Missing Blairsville woman’s items found

By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It’s a road rarely traveled, but Kristi Cornwell knew it well.

Cornwell’s family lives on Jones Creek Road in Blairsville, and she didn’t think twice about walking the four-mile loop alone at night.

And she hasn’t been seen or heard from since leaving her parents’ home Tuesday for some exercise. As Cornwell, 38 walked, she talked to her boyfriend, Douglas Davis, on the phone. His next call would be the police.

She likely was abducted while exercising, police say.

“The boyfriend was in Atlanta when they were talking,” according to John Bankhead, spokesman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Reliable witnesses have reported two vehicles in the area around the time Cornwell may have been abducted, and neither one belongs to anyone on the country road, Bankhead said.

The GBI is now looking for a large-size white SUV, and a tan or gold subcompact car, possibly a Toyota or Nissan, he said.

Late Tuesday, Cornwell was unnerved by an approaching car that stopped near her. Davis later told police Cornwell screamed, ‘Don’t take me.”

Davis, 53, immediately called the Union County Sheriff’s Department, Bankhead said. When the call came in at 9:20 p.m. Tuesday, GBI officials were already in Union County investigating a homicide, resulting from a domestic dispute.

Within hours, the GBI was involved in a second Union County investigation.

“The cases are not related,” Bankhead said.

An arrest has been made in the homicide case. But a massive search is under way to find Cornwell. More than 100 people from 15 agencies are now searching for her.

Cornwell is described as a dark-haired, white female standing 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds, GBI agent Mike Ayers said.

Farther down the road where Cornwell is believed to have been abducted is her church, New Union Baptist. It is now being utilized as a command center in the search.

The GBI has called in additional searchers for Cornwell, Ayers said. Union County police, the Georgia State Patrol, and the Department of Natural Resources are among those searching for Cornwell.

Authorities in neighboring counties are on stand-by if needed, he said.

“We’re preparing for a long haul,” Ayers said. “This could be a long, drawn-out search.”

Investigators found personal belongings of Cornwell’s along Jones Creek Road, Bankhead said. He declined to say what those items were.

Davis has declined to comment about the incident.

The close-knit Cornwell family spoke briefly to reporters Thursday evening, with Cornwell’s brother Richard pleading for her return.

“We really want her back and we’d appreciate it if [her abductor] would have mercy on her,” said Cornwell’s brother, Richard Cornwell. “We need her back ... and we’ll stop at nothing to get her back.”

Cornwell has been a student at Dalton State College, where she is studying medical laboratory technology, according to her profile on the Facebook social networking Web site. She has not yet registered for the fall term, according to college spokeswoman Jane Taylor.

A 1989 graduate of Union County High School, Cornwell’s 20-year reunion is planned for later this year.

This isn’t the first time searchers have combed the area for a missing woman. In January 2008, searchers worked tirelessly to find a missing hiker, University of Georgia student Meredith Emerson.

“It’s very unusual to have two cases like this, with Meredith Emerson and Miss Cornwell,” Bankhead said.

A week after the search began for Emerson, her killer Gary Michael Hilton led police to her body. He remains in jail in Florida, awaiting trial in the beheading of a popular Sunday School teacher.

Anyone with information regarding Cornwell’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Union County Sheriff’s Department at 706-439-6066.

“We’re asking for anyone who may have seen anything, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to give us call,” GBI agent Mike Ayers said Thursday.


— Staff writer Christian Boone contributed to this report.