FBI Joins Investigation of Missing Georgia Woman

The FBI has joined the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement in the investigation of a woman who disappeared while walking near her parents' home and talking on her cell phone with her boyfriend. Kristi Cornwell disappeared Aug. 11 in rural Blairsville, near the North Georgia Mountains.

The boyfriend heard Cornwell beg her abducts not to take her, he told police.

Cornwell, 38, has a degree in criminal justice and works for the state prison system in Blairsville as well as the Towns County Sheriff's Office. Investigators were trying to determine if her abduction was connected to her job as a probation officer.

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

Investigation Extended Into Other States

After a week, the GBI called off the ground search of a 3.5 mile area around the area where Cornwell disappeared. The investigation has been extended into North Carolina and Tennessee.

During the search, Cornwell's cell phone was found about two miles from the spot where she was last seen by witnesses on Jones Creek Road. Investigators are also looking into a vehicle abandoned in the woods several miles from the abduction.

Cornwell's family has set up a website to help find the missing mother of a 15-year-old son.

See Also:
FBI Joins Search for Missing Georgia Woman Abducted While Talking on Phone

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^{Photo: Georgia Bureau of Investigaion}