Dozens of tips come in for missing Blairsville mom

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The sketch of a possible suspect in the abduction of a Blairsville mom has generated dozens of tips over the last 24 hours, investigators said Tuesday.

On Monday afternoon, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation released a description of a suspect and vehicle that may have been involved in the disappearance of Kristi Cornwell.

By 4 p.m. Tuesday, the GBI had received a couple dozens tips in response to investigators’ request for the public to help find the man and a silver Nissan Xterra, GBI spokesman John Bankhead told the AJC. Not all of the tips are solid, but investigators are checking each one.

“We are following up on all tips that need following up,” Bankhead said.

Investigators believe the Xterra is tied to an attempted abduction of a woman in Ranger, N.C., on Aug. 2 and Cornwell’s abduction on Aug. 11.

Both women were walking alone on rural roads around 9 p.m., the GBI said. The attacks occurred about 25 miles apart.

Cornwell, 38, was walking near her parents’ Blairsville home and talking to her boyfriend on the cell phone. The boyfriend, Douglas Davis, told police Cornwell complained of an approaching car and he then heard a struggle before the call ended.

The North Carolina woman told police she was walking near a community center in Cherokee County when the SUV struck her. The woman fell to the ground and a man got out of the vehicle, according to the GBI.

However, the man fled when another vehicle approached, police said. She received only minor injuries and North Carolina troopers opted not to investigate the incident, according to a spokesman for the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

The North Carolina woman contacted the GBI after seeing news coverage of the Cornwell case, investigators said.

The suspect is described as a white male in his mid-20s with dark hair. He was driving a silver Nissan Xterra with tinted windows and a brush guard on the front, police said.

Cornwell’s family is offering a $50,000 reward for information.

Cornwell, a single mother, is a former probation officer and was taking classes to be a medical technician, her family said.

Anyone with information may contact the GBI at 1-800-597-TIPS.