The husband and brother-in-law of a woman brutally attacked last week while walking on the Silver Comet Trail will lead a round-trip ride that was organized to keep attention focused on the incident that has horrified some and frightened others who use the popular walking and biking path.
The riders will start at 6 a.m. Tuesday, leaving from the Publix parking lot at the corner of the East/West Connector and South Cobb Drive in Smyrna and heading west toward Alabama, where the 61.5-mile Sliver Comet — which passes through Cobb, Paulding and Polk counties — joins the 33-mile-long Chief Ladiga Trail.
Tina Waddell was brutally beaten last Tuesday while walking along the trail near the Paulding County apartment complex where she lives with her husband, Jim.
In the days after the attack, her family released photographs of Waddell in her hospital bed so others could grasp the extent of her injuries. Waddell's husband told reporters last week that every bone in her face was broken and she will have to have her jaw wired shut for four to six weeks, but the 42-year-old woman was not sexually assaulted.
Waddell was discovered by a recreational bike rider who came upon her as she crawled up an embankment from the trees and brush that line the trail around 6:30 p.m. last Tuesday. She has been able to give only a general description of her attacker as she has little memory of the assault, according to investigators.
Paulding County investigators are following up on tips, but so far, none has been fruitful, according to spokesman Cpl. Ashley Henson. Waddell continues to improve at a Marietta hospital, he said Monday.
About the Author
