CLEVELAND, Ga. -- A poster, offering a $100,000 reward in the case of a missing Blairsville woman, was not authorized by Kristi Cornwell’s family, her brother said.

In fact, family members said while researching the name and phone number listed on the flier, they discovered it belonged to registered sex offender Gib Williams of Towns County.

"Of course we were in shock and I grabbed the poster and ran out and called 911 when we realized it was a sex offender that had produced those posters," said Richard Cornwell.

The poster was discovered in the days following Kristi Cornwell’s disappearance, said Richard Cornwell.

"It really is unbelievable that there are people in the world that will try to gain financially from this disgusting crime," said Richard Cornwell.

Investigators believe that Kristi Cornwell was abducted while she was walking along Jones Creek Road in Blairsville more than three weeks ago.

"We're continuing to be hopeful that she's out there alive somewhere," said Richard Cornwell.

Kristi Cornwell’s family believes that Williams was trying to profit off the case, but the GBI said it couldn’t charge him because Williams didn’t take any money.

The GBI said it sent an agent undercover pretending to make a donation. But instead of taking the bait, Williams said he'd need to call the family.

"In the past it has been an issue of people interjecting themselves into an investigation to stay close to it and know as much as the authorities know about it," said Mike Ayers with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Jodie Fleischer tried to find Williams for an explanation, but no one answered at his home in Hiawassee.

GBI agents have worked more than 1,000 leads, and say they're no closer to finding Kristi.

"We looked at him hard, and there's nothing there," said Ayers.