GBI: Morgan County sketch possible lead to Cornwell

By Marcus K. Garner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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