August 25th 2009
KINGS POINT, N.C. - Authorities officials spent more than a day searching for a missing Georgia woman in North Carolina after receiving a tip called in to the television show "America's Most Wanted" but ended the quest Monday after no evidence of her was found.
Searchers began looking for Kristi Cornwell, 38, of Blairsville on Sunday. She disappeared from her hometown Aug. 11. Police said she was abducted while talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone during a walk near her parent's home.
U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Tyler Kellner said the search concluded around 6 p.m. Monday. He said officials first set up a grid and then used cadaver dogs to look for the woman.
Kellner said nothing was found connecting Cornwell to the area and that the tip was bogus "as far as we can tell right now."
"Hopefully something will turn up soon," he said.
Searchers looked in the area of Kings Mountain, N.C., near Charlotte and almost 200 miles from Blairsville. Officers said a caller to the TV show said the woman's body could be found there. The case was profiled on the show Saturday night.
The Marshals Service was assisted by the Cleveland County sheriff's office and the local volunteer fire department.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Steve Gladden had said there was enough information in the tip for it to not be completely discounted.
Cornwell's family is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to her safe return or the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for her disappearance.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has fielded hundreds of tips since Cornwell disappeared but they have provided no "significant" leads to find her or determine what happened, spokesman John Bankhead said.
Cornwell's cousin Keith Hogsed told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the family was disappointed the North Carolina search didn't yield any results, but was not that confident in the tip.
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=222690
Author