Authorities from The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) confirmed Monday, January 03, 2011, that human skeletal remains found Saturday in Union County on Moccasin Rd. near the North Carolina border are those of Kristi Cornwell, a 38-year-old Union County resident who disappeared August 11, 2009. A civilian discovered the remains about nine miles northeast of the area along Jones Creek Road where Cornwell vanished.Kristi was last heard from at approximately 9 p.m. August 11 while walking on Jones Creek Road near Blairsville. She was talking on her cell phone with her boyfriend when he heard her scream, “Don’t take me!”
Original search efforts centered around the area where Cornwell’s cell phone was discovered. More than a year later, authorities from the Union County Sherriff’s Office, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, neighboring sheriff’s departments and volunteers have continued the search for Cornwell. The family also set up a website and sold a home to raise money, offering a $50,000 reward for information regarding her disappearance..
GBI’s spokesman John Bankhead could not confirm a suspect in Cornwell’s death.
Union County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by FetchYourNews.com at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 3 for more information but could not comment at the time.