Possible New Lead

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New Lead in Cornwell Case

By Jon Lewis @ September 3, 2009 6:56 AM Permalink | Comments (0)
(WSB Radio) There could be a new lead in the case of a missing Blairsville woman.

The GBI confirms it's looking into the case of a woman who was almost abducted about a week before Kristi Cornwell's disappearance.

Bill and Sara Sherill were sitting on their front porch in Murphy, North Carolina, about a half hour from where Cornwell vanished in Union County. The Sherill's spotted one of their neighbors out for her evening run and, as she passed their house they saw a man following her.

"Obviously he was going after her," Mrs. Sherill says.

The Sherill's became alarmed, with Mr. Sherill saying to his wife, "maybe I should go rescue her because it looked like he intended to do something.

"It was really scary," he says.

They saw the man climb into a red pick up truck and follow the woman some more.

Mr. Sherill went so far as to get into his own car, but stopped when he saw the red pick up pass him going the other direction.

Sherill drove to find the woman and discovered Brigitte Townsend safely running to her home. She told him she was unaware of the other man's presence.

Cornwell disappeared the evening of August 11 while walking along Jones Bridge Road, in Union County. Extensive searching by law enforcement has turned up few clues as to what happened to the 38 year old mother.

http://wsbradio.com/localnews/2009/09/new-lead-in-cornwell-case.html

Agents in Kristi Cornwell Case Interview N.C. Jogger

Metro Atlanta / State News
7:51 p.m.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009

She avoided attempted kidnapping two weeks earlier
By Christian Boone
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

GBI agents are investigating the attempted kidnapping of a jogger one town over from where Kristi Cornwell was abducted.

The failed kidnapping occurred on July 26 in Murphy, N.C., roughly 20 miles from Blairsville, where Cornwell disappeared Aug. 11.

“There aren’t any real similarities, but there is proximity,” said GBI spokesman John Bankhead.

The attempted kidnapping occurred at 9:30 p.m. -- right about when Cornwell, 38, was grabbed while walking along Jones Creek Road, not far from her home. She was chatting on her cellphone with her boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, authorities say.

The GBI identified a large-size white SUV, and a tan or gold subcompact car, as vehicles possibly driven by Cornwell’s abductor. In the Murphy case, witnesses say the man was driving a red Ford Ranger.

“We’re following up on it, but right now there is no connection,” Bankhead said.

Cornwell’s case remains a mystery, despite national media coverage and a $50,000 reward.

http://www.ajc.com/news/agents-in-kristi-cornwell-129879.html

What dies the man mean with "no REAL similarities?" An attempted kidnapping 20 miles away, 2 weeks earlier and a successful kidnapping...
A different vehicle was used (maybe, maybe not.) I haven't been told what is NOT similar but I can see without much effort what IS similar.
Might have failed the first time and realized his mistakes and decided to be a little bit more forceful the second time.
I'm going to go back and try to find all the articles I've read so far because I seem to remember the mention of a red pick-up truck being near Kristi's church that night.

squirrelgirl wrote:

What dies the man mean with "no REAL similarities?" An attempted kidnapping 20 miles away, 2 weeks earlier and a successful kidnapping...
A different vehicle was used (maybe, maybe not.) I haven't been told what is NOT similar but I can see without much effort what IS similar.
Might have failed the first time and realized his mistakes and decided to be a little bit more forceful the second time.
I'm going to go back and try to find all the articles I've read so far because I seem to remember the mention of a red pick-up truck being near Kristi's church that night.

I don't know about the "no similarities" there were similarities. Maybe that the jogger was not abducted? The people who witnessed this took it very seriously though, and it doesn't sound like LE felt it had the same importance.

Hope you can find something on that red pickup. It does sound familiar.

I agree. How can they say it is not similar? Obviously, it is very similar!

TexasGoldenGirl wrote:

I agree. How can they say it is not similar? Obviously, it is very similar!

The only thing I can think of is that perhaps LE would rather catch the suspect off guard, rather than knowing he is being investigated.