Sandra Elaine "Sandee" Cornett was a young woman who disappeared from Charlotte, North Carolina on November 18, 1984. Suspected serial killer Larry Gene Bell is a suspect in her disappearance.
Background[]
Sandee Cornett was born to Arville and Marjorie Cornett in Wilkes County, North Carolina on March 28, 1958. At the time of her disappearance, she was working as an insurance adjuster and part-time model. She was going to marry her fiancé in April of 1985. She was also known to wear jogging clothes around the house, despite not being much of a jogger.
Case[]
Sandee was last seen at 6:30 p.m. at her house after having dinner with her fiancé. Her fiancé drove back to his home in Greenville, South Carolina and tried to call her later that evening, but he got no answer. When she did not go to work the next day, she was reported missing by her neighbor. At her home, there were no signs of a break-in or struggle. Her brown pocketbook was dumped out on her bed, the television was on, and her house keys, driver's license, and checkbook were lying nearby. Only three things, a dark blue Velour jogging suit (which was presumably worn by Sandee), a dictating machine, and an ATM card. Investigators believe she was abducted in her house by someone she knew as "she was not the type to open her door to a stranger."
Authorities searched the neighborhoods and nearby woods for Sandee for two days but found nothing. The missing ATM card was traced to an anonymous Charlotte bank where it was used twice. Employees recalled a man using it once and a woman who was not Sandee use it again.
Larry Gene Bell is the prime suspect in Sandee's disappearance. Although her neighbors deny seeing the two go out or him at her house, Bell apparently was a coworker of her former boyfriend at Charlotte's Douglas International Airport and had been to a party at her house. He denied abducting and killing her but made statements, including drawing a map, that suggested where her body was buried.
Bell, a former electrician, was convicted for the 1985 kidnappings and killings of 17-year-old "Shari" Smith and nine-year-old Debra Helmick in what was the largest manhunt in South Carolina history. He has also been named a suspect in the disappearances of Sandee Cornett and Denise Porch. He was executed by the electric chair on October 4, 1996.
Characteristics[]
- Long brown hair.
- Green eyes.
- Small brown birth mark between her shoulder blades.
- Small surgical scar on back of right thigh.
Clothing[]
- Dark blue Velour jogging suit.
Sources[]
- Associated Press
- Sandee Cornett at Find a Grave
- Sandee Cornett at NamUs
- The Times (July 30, 1985)
- Larry Bell on Wikipedia