Sinkhole Threatens To Eat Marietta House

A fast-spreading sinkhole threatened to swallow a Marietta home and part of a street this morning.

WSB-TV reporter Ross Cavitt was back at the scene in the 1100 block of Charlton Trace on Tuesday morning after checking it out Monday night. He said the sinkhole spread dramatically toward both the house and the street overnight and estimated that it was over 50 feet across.

The driveway leading up to the home dangled precariously over the sinkhole Tuesday morning and appeared ready to topple in.

Crews from the Marietta Public Works Department were at the scene trying to figure out how to stop the spread of the sinkhole.

"It appears there is some sort of underground cavern or underground spring," said Dan Conn, director of the Public Works Department.

Utilities to the house were cut off, according to Conn. The owners of the home were warned to evacuate and the family spent the night with friends in Woodstock.

Recent heavy rains may have opened up the sinkhole, but neighbors told city workers there was a mining operation in the area years ago.

Missing Woman's Mom Issues Emotional Plea

The mother of a missing Blairsville woman issued an emotional plea Tuesday for the writer of a letter linked to the case to come forward. This month, police said the anonymous letter writer was a grandmother worried her grandson might be involved in the disappearance of Kristi Cornwell. The letter was sent to the sheriffs in both Union County, Ga. and Cherokee County, N.C. Cornwell disappeared from a rural road near her parents' house in August 2009.

On Tuesday, Cornwell's mother, Jo Ann Cornwell, asked for the writer of the letter to identify herself.

"I know how hard it would be to implicate your own grandson in such a horrible crime," Cornwell wrote on kristicornwell.com, a Web site put together by the missing woman's family. "I am a grandmother too, and I can certainly understand your love for your grandson and wanting to protect him."

She then asks the letter writer to put herself in Cornwell's place.

"I know you must remember what it felt like to hold your baby in your arms for the first time," she wrote. "Remember the overwhelming love that you felt at that moment, and that a mother continues to feel no matter how old their child is."

She then describes the family's anguish over her missing daughter.

"My heart is breaking! It not only is breaking for myself, but for Kristi's 15 year-old son. The last time he saw his mama was the morning she dropped him off at school on the day of her abduction. My heart breaks when I think about whether Kristi is cold, hungry or being abused."

She closes ends the plea with "I beg you as the grandmother of Kristi's possible abductor, to rid yourself of the guilt you must be feeling, knowing you may have the information that could lead us to Kristi. Please come forward and end the nightmare our family is going through!"

There is a $50,000 reward in the case.

Ft. Stewart Soldier Found Dead In Barracks

Fort Stewart officials said a 20-year-old Army soldier whose body was found in his barracks room appears to have died from accidental causes.

Pvt. Adam Kiedrowski was found dead Friday night on the Army post in southeast Georgia.

Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson said Tuesday investigators found no apparent signs of foul play. Though autopsy results were still pending, Larson said it appeared to be an accidental death.

The soldier from Trempealeau, Wis., was an Army mechanic who arrived at Fort Stewart last month. Larson said he joined the Army a year ago and was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan with his unit this spring.

From WSB and WAGA