15 years ago a GA woman was abducted, remains found in woods. Her killer still hasn’t been caught

UNION COUNTY, Ga. — Today marks 15 years since Kristi Cornwell, 38, was abducted while walking down a Union County road. Authorities are still searching for answers.

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It was Kristi Cornwell’s brother who found her remains in a wooded area off Moccasin Road in Blairsville on January 1, 2011.

Agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had told the Cornwell family that they were planning to search the area again in January where Cornwell disappeared while walking near her parents’ Union County home. The GBI said it was just waiting until they had enough manpower after the holidays.

But Cornwell’s brother, Richard, didn’t want to wait any longer, and went out to that wooded area during that weekend, and found his sister.

“We’re thankful that Kristi can now have a proper burial,” said Richard Cornwell.

“Hopefully this discovery will bring some closure to the family as far as knowing where their daughter is,” said GBI spokesman John Bankhead.

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Authorities said they had a suspect in Kristi Cornwell’s disappearance, but he was dead.

Investigators said James Carringer, 42, killed himself inside a car during a standoff with Atlanta police in Buckhead.

The standoff shut down Peachtree between Deering Road and 26th Street for several hours. Police had cornered him after they said he abducted and raped a Kennesaw State University student in Gilmer County.

The GBI said it hasn’t given up.

“There is some information about Mr. Carringer that we haven’t released to the public that he may be involved in Kristi’s disappearance,” said Bankhead.

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In December 2009, one of the things that caught investigators’ attention was the proximity of Carringer’s home in north Georgia to the place where Cornwell disappeared, and to cases in other states including the attempted abduction of a 10-year-old Alabama girl, and the near-abduction of a woman in North Carolina.

In January of 2010, the Cherokee County, NC Sheriff’s Office and the Union County Sheriff’s Office received an anonymous letter from a woman who said the sketch of the Ranger suspect looked like her grandson and that the grandson drove a Nissan Xterra. Her grandson was in that area of western North Carolina during the time of both incidents.

The GBI continues to seek information about Cornwell’s abduction and murder. Anyone with information is urged to contact the GBI Tipline at 800-597-8477 or call the Union County Sheriff’s Office at 706-439-6066.

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