Investigators have positively identified bones found in a wooded area in northern Georgia as those of Kristi Cornwell, a woman who has been missing since 2009.
Cornwell's identity was confirmed through dental records, a spokesman with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said today, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The skeletal remains were discovered Saturday by a passer-by in Union County. The location is about nine miles from where Cornwell, 38, disappeared 18 months ago, police said.
Police believe Cornwell was abducted on Aug. 11, 2009, as she walked along a rural road in Blairsville, Ga., while talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone. He told authorities she said a car was pulling up, and then she screamed, "Don't take me!" and the phone went dead, police said.
Authorities later found Cornwell's personal effects along the side of the road. A weeklong search, conducted by multiple law enforcement agencies, failed to uncover any sign of the missing woman.
Roughly one week before Cornwell's disappearance, a man had tried to abduct a woman who was walking in nearby Ranger, N.C. Authorities suspect the two cases are connected and have released a vehicle description and a suspect sketch.
In January 2010, authorities received a letter, purported to be from "a concerned grandmother." The anonymous sender said the suspect looked like her grandson. The writer also said the vehicle description matched a vehicle owned by her grandson.
"I was horrified to see a newspaper photo of a man that looks like my 27-year-old grandson," the letter stated, according to the Gainesville Times. "He drives a white Nissan Xterra with black bars on the front."
The author of the letter did not identify her grandson and concluded by saying she wanted to "give my grandson the benefit of doubt until proven otherwise."
Authorities released copies of the letter to the media, but they have been unable to identify the sender. However, they have an unnamed person of interest in Cornwell's disappearance, CNN reported.
The GBI did not immediately return calls for comment from AOL News today. Cornwell's family members have been instructed not to speak with the media, according to published reports.
A news conference has been scheduled for 2 p.m. today, Atlanta's WSB-TV reported.
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