristi Cornwell

zorro

08-22-2009, 11:26 PM

10:21 p.m. Saturday, August 22, 2009

$50,000 reward to find Blairsville woman

By MASHAUN D. SIMON 

The Cornwell Family has created a reward in an effort to help find Kristi Cornwell, the Blairsville woman who disappeared Aug. 11.

They announced the $50,000 award Saturday.

The reward “is available for information leading to the safe return of Kristi Cornwell and/or the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for her abduction/disappearance,” said the family in a statement.

For more information visit http://kristicornwell.com/.
http://www.ajc.com/50000-reward-to-find-blairsville-woman-121662.html?cxtype=ynews_rss

SaraSidle

08-23-2009, 12:46 AM

zorro

08-23-2009, 05:05 PM

Douglas Davis Appears on the "Today Show" to Talk About Missing Girlfriend
By saul relative

Douglas Davis appeared on the "Today Show" Thursday to talk about his missing girlfriend, Kristi Cornwell. Douglas Davis held on to a small daily devotional book he said he received in his mailbox from Kristi Cornwell after the disappearance (he had not checked the mailbox in days). But there are some who think Douglas Davis may know more about Kristi Cornwell being missing than he's telling...
Kristi Cornwell has been missing for eleven days from her home in Blairsville, Georgia, the victim of a suspected abduction. She went walking, as was her custom, on the evening of August 11. Kristi Cornwell took the route she normally took, walking along Jones Creek Road. She was talking on the cell phone with her boyfriend, Douglas Davis, who was in Atlanta. Davis said she became nervous when an approaching car neared her and stopped. The last thing Douglas Davis heard Kristi Cornwell say was a shouted, "Don't take me!"
And Kristi Cornwell has been missing ever since and authorities are running out of leads...
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), who have searched the surrounding areas for over a week alongside nearly 20 various agencies, called off the ground search for Kristi Cornwell Wednesday. The GBI and local authorities will continue to keep the missing person search alive. The FBI joined the search for the missing woman Monday.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted that the only "significant" discovery in the past week had occurred when a man out mowing his lawn came across Kristi Cornwell's cell phone. It was found about three miles from where Kristi Cornwell is believed to have been abducted.
The abduction has not only the local populace but many amateur sleuths and casual observers trying to figure out what could have happened to the church attending college student. Her friends and family are baffled by the suddenness of it. Some speculated that perhaps it was someone who had held a grudge against her from her probation officer days. Some wondered if it might be someone she went to school with, someone she had somehow enraged within the past few weeks. And then there were those who took the easy route and simply pointed at the boyfriend.
Douglas Davis steered clear of the media until Thursday which probably helped fuel many of the comments and blogs that pointed the finger of blame in his direction. But Douglas Davis was in Atlanta, one might point out. And they would counter that that may not have been true, that he was on a cell phone, that even if it were true, he probably set her abduction up, knowing her routine as he did.
But Douglas Davis is a minister. So what, many will say. Preachers and priests commit incorrigible acts all the time.
No argument there.
And Douglas Davis said Kristi Cornwell's last words were, "Don't take me!" How contrived. Nobody says that, the blamers say. Obviously, Davis was making it all up.
And perhaps they are correct. But it is not known what else was said, and Douglas Davis is cooperating with the GBI in not revealing more about the last conversation he had with Kristi Cornwell.
Davis sat down with Ann Curry on the "Today Show" and, with tear-filled eyes, talked about his missing girlfriend. He told the "Today Show" host that she never talked about her job as a probation officer, nor mentioned anyone she had had trouble with while working as a probation officer. When Curry asked who might want to hurt Kristi Cornwell. "I have no idea," Davis said. "Our relationship was just about us. We were looking to a future together. In all of our conversations, many hours we would talk and shared of our lives, she never one time indicated there was anyone in her past who could do such a thing."
Douglas Davis praised the work of the authorities. But: "I believe that if we could just step up the search, that there are those out there right now who know the real truth of this story, who know where she is. Just pick up the phone, make the call and let us bring Kristi home."
His last few moments on the "Today Show" were spent imploring people to come forward and for anyone who might be holding his girlfriend to release her, "Let her go home."
Was the "Today Show" appearance of Douglas Davis the act of a calculating man? Does Douglas Davis know anything about the disappearance of Kristi Cornwell other than having the last conversation with her?
He certainly looked the part of a concerned man. But then, the naysayers will contend, a man capable of fooling a congregation and the town of Blairsville and devising such an elaborate abduction plan might just be capable of fooling Ann Curry and a national television audience.
Kristi Cornwell's story was told on a segment of "America's Most Wanted" Saturday evening.
Kristi Cornwell has a 15-year-old son and is a student at Dalton State College, pursuing a degree in medical technology.
Kristi Cornwell is described as a 5'5", 150-lb dark-haired white female. Authorities are asking that anyone with information related to her whereabouts to call the Union County Sheriff at 706-439-6066.
******
Sources:
AJC.com
"Today Show," NBC Television

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2093475/kristi_cornwell_is_missing_blaming.html?cat=9

zorro

08-23-2009, 05:09 PM

http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/brief.cfm?id=67615

SaraSidle

08-23-2009, 05:57 PM

http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/brief.cfm?id=67615

I wonder how tight his Atlanta alibi is? I am assuing there is phone call documentation. No word yet on fingerprints on cell phone. hmmm sara

zorro

08-23-2009, 10:50 PM

Search for missing Georgia woman moves to Kings Mountain (with mug)
Olivia Neeley
2009-08-23 20:13:59

KINGS MOUNTAIN — The search for a missing Georgia woman that recently gained national media attention moved to the Kings Mountain area on Sunday.

The U.S. Marshals Office joined forces with Cleveland County officials in the search for the woman after her abduction was profiled on the television show "America's Most Wanted" on Saturday night.

Police say Kristi Cornwell, of Blairsville, Ga., was abducted while talking to her boyfriend on her phone Aug. 11.

"We have not found anything out of the ordinary," said U.S. Marshal Tyler Kellner at the search site in Kings Mountain. "We try to follow any and every lead."

More than 60 officials lined up 10 feet apart and explored open spaces and wooded areas in the neighborhood off Baltic and Chapman roads. The area is about a mile from U.S. 74 near the Moss Lake exit.

A tipster called the show and told officials "the area off Baltic Road in Kings Mountain, North Carolina" would be a good place to search.

"It was a vague tip," Kellner said. "We respond to all calls and tips as quickly as we can."

The U.S. Marshals Office has a close relationship with the show that has resulted in a lot of positive leads, he said.

Search dogs

Officials covered a significant amount of area Sunday, said Dewey Cook, Cleveland County director of Emergency Management. The search will continue Monday with dogs brought in by the Western N.C. Search and Rescue Dog Team, he added.

Investigators recently began interviewing 180 sex offenders in Tennessee, and have also interviewed 30 sex offenders in Cherokee County, N.C., and 150 sex offenders in four counties in Georgia.

The FBI joined the search recently as well and Cornwell has been searched for in Tennessee.

Authorities are following up on hundreds of tips and leads have been bolstered by national media attention.

Cornwell’s family announced a $50,000 reward on Saturday. Cornwell, the mother of a 15-year-old son, last worked as a probation officer in 2002.

The Associated Press contributed to this story
http://www.gastongazette.com/news/search-37211-officials-kings.html

zorro

08-23-2009, 10:55 PM

I wonder how tight his Atlanta alibi is? I am assuing there is phone call documentation. No word yet on fingerprints on cell phone. hmmm sara

FWIW, on FoxNews, Davis claims the GBI had his phone records:

Davis said he has been cleared as a suspect in Cornwell's disappearance and passed a polygraph that he volunteered to take. He said he was two-and-a-half hours away when Cornwell was taken.

"They validated that by my telephone records," Davis told FOX. "I have never to my knowledge been considered a suspect." He said he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,540968,00.html

SaraSidle

08-23-2009, 11:11 PM

FWIW, on FoxNews, Davis claims the GBI had his phone records:

Davis said he has been cleared as a suspect in Cornwell's disappearance and passed a polygraph that he volunteered to take. He said he was two-and-a-half hours away when Cornwell was taken.

"They validated that by my telephone records," Davis told FOX. "I have never to my knowledge been considered a suspect." He said he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,540968,00.html

I wonder if phone records is a valid alibi. and why isn't he telling LE everything from the phone call he had with her while she was being abducted???? IMO I wonder if she was pregnant? sara

zorro

08-24-2009, 10:34 PM

‘America’s Most Wanted’ tip no help in finding Kristi Cornwell
August 24, 5:58 PMAtlanta Northside Family & Parenting ExaminerJackie Kass

Friends and family of the missing Blairsville woman and mom Kristi Cornwell continue to wring their hands in frustration and despair, especially after the tip from America’s Most Wanted turned up no new information concerning Kristi’s disappearance on August 11th. The 2-day search in the North Carolina town of Kings Mountain ended today after a search party and cadaver-sniffing dogs scoured the area. The GBI recently told the AJC that it will continue to research all tips and possible leads, but so far none of the tips have led to any additional information.

In the meantime, the family of Kristi Cornwell continues to ask the public to actively look for their missing loved one. A missing person flyer has been posted on kristicornwell.com, along with the following message, “Please help find Kristi Cornwell by placing a flyer in your place of business or other public places. We are asking people to ACTIVELY look for Kristi based on this photo. Don’t just look and say “No, I haven’t seen her”. Take the picture with you and look around when you’re pumping gas, when you’re eating at a restaurant, when you’re shopping at the store…anywhere you go, LOOK FOR KRISTI’S FACE." To print out a copy of the missing person flyer, click here.

The website also includes the following recommendations for assistance in looking for Kristi Cornwell:

* Report activity such as observance of a vehicle being cleaned more than typical, especially one being cleaned with strong chemicals. Pay particular attention to vehicles fitting the description of vehicles of interest identified by investigators. At this time that includes a white, Suburban-like SUV and a gold compact, such as a Nissan or Toyota. Companies involved in auto upholstry should pay particular attention to unusual requests for rush re-upholstry jobs, especially for vehicles matching the descriptions above.
* Special attention should be paid to purchases of large of amounts of cleaning supplies.
* Look for recently burned vehicles, recently sunken vehicles, recently wrecked vehicles being disposed of, someone trying to sell or trade a suspicious vehicle, especially one matching the descriptions of the vehicles of interest indicated above.
* Report persons who have not been accounted for or have been missing without explanation from work or home since Tuesday August 11, 2009. Report persons who have changed their normal work or other normal routines since Tuesday August 11, 2009.
* If you are a business in the Blairsville area that may have video surveillance cameras that have a view of roads and/or highways in the area and have recordings from the night of Tuesday August 11 and early Wednesday August 12, please contact the investigators and allow them to review those recordings.

Residents of north Georgia continue to send prayers and well wishes for a positive outcome and the safe return of Kristi Cornwell.

Sources: AJC, kristicornwell.com

http://www.examiner.com/x-3958-Atlanta-Northside-Family--Parenting-Examiner~y2009m8d24-Americas-Most-Wanted-tip-no-help-in-finding-Kristi-Cornwell

zorro

08-24-2009, 10:36 PM

Posted: Monday, August 24th 2009 at 12:38pm
Another reward offered in Cornwell case

By Judson Hickinbotham Staff
click to enlarge
BLAIRSVILLE - Another reward is being offered for information on a missing Blairsville woman... from a very unlikely source.

Victory Christian Church in Albany, N.Y., is offering $10,000 for information on the whereabouts of 38-year-old Kristi Cornwell.

Through a press release, the church's pastor Charlie Muller says he wants Cornwell to be reunited with her 15-year-old son.

Police believe Cornwell was abducted August 11th, and searchers have focused on North Carolina.

Over the weekend, the Cornwell family announced that it has established a $50,000 reward and authorities, acting on tips received by America's Most Wanted after it aired a segment on the case Saturday night, began focusing on a part of North Carolina Sunday. (See separate stories.)

http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=222670&c=10

SaraSidle

08-24-2009, 10:43 PM

zorro

08-25-2009, 12:54 AM

Thanks, I'll look for a transcript.

zorro

08-25-2009, 12:57 AM

Georgia Woman Abducted While Talking on Cell Phone Part I

Aired August 14, 2009 - 20:00:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JEAN CASAREZ, GUEST HOST: We begin tonight with breaking news out of north Georgia, where the desperate search is on for a young mother in extreme danger. She sets out for her usual evening walk near the family home, a cell phone glued to her ear as she chats casually with her boyfriend. But then something goes terribly wrong. Out of nowhere, the boyfriend hears a struggle. He hears it with his own ears as he and his girlfriend are talking on the phone. Then the call is cut short. She vanishes. K-9s, volunteers and multiple law enforcement agencies are combing the north Georgia mountains right now in the search for Kristi Cornwell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kristi Cornwell, walking along a remote area Tuesday, a walk she`s taken many times for exercise. She`s on the phone with her boyfriend, then suddenly, he hears her say, Don`t take me. The line drops. She hasn`t been seen since.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was abducted, placed in a vehicle and removed from the area. That speaks for itself. She is in danger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Authorities are stopping all cars on and around Jones Creek Road, asking drivers if they saw anything Tuesday night. Detectives are tracking down and interviewing registered sex offenders across four counties.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have several promising leads that we are pursuing, but we have not focussed in on a suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-eight-year-old Kristi is described simply as a good girl who adores her 15-year-old son, is close to her family and would never just disappear and let them suffer like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really want her back, and we`d appreciate it if they would have mercy on her and just understand that we need her back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: And also tonight, a beautiful Florida newlywed races home to find police swarming around the couple`s quarter-million-dollar condo. Police break the news her new husband has been murdered, the bride breaking down in tears over her just-murdered husband. But little does she know the crime scene is fake and the police are stinging her on video. Why? Because just hours earlier, she allegedly hired a hitman to kill her husband. But in a stunning twist, it is the bride`s alleged secret lover who tips off cops, saving her husband`s life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say she thought she`d gotten away with it. Boynton Beach police say 26-year-old Dalia Dippolito tried to pay a hitman $3,000 to kill her husband. Turns out that hitman was an undercover police officer tipped off by a confidential informant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The report says the two met several times in a parking lot at a CVS and at a gas station. When the officer asked if she was sure she wanted it done, she replied, quote, "I`m not going to change my mind. I`m 5,000 percent sure I want it done."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man allegedly targeted for a murder-for-hire plot by his own wife is speaking out. And a judge ordered suspect Dalia Dippolito to stay away from her husband of six months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Although they had evidence against her taken days earlier, Boynton Beach police clued Michael in and staged a murder scene at the couple`s town home, capturing the grieving wife, and then minutes later, flipping the script on her.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Problem! Ruh-roh! The hitman is a cop.

DALIA DIPPOLITO, ACCUSED OF TRYING TO HIRE HITMAN: I didn`t do anything, and I didn`t plot anything.

GRACE: They`re breaking the news to her. Of course, all the cops know she set the thing up, according to them. Now, according to this cop that she`s trying to hug, he barely got the words out and she started wailing. It`s like she anticipated the bad news. Another cop says no matter how much she wailed, she couldn`t squeeze out a tear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Good evening. I`m Jean Casarez of the legal network In Session, in for Nancy Grace. Now, Nancy, she is not too far away. She is promoting her new great novel tonight. She`s going to be on the Larry King show live tonight in one hour from now on CNN at 9:00 o`clock Eastern. Tune in and watch Anderson Cooper as he chats with Nancy about her new book, "The Eleventh Victim," and all the other stories making headlines. Nancy and Anderson Cooper tonight one hour from now on CNN.

But tight now to north Georgia and the desperate search for a young mother in extreme danger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really want her back, and we`d appreciate it if you`d have mercy on her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is 38-year-old Kristi Cornwell of Blairsville, last seen walking here on Jones Creek Road Tuesday night a little after 9:00. GBI investigators say she was on her cell phone talking to her boyfriend in Atlanta.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He overheard her tell him that, I`ve got to step off the road, there`s a vehicle approaching. Then he hears what he believes to be a struggle and loses contact with her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now a detailed search of the entire area, particularly the spot where investigators found some of Kristi`s personal items. They won`t give specifics but say some of the things they found indicate there was a struggle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have brought in bloodhounds to help, you know, with that search. And they`ve got about a hundred people there on the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In most cases, when there`s an actual abduction by a stranger, the victim has been sexually molested, assaulted and then killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I plead to the public, anyone out there who`s seen anything, heard anything or even think they may have seen anything, now is the time to call.

zorro

08-25-2009, 12:59 AM

Nancy Grace Part II

CASAREZ: All right, let`s go straight out to Eric Jens. He is a reporter for WRGA Newsradio, standing by live in Atlanta. Eric, tell us what has happened here.

ERIC JENS, WRGA NEWSRADIO: Thank you very much. Basically, the possibilities are virtually limitless based on the information that`s being released at this time. Thirty-eight-year-old mother of a 15-year-old son, Kristi Cornwell, disappears Tuesday night while out exercising, going on a long walk through a rural area, then just disappears. The last known contact was with her boyfriend in Atlanta, he on the cell phone with her at the time when she appears to be in distress, hears what sounds like a struggle going on. The last thing he reports hearing is her saying, Don`t take me, and then he loses the connection, and there`s been no sign of her since then.

CASAREZ: OK, so you`re saying that when she was out exercising a couple of nights ago, right, that she`s on the phone with her boyfriend. Walk us through this again.

JENS: Yes. It`s about 9:00 o`clock at night. It`s just getting dark outside. And she`s been known to do this, according to, you know, family and friends, that she`s out exercising. It`s just getting cool out. It`s a rural area. It`s not particularly dangerous, except that if you`re out there all by yourself and something does happen to you, there are not a lot of witnesses around that are going to be able to help you out.

CASAREZ: All right, to Matt Zarrell, Nancy Grace producer. Once the phone call was cut short between her and her boyfriend, what happened then? Did her boyfriend call 911?

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Immediately, Jean. He called police immediately. Police came on scene, along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. They found evidence of her belongings there. They also found evidence of a struggle, but they won`t comment on the details.

CASAREZ: All right, what does the boyfriend say he actually heard transpire? They`re on the phone, casual conversation. What happened?

ZARRELL: Well, he says that she said a car was pulling up to her. And as he was on the phone with her, he said that he heard signs of a struggle. Now, we don`t know exactly what it was, but he also reportedly heard screaming, and he reportedly heard her say, Don`t take me, and that`s when the phone call cut off.

CASAREZ: All right, to Sheryl McCollum, crime analyst, director of cold case squad, Pine Lake PD. You are in Georgia. What are you hearing about this case tonight?

SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST: Well, we`ve got multiple agencies involved. The GBI is involved. The Georgia State Patrol is involved. Obviously, the Union County sheriff`s department is involved, DNR, other local agencies that are helping with K-9 and air and on the ground. And it`s a full-on, widespread search.

CASAREZ: Well, were`s my concern, Sheryl. When she and her boyfriend -- when Kristi and her boyfriend are talking, the call is cut short, he immediately calls 911. I understand that GBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, was actually in Union County. That`s the county. And remember, this is about 100 miles out of Atlanta. They were in the area investigating a homicide. But they couldn`t find anybody. That`s so concerning. They were all so close, the 911 call made so quickly. What are your thoughts on that?

MCCOLLUM: Well, was there a car involved, Jean. So I mean, immediately, they`ve got a way to get her out of there, as well as themselves. They were gone in a matter of moments. The most concerning thing to me is she immediately says, Don`t take me. She doesn`t say, Don`t hurt me. She doesn`t say, You can have whatever I`ve got. So she knew this was not a sexual assault and this was not a robbery. She knew she was fixing to be abducted.

CASAREZ: All right, let`s go to the attorneys. Susan Moss, family law attorney, child advocate out of New York -- welcome, Susan -- Hugo Rodriguez, defense attorney, former FBI agent -- I may call upon that expertise tonight -- out of Miami, and Mickey Sherman, criminal defense attorney, author of the best-selling book "How Can You Defend These People?"

First of all, to Susan Moss. It`s been reported that no money was taken, meaning that an ATM was not gone to to get money out of her account at all. Now, we don`t know what she had on her. She was merely doing a little exercise close to her home. But what does that say to you, if anything?

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: It`s not good. It says that what they wanted was her. She was grabbed on her walk while she was trying to talk. Well, yet another reason why I don`t exercise. But it is so important for the authorities to step in here and do whatever they can to solve this case. Bring back a sense of security for this community. If anyone can be taken off of any street at any time, we as a community -- no one is safe.

CASAREZ: That`s right. To Hugo Rodriguez, defense attorney, former FBI agent. You know, there is a recording. The last person that heard her talk was her boyfriend. There is that phone recording that he listened to, he heard. Is there any way that police with the cell phone can trace things? This was a cell phone that was on at the time of her disappearance.

HUGO RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think it`ll be difficult without having her cell phone. He will be able -- they`ll be able to do something with his cell phone. Unfortunately, he probably did not record what he was hearing because that could always be amplified for background and some other things. But I think under these circumstances, it`ll be very, very difficult.

CASAREZ: To Eric Jens, reporter, WRGA Newsradio in Atlanta. Have they found her cell phone?

JENS: There is no word as to whether that cell phone has been discovered at this time. Of course, that is one of the major items that they have been looking for since the start of this.

CASAREZ: What do they say was left at the scene?

JENS: We don`t know specifically what was left, other than that they were articles that she likely would have had on her when she was out exercising, walking through the area. And just the way they were scattered, it did appear that it coincided with the story that there was a struggle at that site.

CASAREZ: That`s right. Investigators were saying there was evidence of a struggle because of what was left at the scene. And following the break, we want to go into that. What shows, truly, that there was evidence of a struggle? And we`ll look at that when we come back in this breaking news out of Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

zorro

08-25-2009, 01:01 AM

Nancy Grace Part III

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kristi`s cell phone was on as she`s being abducted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s an enormous clue. I mean, from what I`ve learned, it was that she did initially say to her boyfriend that, There`s a car coming, let me step off the roadway. And then from that point, from what I`ve been told, is that there was some sort of a struggle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kristi Cornwell, walking along a remote area Tuesday, a walk she`s taken many times for exercise near her parents` home. The 38-year-old, she`s talking to her boyfriend on the phone. He hears the concern in her voice as she sees a car approach. The last thing he hears, she`s screaming and says, Don`t take me. The line goes dead, and she hasn`t been seen since.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the evidence that`s been collected thus far by all agencies involved, it does indicate an abduction. And the GBI is using that word.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was abducted, placed in a vehicle and removed from the area. That speaks for itself. She is in danger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just plead that they would have mercy on her and return her safely back to her family. And we just want to say that we need her and she has a 15-year-old son that needs her very much, named Rob.

CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez of the legal network In Session, in for Nancy Grace tonight. Now, when this show is over tonight don`t you go anywhere because Nancy is going to be on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight on CNN at 9:00 o`clock Eastern time. Tune in. You`re going to watch one full hour of Anderson Cooper and Nancy Grace talking about her new book, "The Eleventh Victim," and other books making headlines. Nancy and Anderson on CNN tonight, "LARRY KING LIVE," right after this show.

Back to Georgia, though, an extremely important case coming out, an alleged abduction of a young mother as she is exercising near her home one night. To Dr. Marty Makary, M.D., physician and professor of public health, Johns Hopkins University out of Washington, D.C. They`re saying -- investigators are saying that personal items were left at the scene of this abduction, as law enforcement is calling it, and it showed evidence of a struggle. Explain that to me.

DR. MARY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Well, Jean, from a medical forensic standpoint, the most clear-cut evidence of a struggle is going to be fingernail fragments or full-length hairs. That can often be a sign that there must have been a struggle and nothing else. Now, there`s recent evidence from research at Arizona University that shows now we can sort of profile somebody based on DNA. So if there was someone else`s DNA on the scene, we can develop a sort of broad, general profile of hair color, eye color, maybe height, and it`s almost ready for primetime.

CASAREZ: Boy, that is fascinating. We want to remind everybody exactly -- we want to give you a description of Kristi Cornwell. She is 38 years old, 5-feet-5, 150 pounds, dark shoulder-length hair. She was wearing a white T-shirt and tan shorts. And she was talking with her boyfriend on the phone when she was abducted.

We`re taking your calls live. To Shannon in Utah. Good evening, Shannon. Your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Jean. I was wondering if cell phone records or pings could verify that she, in fact, was speaking to her boyfriend that was in that area. And also, did he actually call from Atlanta, the 911 call?

CASAREZ: That`s what we`re hearing. Let`s go out to Sheryl McCollum, crime analyst right there in the state of Georgia where this all is happening. What about it? Pings from cell phones can tell so much.

MCCOLLUM: Absolutely. They already know whether or not he was in Atlanta. They know how long the phone call conversation lasted. So they`ve already verified that, I`m sure. And they also know, if the pings have stopped, her phone was either damaged or the battery has run out.

CASAREZ: To Mickey Sherman, criminal defense attorney. Here`s my question. Investigators are keeping so much information close to the vest. They`re not releasing what was found near where she was allegedly abducted. They`re not releasing everything that may have been in the phone call that her boyfriend heard. They`ve got to find her. There is still time that they could find her before something happens. Why do you think they`re working the investigation in that way?

MICKEY SHERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s what they`re supposed to do. You know, we were spoiled or despoiled by the fact that whenever these cases come out in Florida, we know every little bit about every little bit of evidence. And that kind of contains the prosecution when it comes down to the trial.

But what I hope they`re not doing is being myopic and just doing a regular, Well, let`s look at all of the sex offenders within a 15-mile radius and concentrate on them. This woman looks clearly like someone who is not likely to be involved in some hanky-panky. She does not look like any type of a drug person or a psychotic or whatever. And unfortunately, the profilers and law enforcement people tell you that once you are taken into custody by some maniac, your chances of surviving go down real, real, real far.

CASAREZ: And that`s right. And that`s why I think everyone is so concerned. Time is of the essence. To Susan Moss, very, very quickly here. Already, a crime has been committed. You would call it kidnapping, if this is an abduction. And many times, someone wants to eliminate a witness. We`ll get your thoughts on that right after the break because an elimination of a witness can give motive to murder. Right now, missing persons case.

We want to change course right now. Are you guilty of being Nancy Grace`s number one fan? Plead your case and send us your story as to why that fan is you. We`re looking for standout stories, and if your e-mail or iReport makes (ph) you win an autographed copy of Nancy`s new book, "The Eleventh Victim," plus a chance to fly right here New York City, come to the show live, meet Nancy here on the set. Go to CNN.com/nancygrace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here`s what we know about Kristi Cornwell. She grew up in Union County. She was once a probation officer for the state, but she`s now back in school, studying medical lab technology. And she has a 15-year-old son.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many locals here knew about Kristi`s habit to go for an evening walk near her mother`s home on Jones Creek Road. It was so hot during the day, she waited until dusk. Tuesday night, she was on her cell phone with her boyfriend. He heard a scuffle, a cry for help, then nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really want her back, and we`d appreciate it if they would have mercy on her.

zorro

08-25-2009, 01:03 AM

Nancy Grace Part IV

CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez of the legal network In Session, in for Nancy Grace. Tune in to CNN at 9:00 Eastern time, just a little more than 30 minutes from now. You can watch Nancy Grace on "LARRY KING LIVE." For one hour, Anderson Cooper and Nancy will chat about her new book, "The Eleventh Victim," in stores now, plus all the other stories of the day. It`s Nancy Grace and Anderson Cooper on "LARRY KING LIVE" at CNN tonight right after this show. You do not want to miss this.

What about if you were talking to someone on the phone, a loved one on the cell phone, and all of a sudden, you hear them scream and there`s a struggle and they say, Don`t take me, and you realize your loved one has been abducted? What would you do?

Out to Susan Moss, attorney out of New York. You know, Susan, Mickey Sherman is sort of taking the prosecution stance tonight, saying that it`s proper to not let too much information out on the investigation. And I understand that. But as attorneys, we all know there`s one thing that could have come from this scene, and it would be tire impressions -- along a country road, tire impressions, and you can find out through investigation what kind of car allegedly abducted this young lady.

MOSS: Absolutely. And we need to know that now because if she can identify this foe, her chances of being released are low. We don`t have the ability to sit around and wait. I disagree with Mickey. I think they should release all the evidence that they have now so that the community can act as a third eye for the law enforcement and we can get whatever clues that any citizens have seen to the proper authorities, so we can help solve this crime immediately because the longer the amount of time elapses, the less of a chance we`re going to have a happy ending.

CASAREZ: Patricia Saunders, very, very quickly. There are no reports of anyone else being bothered in the area. Your thoughts on that?

PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, someone might have known her routine, that she took this walk every night. She was a probation officer in the past, perhaps someone seeking revenge.

CASAREZ: And we will follow this case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) until we find her.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0908/14/ng.01.html

zorro

08-25-2009, 01:08 AM

GRACE: Also, a young mom, just like millions of moms across America, goes out for an evening walk on a country road not far from her own home, talking away on a cell phone. The boyfriend on the other end hears screaming, Please don`t take me, her voice never heard again. She vanishes without a trace, that cell phone discarded, thrown onto someone`s lawn two miles away.

As we go to air, the ground search expands. U.S. Marshals, cadaver dogs hone in after an anonymous tip. More private home video of missing mom released. We have the video. Tonight, where is Kristi Cornwell?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our thoughts and prayers are with Kristi Cornwell and her family. This mom of a 15-year-old was abducted. Last tip -- tips were called in to the show "America`s Most Wanted" saying she had been taken to a rural county, Cleveland County, in North Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Detectives are searching about 200 miles away from Blairsville, Georgia, in an area in the Kings Mountain area of North Carolina. Authorities say an anonymous caller was vague but gave them an address where Cornwell can allegedly be found.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they`re being very proactive by telling people not just to look at the picture and say, I haven`t seen her, but to go out there and to do something about it. Anybody in that community should go to unoccupied houses, apartments, outbuildings, et cetera, to assist in the investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, they`re just telling us that they`ve not found her yet. They`re searching. They`re expanding their search. Now they`re going to be searching -- when they get a lead, they`re going to search those places. She`s out there somewhere.

NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: It was around 9:00 p.m. when Kristi Cornwell started her evening walk starting at her parents` home where those orange cones are just behind me. Now investigators say that there are two routes that Kristi could have taken and it`s not clear which route she intended to take the night that she went missing.

GRACE: Who saw her last? Who can tell me that they saw her go out for a walk? How do I know she wasn`t dead already?

LANCE: And employee leaving the New Union Baptist Church saw Kristi while she was on her walk. Now investigators believe that this was the last person to see Kristi before she was abducted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the most difficult problem is she was in the middle of essentially nowhere where any car coming by could grab her and go any direction.

LANCE: Investigators believe that Kristi Cornwell made it to about this point in her walk that evening. About half a mile away from her parents` home. Now she was on the phone with her boyfriend. We don`t know that contents of that conversation but we do that Kristi told him there was a car following her.

The next thing he heard was Kristi screaming and saying, "Don`t take me." The phone went dead and Kristi Cornwell has not been seen or heard from since them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Eric Jens with WRGA News Radio. Eric, police are focusing with cadaver dogs in one specific area, why?

ERIC JENS, REPORTER, WRGA NEWS RADIO, COVERING STORY: Well, that area would be Kings Mountain, North Carolina. And that`s thanks to a tip that came in over the weekend.

That tip didn`t have a lot of details except to give Kristi`s name and to say Baltic Road, which is the area where they`re searching. It`s about 1 40, 50-acre area. They went over it yesterday by hand and foot then they brought in the dogs this afternoon.

They could wrap it up as soon as tonight. They may go back again tomorrow. So far they have not found anything of significance.

GRACE: Joining me right now is a very special guest. A prime time exclusive interview. The boyfriend of Kristi Cornwell on the phone with her when she disappeared.

Now a lot of people had questions. Where was he? Where was she? How do we know this whole thing wasn`t set up? There are eyewitnesses placing her on that country road alone. His cell phone was in Atlanta and there are eyewitnesses placing him in Atlanta about two hours away at the time of the phone call.

So he was nowhere near her at the time she was clearly abducted. Right now to Douglas Davis.

zorro

08-25-2009, 01:10 AM

Mr. Davis, thank you for being with us.

DOUGLAS DAVIS, KRISTI CORNWELL`S BOYFRIEND; ON THE PHONE WITH MISSING MOM WHEN ABDUCTED: Thank you, Nancy, for having me.

GRACE: Now you endured a lot of questioning, I`m sure. How are you holding up?

DAVIS: Well, only by God`s grace has carried me through this far. It`s been very difficult for us and the family to have seen this, to experience this abduction out of nowhere this occurred and you know, you can`t prepare for these type of things. But God`s grace carries us through it and I`m grateful for that.

GRACE: You are seeing home video just released of Kristi. Everybody, millions of women across this country go for a walk after work or after school.

DAVIS: Right.

GRACE: . chatting away on a cell phone. That`s just what she did.

DAVIS: Absolutely.

GRACE: Mr. Davis, you must know that our prayers and many, many other people are with you and Kristi`s family and her son especially.

DAVIS: Right.

GRACE: That evening when you were on the phone with her, what was the last thing you heard her say? What were her words?

DAVIS: Well, as you know, due to the investigation the depth of that conversation I can`t really divulge at this time. However, I heard her scream and it made me -- my first reaction that maybe the car that she spoke about maybe had hit her. And so I was calling her name. But then it became quite apparent to me that she was indeed being abducted by whomever these people were in this car.

GRACE: She told you about a car?

DAVIS: Yes. Just before this all occurred we had been talking about plans. We were to meet the next Thursday night in Dalton. She was then to come back to deal with her -- getting her registration completed for school the next Monday, and we were talking about having dinner that Thursday night when she interrupted and said hey, I`ve got to get off the road there`s a car coming. And then it was just moments after that she began screaming.

GRACE: Did she tell you what kind of car it was?

DAVIS: Again, as I`ve told before.

GRACE: You can`t.

DAVIS: You know, I just can`t talk about that. I`m sorry. I wish I could. But I can`t.

GRACE: No, I completely understood -- understand. Did you usually talk to her when she was out for a walk?

DAVIS: Yes. Several nights over the course of our relationship she would take a walk and especially the past week or so she had fell about 10 days earlier and she felt like this was great therapy to maybe to deal with that issue. And in fact, we -- she and I had done the same route on Saturday night of what supposed was the same route on Saturday night before this. And so it was common for her to make this walk.

GRACE: You know, Mr. Davis, last week, I believe it was Friday night, a viewer called in wanting to know what the book was she sent you and could it have any impact on this investigation. I don`t see that as being relevant. What book was it?

DAVIS: Well, it`s a daily prayer devotional. "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. I got back in town early part of the week and went to get my mail after being gone for several days. I remember driving to the post office thinking, you know, there just might be something and then of course I shut that down saying, I don`t want to be disappointed.

And sure enough, though, when I opened up the box there it this gift was. I had not expected it. But, you know, it`s like Kristi is reaching out to me even now. She`s used this devotional for several years and wanted me to have it feeling like it would really be a help to my life and I`ve been reading it every day.

I don`t let it out of my sight. It`s such a treasured gift. And this is who Kristi was. She liked to give. She really enjoyed life. She`s a very intelligent woman and a loving mother. A dear sister to her brother, Richard. She loved her mom and her dad. Her family.

And she had some dearest friends and all of Blairsville will tell you that this woman here is just a remarkable woman. If you didn`t like Kristi well, that was your fault because she loved you. This is who I fell in love with, and we had made our plans and to spend time together.

Our future was being planned together. And I look forward to the day where she`s coming home. We`re going to find her alive and she and I will continue our relationship together.

GRACE: With me, the boyfriend who last spoke to Kristi. Like so many women, comes home in the evening, goes for a walk. She`s never seen again.

Everyone, as we go to break, on a happy note, congratulations to New York friend of the show, Nicky Torres. He`s college bound. He heads to SUNY Cobleskill, Upstate New York to study finance and try out for basketball and golf.

Congratulations, dear Nicky.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: A missing mom, last heard talking on her cell phone, now gone.

To Sergeant Scott Haines out of Pensacola, Florida, weigh in.

SGT. SCOTT HAINES, SHERIFF`S OFFICER, SANTA ROSA COUNTY, FL.: It`s a very tragedy situation. Hopefully someone from the public may have seen something. Obviously, they`ve been getting some tips and law enforcement`s been following up on that. Hopefully, they`ll be able to find something that leads them to her and hopefully she`ll be alive and OK.

GRACE: Douglas Davis, I think Sergeant Haines is correct. I am confident somebody knows something.

DAVIS: Absolutely.

GRACE: Douglas Davis, what is the hardest part of all this for you?

DAVIS: Well, you`re just suspended in time. It`s like for once -- you`re holding right here. You can`t go forward, and you don`t know what the next step is. Of course, every phone call, you`re hoping that is the call.

Today I was on an airplane coming back from New York for 2 1/2 hours, and the biggest fear was arriving and a message be there and you didn`t know which way it would be. And it was -- just those kind of situations is just, it`s just all I can do to bear it some days.

But I`m grateful that I have my Lord as my protector in this. I don`t know how anybody without hope in Jesus Christ could get through an ordeal like this.

GRACE: Mr. Davis, I guess it just keeps going through your mind over and over, when she called out, "Please don`t take me," when she called out and you couldn`t help her.

DAVIS: The most helpless feeling I have ever had. I made a commitment to her just a few days earlier that I would love her as Christ loved the church and died for the church, and yet in that moment, I was tested and I couldn`t help her. There was nothing I could do.

And yet, God allowed me this opportunity to start taking this stand that we need to take to be able to find her. You know I believe there`s someone out there who has pertinent information. They have seen it.

GRACE: Let me give the tip line.

DAVIS: They have seen it.

GRACE: Douglas, let me give the tip line. It`s 800-597-8477.

Let`s stop and remember Army Sgt. First Class Alejandro Granado III., 42, Fairfax, Virginia. Already retired but returned one last mission. He got the Army Achievement Medal, Special Forces Tab, and Joint Service Achievement Medal. Also served Desert Storm.

Loves traveling and time with family. Leaves behind parents, Rosalinda and Alejandro Jr., three sister, two brothers, one serving in the Army, three children.

Alejandro Granado, American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0908/24/ng.01.html

zorro

08-25-2009, 10:56 PM

Faith helps family of missing Blairsville woman

By Steve Visser

“Dalton is the farthest away she has ever lived,” said her mother, Jo Ann Cornwell, of the town 78 miles away where her daughter had attended college to pursue a second career. “She had four weeks off and she was back with us while she waited to go back to school. ”

Her mother described the type of tight-knit family typical of Blairsville, a hamlet of 720 people in the North Georgia mountains. Jo Ann Cornwell said her daughter visited during the first week of August — having the conversations, meals and outings that keep families close.

Her mother never would have expected her to vanish.

“I don’t know why anyone would target her — I just don’t understand that,” said Jo Ann Cornwell, 60. “I can’t believe it would happen in our community. We’ve always thought it was a pretty safe place to live.”

The mystery of what happened to Kristi Cornwell has only deepened since she disappeared Aug. 11, puzzling both authorities and relatives.

The 38-year-old was out for a night stroll on Jones Creek Road — where her mother said she often walked for exercise — chatting on her cellphone with her boyfriend when authorities believe she was kidnapped.

So far her family has received no word whether she is living or dead — despite offering a $50,000 reward for her information leading to her safe return — and has thrown itself into calling attention to the search.

Church prayers

Last weekend the family appeared on “America’s Most Wanted,” and the show got a tip for searchers to focus on woods near King Mountain, N.C. About 40 searchers, aided by cadaver-sniffing dogs, found nothing.

Meanwhile the family tries to find stability in routine. Last week, Kristi Cornwell’s 15-year-old son, Brody, went back to band practice, and his friends have been keeping him busy, Jo Ann Cornwell said. Kristi Cornwell shares custody of Brody with one of three ex-husbands. Kristi’s father Harold told a TV interviewer that some family members have been operating on as little as one hour of sleep a night.

“He is doing as well as can be expected,” Jo Ann Cornwell said of her husband. “He can’t believe it happened and he is just dealing with it the best he can, just like the rest of us are.”

On Sunday the couple were greeted with hugs, prayers and encouraging words when they went to their small church, New Union Baptist, down the road from where their daughter disappeared.

“It made us feel really good to be with our neighbors and the ones who care for us,” she said. “We just felt the love being poured on us by them.”

She counts on prayer to provide for her daughter’s safe return, and she has plenty of help. Over in Blue Ridge, nearly 200 members of Crossover Community Church also bowed their heads Sunday to ask the Lord to protect Kristi Cornwell, said the Rev. Renny Ryder, senior pastor of the church, who baptized Kristi Cornwell.

“We have prayed for her now for two straight Sundays and also at our midweek prayer services,” Ryder said. “There are people praying for her, covering almost every hour of the day.”

More than 7,000 people have joined a “Pray for Kristi Cody Cornwell” Facebook site, and the family also has a Web site, kristicornwell.com, to raise donations and provide pictures and videos of Kristi.

“We’re trying to get this reward fund built up,” a brother, Richard Cornwell, told WSB-TV. “And we want this awful predator or predators put behind bars.”

The family says Cornwell, a former probation officer, is a strong woman and that her history in law enforcement — she also worked for a sheriff’s office — will help her survive.

“We’re optimistic,” Jo Ann Cornwell said. “We feel she is out there somewhere maybe constrained and can’t get away yet, but we feel like she is going to and we’re going to get her back.”

Intense emotions

While the North Carolina tip didn’t pan out, Keith Hogsed, a cousin and family spokesman, said it was better than no tips at all. “We are just happy that there are leads that investigators can pursue,” he said. “If there weren’t things coming in, we would just be sitting here.”

As days grow into weeks the waiting is more nerve-wracking, with high anger plunging to deep sadness, Hogsed said.

“Added on top of that is the exhaustion of doing everything one can to help with the search,” he said. “When you lay down and try to rest you have all these things going through your head so it’s really difficult.”

The case has perplexed everyone involved.

Cornwell’s boyfriend, Douglas Davis of Carrollton, told authorities he was talking with her by cellphone as she walked down the isolated road at night when she reported that a car was following her and that she became nervous when it stopped. Investigators said Davis told them that he heard a scuffle and Cornwell shout, “Don’t take me.”

Davis, who was in Atlanta at the time, called Jo Ann Cornwell and told her to call 911. The mother said the two had only recently started dating.

“I couldn’t believe what he was telling me, but I knew it was real,” Jo Ann Cornwell said. “He was very excited and I knew it was urgent.”

Authorities, including Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents who were in the area working on another case, converged on the scene. They say they found signs of a struggle but few other clues.

Witnesses reported a white SUV and a gold subcompact car on the road about the time Cornwell went missing. Her cellphone was found in a yard along a state highway a couple of miles away.

“It is totally strange and weird,” said Ryder, pastor of the Blue Ridge church. “A lot of times when something goes wrong in a person’s life, it has to do with the atmosphere that he or she lived in. That was not the case with Kristi at all.”

More leads to follow

The GBI has ruled out Davis and Cornwell’s ex-husbands as suspects, said GBI spokesman John Bankhead. Investigators interviewed sex offenders and checked into convicts Cornwell supervised as a probation officer but found no leads, Bankhead said.

Cornwell had worked at Home Depot in recent years and was pursuing a degree in medical laboratory technology at Dalton State College, although, according to the college, she had not enrolled for the fall semester. Those connections so far have not brought investigators closer to solving the case.

As of Tuesday, GBI spokesman Bankhead said, agents were still doing interviews and continued to believe Cornwell was grabbed by a stranger familiar with the area, if not known to her.

“We’re prioritizing our tips now and going with the most reliable ones,” he said. “Nothing has panned out but we do have leads to follow.”

http://www.ajc.com/news/faith-helps-family-of-123729.html?cxtype=ynews_rss

zorro

08-26-2009, 11:34 AM

Blairsville case puts highlight on other missing persons

By MEGAN MATTEUCCI

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Connie Grinstead should be happy to have more tips coming in to help find her missing stepdaughter, but all she can do is cry and pray.
Related

The hunt for a missing Blairsville mom Kristi Cornwell has spawned more tips to come in for Tara Grinstead, a south Georgia teacher who was reported missing almost four years ago.

“It is not a cold case. A tip came in as recently as last week,” Connie Grinstead said Tuesday. “I still get phone calls. It’s amazing to me that people have not forgotten.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has spent the past two weeks searching for Cornwell, who was reportedly abducted while walking near her parents’ Blairsville home. The search for Cornwell, a 38-year-old former probation officer, has captured media attention across the nation.

While the Cornwell case has brought in a few hundred tips, the Grinstead mystery has attracted thousands of tips and remains the GBI’s largest case file. Grinstead has garnered more tips than other case in the GBI’s history, Special Agent Gary Rothwell said.

“It’s the darndest case I’ve ever seen,” said Rothwell, a GBI agent for 28 years. “We get information on that case all the time, just not information that is leading us anywhere. Typically with a case like this - even high profile cases - information diminishes. But we get information on the Grinstead case all the time.”

As of Tuesday, there were 421 women over the age of 18 missing in Georgia, according to GBI spokesman John Bankhead. The majority of the cases have turned “cold,” leaving investigators and families at a standstill.

For investigators, it means an open case file, random emails from psychics claiming to have the answer and having to let down family members.

For Connie Grinstead, not knowing what happened to her stepdaughter is harder than having to say goodbye at a funeral.

“We already lost her, but add on top of that we don’t even know what happened to her,” said Grinstead, of Birmingham. “You are still stuck in time, sitting on fence and can’t get off on either side because you don’t know.”

Tara Grinstead was a 30-year-old high school history teacher and former beauty queen. She was last seen Oct. 22, 2005 at a cookout about six blocks from her Ocilla home in south central Georgia.

She got a call on her cell phone and left. She didn’t show up at work the next day and her family has not heard from her, Rothwell said.

Grinstead’s cell phone, dog and cat were left in her house and there were no signs of a struggle. But her purse and car keys were gone, despite her car still sitting in the driveway, Rothwell said.

A cell phone call is also the last contact investigators have for Cornwell, who was talking to her boyfriend Douglas Davis in Atlanta when she was reportedly abducted.

Douglas told investigators Cornwell complained a car was following her. He then heard signs of struggle and Cornwell say “don’t take me,” Davis said.

Investigators have combed sections of three states, interviewed sex offenders and reviewed hundreds of tips in the Cornwell case, but received no “significant” leads, Bankhead said Tuesday.

This week, U.S. Marshals spent two days traipsing through woods in North Carolina after Fox’s “America’s Most Wanted” received a tip following Cornwell’s family’s appearance on the show.

“We didn’t think [the tip] was reliable from the beginning,” Bankhead said Tuesday. “But we’re checking into everything. You have to.”

The GBI said it prioritizes each tip based on the information, the caller’s knowledge of the individual and investigators’ ability to check it out.

Much of the time, the number of tips depends on the amount of media attention a case receives. The Grinstead case appeared on CBS’ “48 Hours,” along with regional media.

“You got cases in Atlanta that don’t receive that kind of attention,” Bankhead said. “We don’t make the decision about the media. We prioritize leads, not cases.”

In the majority of missing person’s cases, the victim usually knows their attackers, Bankhead said.

While the possibility a missing person simply left without telling anyone always exists, the GBI said in each of the cases they investigate it appears a crime occurred. Last year, the GBI went through all missing person cases in its files and trimmed the list by about 100 women who had returned on their own, Bankhead said.

Despite some cases growing cold, the GBI said it never assumes a person is dead until they find the individual.

In some cases, tips come out of nowhere like when a caller said Mary Shotwell Little, a newlywed reportedly abducted from a Buckhead parking lot in 1965, was under a garage floor in Forsyth County. The tip came in 30 years after the woman went missing. Agents dug up the floor, but found nothing, Bankhead said.

Little remains on the GBI’s list, a list that Connie Grinstead reviews frequently.

“Until we find her, we can not totally shut the door on hope,” Grinstead said about her stepdaughter. “When I saw the Kristi Cornwell story, I felt sick to my stomach because I know what is ahead for that family. I know they are just beginning that journey.”

Grinstead said she lights a candle on a Web site for her missing stepdaughter and posts a message each morning. She said she wants the Cornwell family to know that tiny steps like that help.

“If you start to think about what ifs, all the maybes and possibilities, the pain becomes unbearable,” she said. “Somebody may have taken our loved ones, but they can never take our precious memories of them. They are ours forever.”

http://www.ajc.com/news/blairsville-case-puts-highlight-123959.html

SaraSidle

08-26-2009, 01:54 PM

If there is signs of a struggle I wonder what it could be? The thongs she was wearing at the time are hard to keep on your feet if you are not paying attention and are in a struggle. Also it is not often IMO that people go walking in those but maybe she liked it. sara IMO

zorro

08-26-2009, 02:08 PM

I don't understand, do they know where the abduction took place or not?

NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: It was around 9:00 p.m. when Kristi Cornwell started her evening walk starting at her parents` home where those orange cones are just behind me. Now investigators say that there are two routes that Kristi could have taken and it`s not clear which route she intended to take the night that she went missing.

GRACE: Who saw her last? Who can tell me that they saw her go out for a walk? How do I know she wasn`t dead already?

LANCE: And employee leaving the New Union Baptist Church saw Kristi while she was on her walk. Now investigators believe that this was the last person to see Kristi before she was abducted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the most difficult problem is she was in the middle of essentially nowhere where any car coming by could grab her and go any direction.

LANCE: Investigators believe that Kristi Cornwell made it to about this point in her walk that evening. About half a mile away from her parents` home. Now she was on the phone with her boyfriend. We don`t know that contents of that conversation but we do that Kristi told him there was a car following her.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIP.../14/ng.01.html

SaraSidle

08-26-2009, 02:16 PM

zorro

08-29-2009, 11:43 AM

Fundraiser set for missing Blairsville mom

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, August 28, 2009

The family of a missing Blairsville mom is trying to raise money to continue the search now that police help and media attention have decreased.

Kristi Cornwell has been missing since Aug. 11 when she was reportedly abducted while walking near her parents Union County home.

The only leads available are for a white SUV similar to a Suburban or a gold compact car such as a Nissan or Toyota, said Keith Hogsed, Cornwell’s cousin.

On Saturday, Bill’s Roller Rink in Blairsville will donate proceeds from skate rentals and concession stands to the Cornwell search fund, Hogsed said.

“If this continues much longer, we’re going to need money for the search,” Hogsed said Friday.

Local law enforcement and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation spent the first eight day searching the neighborhoods and woods surrounding the abduction site. They have since called off the ground search and scaled back the investigation to only looking into credible tips, Hogsed said.

Those leads have been few. Hogsed said he fears those leads will be even less as time goes on.

The search fund will pay for advertising, fliers, hiking equipment and other supplies, Hogsed said. The family has already raised $50,000 for a reward fund.

The Kristi Cornwell fundraising event runs from 4-9 p.m. at the roller rink at 7795 Blue Ridge Highway. The family is also selling T-shirts for the missing mom.

Cornwell’s boyfriend, Douglas Davis, told investigators he was talking to the woman on the cell phone on Aug. 11 when she complained a car was following her. Davis then heard a struggle and Cornwell say “don’t take me.”

Police found Cornwell’s cell phone, but no other signs of the missing woman.

Cornwell, 38, is a former probation officer and was going to school to be a medical lab technician.

Anyone with information about Cornwell may call the GBI at 1-800-597-8477.

http://www.ajc.com/news/fundraiser-set-for-missing-126427.html

zorro

08-30-2009, 11:12 PM

Kristi Cornwell is Missing: After Jaycee Lee Dugard Story, Hope is Renewed
America's Most Wanted Features the Missing Blairsville Woman for a Second Week
By saul relative
The Jaycee Lee Dugard story in California has breathed new life into the search for Kristi Cornwell. It has given them hope. Cornwell was mentioned on America's Most Wanted Saturday evening for the second week in a row as well. Kristi Cornwell is the 38-year-old Blairsville, Georgia, woman that disappeared from the side of the road she was walking along nearly three weeks ago. Since then, authorities found items of Kristi Cornwell's along the stretch of Jones Creek Road and her cell phone was recovered three miles from that spot, but no other major leads had come in. America's Most Wanted noted how a caller had phoned in to their tip line after Cornwell had been profiled on the long-running television show the week before. The tipster stated that Kristi Cornwell's body could be found in King's Mountain, North Carolina.
The FBI, the U. S. Marshall Service, and Cleveland County officials scoured the King's Mountain area after the call came in. Fortunately, they did not find Kristi Cornwell's body. Unfortunately, authorities did not find any sign of Kristi Cornwell at all.
Full-scale ground searches have been discontinued in Blairsville and Union County, but the search for Kristi Cornwell continues for friends and family members. Her family has appeared on numerous national talk shows like the "Today Show" and "Nancy Grace" to plead for her return and to get information to the public, hoping that something said or shown will lead to the return of their missing family member. The last person to hear her voice, Douglas Davis, Kristi Cornwell's boyfriend, appeared on CBS' "Early Show" last week as well.
The people who knew her best haven't given up hope. Bill's Skating Rink in Blairsville was filled Saturday night in support of the search for Kristi Cornwell, proceeds going. All the proceeds from the community event went toward the Kristi Cornwell Reward and Search Fund.
And Jaycee Lee Dugard's name was on everyone's lips. The story of the little girl who was kidnapped off the streets of her California hometown at age 11 has become an inspiration to those searching for Kristi Cornwell. After 18 years, Jaycee Lee Dugard told a parole officer that Phillip Garrido had taken her and kept her against her will in his back yard the entire time. The story shocked the nation.
And it gave other families of missing persons hope.
Jaycee Lee Dugard's story not only gave Kristi Cornwell's family and friends hope of an eventual happy ending, it has also provided hope for the family of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings in Satsuma, Florida, missing since February 10. It sent a message of hope to the family and friends of 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel of New York, missing since Spring Break from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And the story gave added hope to the family of 10-year-old Lindsey Baum, missing since June 26, from her home in McCleary, Washington.
A $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the whereabouts of Kristi Cornwell or to those responsible for her disappearance. Those wishing to help urged to call the Union County Sheriff's office at (706) 439-6038 or the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at 800-597-8477.
******
Sources:
KristiCornwell.com
"America's Most Wanted," Fox Television

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2123375/kristi_cornwell_is_missing_after_jaycee.html?cat=9

zorro

09-02-2009, 11:22 PM

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

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

zorro

09-02-2009, 11:24 PM

Sex Offender Creates Poster For Missing Woman

Posted: 6:31 pm EDT September 2, 2009Updated: 8:55 pm EDT September 2, 2009
CLEVELAND, Ga. -- A poster, offering a $100,000 reward in the case of a missing Blairsville woman, was not authorized by Kristi Cornwell’s family, her brother said.

In fact, family members said while researching the name and phone number listed on the flier, they discovered it belonged to registered sex offender Gib Williams of Towns County.

"Of course we were in shock and I grabbed the poster and ran out and called 911 when we realized it was a sex offender that had produced those posters," said Richard Cornwell.

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

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

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

"We're continuing to be hopeful that she's out there alive somewhere," said Richard Cornwell.

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.

The GBI said it sent an agent undercover pretending to make a donation. But instead of taking the bait, Williams said he'd need to call the family.

"In the past it has been an issue of people interjecting themselves into an investigation to stay close to it and know as much as the authorities know about it," said Mike Ayers with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Jodie Fleischer tried to find Williams for an explanation, but no one answered at his home in Hiawassee.

GBI agents have worked more than 1,000 leads, and say they're no closer to finding Kristi.

"We looked at him hard, and there's nothing there," said Ayers.

Copyright 2009 by WSBTV.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/20693663/detail.html

zorro

09-03-2009, 10:36 AM

New Lead in Cornwell Case
By
Jon Lewis
@ September 3, 2009 6:56 AM Permalink | Comments (0)

(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

SaraSidle

09-04-2009, 03:04 AM

http://www.ajc.com/news/divers-assist-with-search-116317.html

kind of interesting

http://www.newspusher.com/EN/post/1251661830-2/EN-/ga-missing-blairsville-woman.html?PHPSESSID=86e9b4b7cf1d97cbe0b3d1b9bf7d2 16f

zorro

09-11-2009, 10:59 AM

The Clay County Progress
Missing person investigation continues
Blairsville, Ga. family
offers $50,000 reward By Becky Long
Publisher Thursday, September 10, 2009 11:00 AM CDT

Kristi Leigh Cornwell is 5’ 5” and weighs around 150 pounds. She has dark brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and tan shorts, Tuesday, Aug. 11 on Jones Creek Road in Blairsville, Ga.
It has been a month since the apparent abduction of a 38-year-old Blairsville, Ga. woman and while the glare of media attention has dimmed, the investigation remains a priority, according to GBI Director of Public Affairs, John Bankhead.

“This has been switched from a general search to a missing person investigation and that will continue until she is found,” Bankhead said.

Kristi Leigh Cornwell had been walking on Jones Creek Road, around 9 p.m. when she was believed to have been abducted. Her disappearance was reported Aug. 11 by her boyfriend who was talking to her on a cell phone. He was in Atlanta.

The boyfriend told investigators Cornwell said, “Somebody’s coming — I gotta move off the side of the road.” He reported hearing a scuffle. He called Cornwell’s parents and told them to dial 911. Cornwell had been staying with her parents who live about 3.5 miles away.

Cornwell’s cell phone was found on Nottley Dam Road, about 2 miles from where she was last seen. It was still in good condition, but had a low battery, Bankhead said. He said the call with her boyfriend has been verified.

Cornwell is 5’ 5” and weighs around 150 pounds. She has dark brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and tan shorts, Bankhead said.

Authorities believe Cornwell is in extreme danger.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office and GBI are seeking information from witnesses who may have seen a light-colored, white or silver SUV, possibly a Tahoe or a sub-compact gold or tan car in the vicinity.

Authorities are also seeking information from anyone who was located on Jones Creek Road between 8-10 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 11. Call the Union County Sheriff’s Office (706) 439-6038 or the GBI tip line, 1 (800) 597-8477.

In the meantime, Cornwell’s family is offering a $50,000 reward for information that may lead to Cornwell’s whereabouts or an arrest and conviction.

Cornwell’s family, which includes her 15 year old son, has set up a Web site to help keep the search alive. Visit: http://kristicornwell.com/

“Anywhere you go, look for Kristi’s face,” the family wrote on the Web site.
http://www.claycountyprogress.com/articles/2009/09/10/news/doc4aa803f582e56605828459.txt

SaraSidle

09-11-2009, 02:21 PM

zorro

09-21-2009, 11:34 PM

A mother of two disappeared from a North Georgia country road about five weeks ago as she was taking a walk. Kristi Cornwell's case has been featured on network news, but all along her family has believed answers to her whereabouts may be right here in East Tennessee.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- A mother of two disappeared from a North Georgia country road about five weeks ago as she was taking a walk.

Kristi Cornwell's case has been featured on America's Most Wanted, Nancy Grace and Good Morning America, but all along her family has believed answers to her whereabouts may be right here in East Tennessee.

Richard Cornwell lives in Knoxville and he's the one who found the crime scene.

He says his sister Kristi was taking a walk as she normally does on Jones Creek Road in Blairsville, Georgia on August 11th.

She was on the phone with her boyfriend at the time.

Cornwell made a reference to an on-coming car, then her boyfriend heard a struggle.

Her phone was found about three miles down the road from where she was taken.

Richard Cornwell says that clue tells them her abductors were headed north.

He's a pilot so he's been flying over the area searching for vehicles that residents report seeing that night.

"Several routes, major routes from Blairsville, Georgia lead into East Tennessee-- especially Highway 129 and 411. Those areas in particular people need to remember where they were at late on August 11th or early on August 12th," Richard Cornwell said.

Kristi Cornwell is 38 years old.

She's 5-5, 150 lbs, has dark brown hair and blue eyes.

Here are those vehicle descriptions: A white suburban-like SUV and a gold compact car.

Family is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to Cornwell's safe return.

http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/60060417.html

SaraSidle

09-22-2009, 12:09 AM

zorro

09-22-2009, 11:18 PM

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

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=8371075

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Immediately, Jean. He called police immediately. Police came on scene, along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. They found evidence of her belongings there. They also found evidence of a struggle, but they won`t comment on the details.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIP.../14/ng.01.html

It appears that LE has reasons to believe they know where the abduction occurred. In the same interview it mentions that Kristi was last seen by someone at the church on Jones Creek Rd. The sighting at the church, her parents home where she began the walk and the scene of the abduction would give the direction Kristi was walking. I guess the brother is basing where the cell phone was found as the direction the abductors were heading after grabbing Kristi.

SaraSidle

09-22-2009, 11:26 PM

zorro

10-12-2009, 04:54 PM

GBI: Progress in Missing Woman Case

Updated: Thursday, 08 Oct 2009, 5:36 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 08 Oct 2009, 5:36 PM EDT

* Edited By: Leigha Baugham | myfoxatlanta.com

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. (MyFOX ATLANTA) - GBI investigators said Thursday that they were making progress in the search for Kristi Cornwell, a Blairsville woman who has been missing nearly two months.

The 38-year-old Cornwell vanished back in August 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 later found about 3.5 miles away from where she disappeared. The area where investigators found the phone remained 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 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/GBI_Progress_in_Missing_Woman_Case_100809

SaraSidle

10-12-2009, 11:49 PM

so what do you think zorro?

zorro

10-29-2009, 03:06 PM

Family relentless in search for Kristi Cornwell

By Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2:03 p.m. Thursday, October 29, 2009

Almost three months have passed since Kristi Cornwell went out for an evening walk and seemingly walked off the face of the Earth.

The Cornwell case in Union County has followed the same path of other missing persons cases that were not resolved quickly – intense media coverage at first and then virtually nothing.

Her family, however, has been relentless.

“When they [state and local law enforcement] scaled down their aerial and ground searches, we felt it was important to the family to ramp up our ground and air searches,” said Richard Cornwell, the missing woman’s brother.

“What we’re doing is working our way out from the abduction site and the cell phone site. The law enforcement searchers searched about a five-mile radius [from those two sites] and were picking up from that. We’re trying to avoid searching areas that law enforcement has already searched.”

On Thursday, a helicopter piloted by ESPN NASCAR commentator Andy Petree was the first to touch down at the “helicopter landing zone” that was marked Wednesday in a field belonging to the Cornwell family.

Petree agreed to devote some of Thursday afternoon to one of the searches that have been held almost daily since Kristi Cornwell disappeared on Aug. 11 from Jones Creek Road, a short distance from her parents’ house near the small North Georgia town of Blairsville.

There were no traces of the 38-year-old woman in the area where she supposedly was walking when someone in a white SUV grabbed her. Searchers did find her cell phone three miles away, seemingly tossed out the window of a car, but that has provided little information as well.

Investigators have ruled out Kristi Cornewell’s boyfriend, Douglas Davis of Carrollton, and her three ex-husbands as suspects. They have also discounted the registered sex offenders in several surrounding counties, including some in North Carolina. Agents have checked the criminals Kristi Cornwell supervised when she was a probation officer several years ago.

“This is a very difficult case,” said Mike Ayers, the agent in charge of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s office in nearby Cleveland. “It’s so complex. There’s very little to go on. No one saw her being abducted. There is not a plethora of physical evidence.”

A week after Kristi Cornwell disappeared, law enforcement backed off the ground search in the area.

And now, “it’s very much a traditional criminal investigation,” Ayers said. “We’re still trying to develop and track leads. At this point, we don’t know where Kristi Cornwell is and we are still searching to find her.”

Kristi's family is searching as well.

Her father, Harold, uses maps of the law enforcement searches in August along with his own to dispatch searchers to areas “strategically” chosen. Most evenings are spent on the phone recruiting searchers for the next day.

The family alerts media outlets of every development.

This week, in a series of e-mails sent on one day, the Cornwells distributed pictures of the progression of construction of the helicopter landing site.

First there was a picture of three two-by-fours laid out in the field; the grass had not been mowed. Then there was a photograph of a windsock as it was being installed nearby. Richard Cornwell notified the media that Petree would stop on his way to cover a race and join the search for an afternoon.

That was followed by another photograph of the now-painted markings on the mowed grass for the helicopter landing spot.

They still have to install lights, a fence and aviation markers before the helipad is completed.

Joan Scanlon-Petuski -- who runs a nonprofit in Charlotte that helps families who have missing adult relatives -- said the Cornwells' actions almost follow a script she has seen other families follow.

“Their mindset is they aren’t giving up,” said Scanlon-Petuski, who founded the Kristen Foundation after her 18-year-old neighbor disappeared a decade ago.

“They can’t believe it happened. They just need to find her. They’re still in that mode [of] ‘hurry up and move so we can find her.’ They are moved to check out every space and not give up at all … Even if it doesn’t come out to the answer they want, they have to find her.”

As for the official investigation, Ayers said GBI agents have “developed some information that’s useful. We’ve talked to, literally, hundreds of people since this investigation began and we will continue to do this.”

The family is offering a $50,000 reward, and family members have appeared on the television show “America’s Most Wanted.”

There is a Kristi Cornwell Web site that has a link to PayPal for any monetary donations.

The Cornwells are fixing up a house on some family land where pilots who help with the search can sleep. Richard Cornwell is hoping for two loaned helicopters and their volunteer pilots this weekend.

“We believe she’s alive,” Richard Cornwell said. “We believe we’re going to bring her home alive. That’s why we’re working so hard. Every minute counts in this situation. We don’t want her endure this any longer than she has too.

Richard Cornwell said the family has funded virtually the entire operation.

“It’s financially draining for some families and most of the families I work with run out of money after the first few months,” Scanlon-Petuski said.

But the family Web site also offers for sale buttons, coffee mugs and t-shirts imprinted with Kristi’s image and the message “until Kristi comes home.”

The family bought an address list and they have printed 60,000 postcards with information about the disappearance and the GBI’s tip line.

So far, 33,000 postcards have been mailed to every house in Union, Lumpkin and White counties in northeast Georgia and to Clay County in North Carolina. The remaining 27,000 are now being mailed to addresses in Towns and Fannin counties in Georgia and Cherokee County in North Carolina.

There is a “pray for Kristi Cody Cornwell” Facebook site with almost 8,550 registered friends.

“These kinds of cases never … go away,” said Ayers of the GBI. “[But] sometimes they take longer to resolve.”
Find this article at:

http://www.ajc.com/news/family-relentless-in-search-177755.html