Family of Missing Georgia Mother Kristi Cornwell Exhausted, Hopeful
Police believe Kristi Cornwell may have been abducted by a stranger.
Aug. 20, 2009 — -- It's been more than a week since Kristi Cornwell was snatched off a Georgia street while taking an evening walk, and no one seems to know who took her or why.
While police initially considered the possibility that the abduction was connected to her former job as a parole officer, they are now leaning toward the likelihood that Cornwell, mother to a 15-year-old son, was kidnapped by a total stranger.
As police, state authorities and the FBI continue to comb the area and follow up on leads, Cornwell's family is trying to hold it together.
"We've still got that adrenaline pumping, and we're going to keep it going until we find her," brother Richard Cornwell told "Good Morning America" today.
Police do not yet have a suspect, and Cornwell's father, Harold Cornwell, said the kidnapper could be someone unknown to the family.
"I'd like to caution all young people and adults when using the Internet to meet people," he said.
Harold said that, since his daughter's disappearance, there are some nights when the family gets just one hour of sleep, but that they have vowed to keep up their end of the search while police continue the investigation.
"I want them to know what a wonderful woman Kristi was ... a woman of great faith," her mother, Jo Ann Cornwell, said. "And I just want them to keep looking for her."
Also keeping vigil is Cornwell's son, Brody.
"He's holding up, he's a strong boy," Jo Ann Cornwell said. "We just tell him how many people are looking for her, praying for her."
Earlier this week, the family released a home video in hopes the images will generate new leads.
On the video, Cornwell can be seen on the 1994 video bouncing her then infant son on her lap and opening Christmas gifts.
Richard Cornwell told ABC's Atlanta affiliate WSB that the family has set up a reward fund to encourage anyone with information to come forward.
"We're trying to get this reward fund built up," he said. "And we want this awful predator or predators put behind bars."
Mike Ayers, an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, told WSB that the FBI would bring in a behavioral scientist and assist with cell phone information.
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