Meredith Emerson - Georgia police investigating the disappearance of 24-year old Meredith Emerson are questioning 61-year old Gary Michael Hilton whom police describe as a “person of interest” in the missing hiker case.
Meredith Emerson vanished Tuesday while hiking a familiar trail in Vogel State Park at the base of Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest near Atlanta, Georgia.
Her black Labrador retriever, Ella, was found Friday at a grocery store roughly 40 miles from where Emerson’s car was discovered two days earlier.Â
Authorities identified Ella using an implanted microchip, Union County investigator Kimberly Verdone said. Police had previously found a water bottle and a dog leash that belonged to Meredith Emerson beside the Blood Mountain hiking trail.
Gary Michael Hilton, who authorities said was seen with Emerson several times Tuesday, was picked up by police at a convenience store in an Atlanta suburb and taken for questioning at a Georgia Bureau of Investigation office, Verdone added.
Meredith’s friends continue posting missing person flyers bearing her photo, saying that while they were worried that she hasn’t been seen in five days, they were encouraged that authorities had found both Emerson’s dog and the man seen with her on the trail.
“We’re just happy to have some news. We’ve been waiting on news, anything,” said Julia Karrenbauer, Emerson’s roommate. “We’re still looking for Meredith. We still need her face out there.”
And that’s the latest news on the search for missing hiker Meredith Emerson.
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January 5th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
GBI officials refused to comment on media reports that some of Meredith Emerson’s belongings were found in a trash bin outside the gas station where Gary Michael Hilton was arrested, not far from the Kroger where Meredith Emerson’s dog was found.
Police removed several items from the trash bin next to the gas station car wash and also removed the handset from the payphone to take fingerprints.
January 6th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Meredith Emerson Killed
Authorities said today they believe a hiker who disappeared from the northern Georgia woods on New Year’s Day is dead, and they charged the man who was reportedly last seen with her with kidnapping.
Union County Superior Court Judge David Barrett signed a warrant charging Gary Michael Hilton with kidnapping with bodily injury in the disappearance of Meredith Emerson, said Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead.
Authorities were serving the warrant on Hilton on Saturday evening. The warrant was issued “based on evidence recovered in various locations,” Bankhead said. He did not elaborate.
Bankhead said the search for the 24-year-old woman, who was hiking with her dog in the Chattahoochee National Forest, is now focused on finding her body.
“The search has changed from rescue to recovery, based on the evidence we’ve uncovered so far,” Bankhead said.
January 6th, 2008 at 12:19 am
Latest News Update:
Gary Michael Hilton is charged with kidnapping with bodily injury in the disappearance of hiker Meredith Emerson.
Police found bloody clothes and say he tried to use her ATM card.
The search for a 24-year-old Buford hiker will resume after daybreak today in the North Georgia mountains, but authorities fear the worst after finding three blood-soaked fleece shirts they believe belonged to Meredith Emerson.
Family members were told by authorities Saturday night “the chances are slim to none that she’s alive,” said Peggy Bailey, a spokeswoman for Emerson’s family.
Shortly afterward, at about 5 p.m. Saturday, Gary Michael Hilton, the 61-year-old man police say was the last person seen with Emerson, was charged with kidnapping with bodily injury. He arrived at the Union County Jail at 9 p.m. Saturday.
In the arrest warrant, among other evidence, police revealed that surveillance photos taken at a Regions Bank in Canton showed “an individual attempting to use a credit card belonging to Emerson. The individual was determined to be Gary Michael Hilton.”
As GBI spokesman John Bankhead made the announcement of Hilton’s arrest at a news conference near the scene of the search, family and friends broke into tears. They huddled together, crying and consoling each other.
“This is a search and recovery mission,” Bankhead said. Asked whether he believed Emerson was still alive, he said, “It does not look favorable for that.”
Emerson, a sales manager for a Winder packaging company, has been missing since New Year’s Day when the avid hiker told friends she was taking her black Labrador mix, Ella, to Freeman Trail, a popular hiking trail that leads to the Appalachian Trail.
The case gained national attention when other New Year’s Day hikers reported seeing Hilton walking with Emerson along the trail the day of her disappearance. Hilton also had a dog with him at the time.
A police-style baton was also found in the mountains, the same kind “Hilton was known to carry” during hikes, according to the arrest warrant.
Friday afternoon, as frustrated searchers continued their hunt for Emerson 90 miles away, her dog turned up at a Cumming-area Kroger parking lot. It was confirmed to be Emerson’s dog through a microchip implant.
Also Friday, after two days of searching for him, DeKalb County police found Hilton at a convenience store along Ashford-Dunwoody Road and brought him in for questioning.
He has not been cooperative, authorities said.
In a dumpster beside the QuikTrip convenience store, near Kroger at Ga. Highway 306 and Freedom Parkway, they also made four key discoveries, according to the arrest warrant:
• A portion of an automobile seat belt “with apparent blood transfer stains.” According to the warrant, the rear seat belt in Hilton’s 2001 Chevrolet Astro van had been cut out. The warrant also stated, “Hilton was attempting to vacuum the vehicle and wash portions of it with a bleach and water solution.”
• Emerson’s black leather wallet, which included her driver’s license and University of Georgia student ID card.
• Agents determined Hilton had placed a call from a pay phone at the QuikTrip on Friday.
• Three fleece tops, “found to contain substantial amounts of human blood.”
It was a cold day when Emerson, known for her love of the outdoors, went hiking. Snow had fallen. Friends said she’d been wearing warm clothes, including a fleece jacket.
Forsyth County Sheriff Ted Paxton said it won’t be known for certain whether the garments found in the dumpster belong to Emerson until blood tests come back from the GBI.
Authorities felt confident in proceeding with charges because Emerson’s wallet, which had her driver’s license and University of Georgia student ID inside, was in the same dumpster as the blood-stained clothes.
“There were no signs of trauma to the clothing, but it was covered with blood,” Paxton said.
January 8th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Meredith Emerson’s Body Found
(AP Newswire) - Just hours before authorities launched another search for the body of a missing hiker, a drifter accused of kidnapping the woman told them where to look, investigators said.
Gary Michael Hilton, 61, had been charged Saturday with kidnapping with intent of bodily injury. He appeared on Monday before a judge who denied his request for bail.
Hours later, he led investigators to a spot in a wooded area in north Georgia where they found the body of Meredith Emerson, said John Cagle, special agent in charge of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Field Division in Cleveland, Ga.
The 24-year-old woman had been missing since New Year’s Day. Hilton was the last person seen with Emerson on the hiking trail and had tried to use her credit card, according to his arrest warrant.
Three bloody fleece tops and a bloodstained piece of a car’s seat belt were found in a trash bin outside a convenience store where Hilton had used a pay phone, the warrant stated. He had tried to vacuum and wash portions of his 2001 Chevrolet Astro van, which was missing a rear seat belt, according to the document.
Authorities declined Monday night to say whether Hilton would face murder charges.
Local residents had reported seeing Hilton’s van in the woods where the body was found. A search of the area had been planned, miles from where Emerson was last seen, before Hilton told authorities where to look, Cagle said.
Authorities would not describe how Emerson had died.
Peggy Bailey, a spokeswoman for Emerson’s family, told Atlanta television station WAGA that the family was taking the news of her body being found “as you would expect.” But the family was relieved to now know what had happened to Emerson, Baily said.
“This is what we wanted,” she said. “We wanted finality to help us move on.”
Union County Sheriff Scott Stephens said Hilton was a drifter who was well-known in the area, and was often seen with his dog, Dandy, and a police-style baton.
Authorities also said they are exploring a possible link between the disappearance of Emerson and the presumed killing of a couple from North Carolina in October.
Bureau director Vernon Keenan said there could be a connection between the Emerson death and the case of John and Irene Bryant, a couple in their 80s who disappeared in October while hiking in the western North Carolina mountains.
Georgia officials met with North Carolina authorities Monday to discuss the case, bureau spokesman John Bankhead said.
“It’s up to North Carolina now to assess the situation,” he said.
The body of Irene Bryant, 84, was found covered with leaves in November. John Bryant, 80, is still missing, and authorities said he may have been kidnapped so he would provide the couple’s bank account security number.
Someone used the Bryants’ ATM card in the days following their disappearance, investigators said. The ATM transaction took place in Ducktown, Tenn., about 50 miles from the area of the Georgia investigation.
January 8th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Although I don’t know Meredith I’m totally devasted by the horrible news. I had been praying for Meredith to be found alive, but now I pray for God and angels to protect her. I also pray for all those left behind who love her, they will need more than strength to continue living. I just wrote to let her family and friends know many strangers have prayed for all of you.
January 8th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
It helped me to read the comment by Dora Cruz. I did not know Meredith, but I care. My heart aches for her family & friends. What happens to one affects us all. We all need to care. God Bless Meredith. God comfort her family. God help us all.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I did not know Meredith but my heart aches for her family and friends. This is a terrible tragedy that has shaken Northeast Georgia, as well as the nation. It is so scary to think that you can’t even go hiking with your dog without the worry of sick and twisted people out there. I want the family to know that I have been praying for them during this extremely difficult time. I hope that you can find some comfort in God’s arms.
January 9th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
[...] Meredith Emerson [...]
January 11th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
That man is awful!
They should give him the death penalty anyway!
January 25th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Follow up story on Meredith Emerson’s killer, Gary Michael Hilton:
http://hitsusa.com/blog/452/gary-michael-hilton/
Seems like he had at least 6 other victims that he killed in the same way as Meredith…