www.justiceforchandra.com

[gozgals]

Person of Interest Named as Search for Missing Georgia Hiker Continues
Thursday, January 03, 2008

BUFORD, Ga. — Authorities said Thursday they were seeking a man believed to have been seen talking to a 24-year-old hiker missing since Tuesday in the vicinity of Blood Mountain.

Police said the man, described as 60 years old, weighing 160 pounds, was seen several times on New Year's Day with Meredith Emerson, 24, formerly of Longmont, Colo, and recently a resident of Buford, Ga., in suburban Atlanta.

"This man was seen with her on multiple occasions during that day," Union County investigator Kimberly Verdone said on Thursday.

Verdone said witnesses said the man had a yellow jacket and a backpack with enough gear for at least a couple of days.

Late Thursday, officials said they believe the man was Gary Michael Hilton of DeKalb County, also in suburban Atlanta. They said it was possible Hilton was driving a 2000-2001 white Chevy Astro van.

"We want to find out who he was and kind of talk to him and see what happened and what their conversation was throughout the day," Verdone said.

Friends said Emerson went hiking with her black Labrador retriever on Tuesday. Her 1995 Chevrolet Cavalier was found abandoned Wednesday at the base of Blood Mountain.

Police confirmed that a water bottle and dog collar found near a hiking trail belonged to Emerson.

Other hikers who were on the trail Tuesday told authorities they saw Emerson talking to a white male, between 50- and 60-years old. The man had a red dog with him he called "Danny."

Witnesses told MyFoxAtlanta that Emerson and the man both chased their dogs into the woods. According to MyFoxAtlanta, a baton similar to that used by police and men's sunglasses were found with Emerson's belongings.

At the request of the Union County Sheriff's Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation sent four agents to join in the search Thursday morning, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said.

The Georgia State Patrol pitched in with a helicopter using an infrared device. The helicopter had been grounded by high winds on Wednesday.

"She's an experienced hiker and a blue belt in martial arts," said Julia Karrenbauer, Emerson's roommate. "She's athletic and has a good head on her shoulders. So we're just hoping for the best."

But despite a daylong search, rescue workers and a group of Emerson's friends found no trace of her or her dog in Wednesday's bitter cold.

Union County Fire Department spokesman Lt. Jeff Fortenberry said up to 30 emergency personnel and deputies planned to search a mountainous, six-mile stretch of trails south of Blairsville on Thursday. He said investigators have found no signs of foul play.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319948,00.html

Only story we have to date, please feel free to add more information on this case as you find it. I hope they find Meredith alive and she is just lost, staying put and seeking shelter.

[Sherry]

These mountains are BRUTAL! Not to mention it's been below freezing for a few days now here in Atlanta so the mountains are going to be even colder.

My husband did some "time" up there at the Ranger camp when he was doing some stuff for the Marines and he was talking about the terraine being horrible, sometimes so steep that all it would take is a little twist and you're down quite a ways...

And there's really nothing but woods there as well. All woods, the Ranger camp and a few houses here and there. It's quiet, dark, isolated woods...not the best place to be lost, much less with the cold and the strangers running around here......

[rd]

maresy wrote: rd,

Have you seen the information on the missing hiker in GA? Their poi was spotted with the young girl. Later, someone found the following items in the parking lot:

A baton
A log leash
2 water bottles
glasses
dog treats

The baton and the leash made bells go off. Isn't there an objecton Jenn's poi that looks like a baton? And the mark on his neck that looks like a strap. Could that be the dog's leash? I've seen people put their dog's leash around their neck when they let their dog off the leash.

Here's the article:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319948,00.html

maresy, I hadn't had a chance to look at this tragic disappearance, at least it appears to be bad at this time. There is breaking news on it at this time. The man she was seen with has been found back in north Atlanta, and Meredith's dog was found when it wondered into a grocery store several miles, about 45 minutes, north of where he was found.

I used to live in Atlanta, and it appears to me he dropped the dog off in Cumming on his way down south to the northern Atlanta suburbs. Cumming is on the northern fringe of the Atlanta metro area now on a straighht shot on 400-19 SW from the mountain search area to northern Atlanta.

I would be suprised if he dropped Meredith off with the dog.

Also there is the story of the double hiker homicide north of the search area for Meredith by a man also wearing a yellow jacket as this man was. This is one sick dude IMO.

As to the baton, was it Meredith's, was it his, I don't know, I think between her family and roommate that they would know if it was hers, and if not, may have been used to knock Meredith unconscious.

I think with her lab found in Cumming that they have to search for Meredith all the way from Blood Mountain to Cumming, along a highway which runs along Lake Lanier. Of course Lake Lanier is way low due to drought now though.

All we can do is hope that she was also dropped off alive in Cumming with her dog.

rd

[gozgals]

thanks all for adding the additional information on this sad case. I have not heard any news today but will do some further searching. I spent many years outside of the Atlanta area as RD stated he has and know just a little bit of the area. I figured the temp. was pretty frigid in Atlanta now too.

Rd, I did not know about the other murders of the hikers. Seems like there is a connection, wouldn't you say?

Let us keep this story updated if we can.

Goz

[gozgals]

Data and Description - Meredith Emerson



White Female

Age : 24

Height 5'4"

Weight 120 lbs.

Hair : Blond



Possible Leads:
Police say Gary Michael Hilton owns two vans, both are white. One is a Chevy Astro van, with license plate 768APZ, the other is a 2001 van, with tag number AFQ1310.



Last Seen Union County, GA
Emerson was last seen hiking on Blood Mountain in Union County, Ga.

[gozgals]

http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/brief.cfm?id=52035


AMW MISSING DATA FILE FOR
Meredith Emerson

1/1/08- Missing

Web Exclusive

Police Find Person Of Interest In Missing Ga. Hiker Case
WAGA-TV in Atlanta is reporting that police in Atlanta have found the man considered a person of interest in the case of missing hiker Meredith Emerson. Emerson, 24, was last seen hiking on Blood Mountain on New Year's Day with her dog -- Ella -- but she never made it home. Ella has been found, but Emerson is still missing.

>>The Full Story

Last updated: January 05 2008

Click link for complete file

[rd]

Some of Meredith's belongings have been found in a dumpster in a Georgia town where her dog was found. This town, Cumming, is on the way back to Atlanta where the suspect was found.

They are searching in the woods around the store, and they have to out of thoroughness, but he obviously isn't going to hide her body somewhere in woods around a store, put her stuff in a nearby dumpster, and let the dog out and drive off.

He is trying to make it look like Meredith is a runaway, but she is hidden somewhere between Blood Mountain and where he stopped to drop her dog off and throw her stuff away.

rd

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14983460/detail.html

[Sherry]

I heard about this from a friend this morning that they found her belongings....

It doesn't look good.

This guy has a prior record also in Cobb County where I am and according to my friend this morning he's a total weirdo....

(sigh)

This doesn't look good for her....there's no telling what he's done with her. Sounds like he was coming from North of Cumming (you have to go through Cumming to get to Atlanta from where she was on Blood Mountain) so there's a lot of territory there that she could be.......it's beginning to get more populated, but there's alot of land that remains untouched.....

[rd]

a whole lot, and with Lake Lanier running alongside on the east.

There were double hiker murders about an hour north of Blood Mountain. Someone wearing a yellow jacket used their ATM card after their murder. He was also wearing a yellow jacket.

Looks like he was on a murder spree of people he encountered hiking or something weird like that. The couple were older.

It doesn't look good, but at least he was seen and identified and is now caught. Doesn't bring back good people murdered though.

rd

[maresy]

Suspect Arrested in Missing Georgia Hiker Case, Charged with Kidnapping
Sunday , January 06, 2008


ATLANTA —

Authorities said Saturday 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, 61, 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.

• Click here for more from MyFOXAtlanta.com.

According to the warrant, three fleece tops were found with "substantial amounts of human blood" believed to be Emerson's inside a Dumpster beside a convenience store, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported for Sunday's editions.

The warrant also said other items were found, such as a portion of an automobile seat belt "with apparent blood transfer stains" and the rear seat belt in Hilton's 2001 Chevrolet Astro van had been cut out.

The warrant said Hilton was attempting to vacuum the vehicle and "wash portions of it with a bleach and water solution."

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.

Hilton is already in federal custody near Atlanta, held on a warrant for failure to appear in federal court for a charge of abandoning property in a national park. Bankhead said he did not know if Hilton had an attorney.

The search continued into Saturday evening. Teams focused on a 5-square-mile area of rugged mountain territory about 90 miles north of Atlanta in the Chattahoochee National Forest, near where her car was discovered Wednesday, Bankhead said.

The search had been focused on Vogel State Park, at the base of Blood Mountain in the national forest, where Emerson was last seen on New Year's Day hiking with her black Labrador retriever, Ella.

Also on Saturday, authorities went to Forsyth County in the Atlanta suburbs, where Ella was found Friday at a grocery store, Bankhead said. Authorities identified Ella using her implanted microchip, Union County investigator Kimberly Verdone said.

Police picked up Hilton at a convenience store in the Atlanta area, Verdone said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation declined to specify how investigators learned Hilton's name and other details about him.

Karrenbauer described Emerson as an experienced hiker who has a blue belt in martial arts. Other friends said she was familiar with the trail near where her car was found, having jogged on it several times with a partner.

Emerson, formerly of Longmont, Colo., recently moved to Buford, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta.

Vogel is one of Georgia's oldest and most popular state parks. The area includes a segment of the Appalachian Trail, the famous hiking route that stretches from Georgia to Maine.

[gozgals]

This is so very sad and quite frankly I'm so tried of reading about all these murders of our women. There has to be a way to put a stop to this.

I can't remember but I hope GA has the death penalty. This is just senseless and I hope he just suffers.

Another link:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/01/06/missing.hiker/

Her family and friends are is still holding onto hope till a body is recovered and I can't say I blame them.

[gozgals]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,320591,00.html

LE says there may be a link between the missing couple and Meredith. I'm pretty sure it is obvious in this case. Authorities found three bloody fleece tops in a trash bin at a store where Hilton (suspect) had used a pay phone.

Of course the suspect is not cooperating!!


Authorities Find Possible Link Between Missing Hiker, Presumed Deaths of Couple
Monday, January 07, 2008


<snip>
ATLANTA — Authorities said Monday they are exploring a possible link between the disappearance of a female hiker and the presumed killing of a couple from North Carolina in October.

Gary Michael Hilton, 61, who investigators said was the last person seen with 24-year-old Meredith Emerson on the trail, was awaiting his first court appearance, scheduled for Monday in Blairsville. He was served Saturday with a warrant charging him with kidnapping with bodily injury.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan said there could be a connection between the Emerson case and the disappearance and presumed killing of — John and Irene Bryant, a couple in their 80s who disappeared in October while hiking in the western North Carolina mountains.



GBI spokesman John Bankhead said officials planned to meet with North Carolina authorities Monday in Cleveland, Ga., to discuss the case.

Asked whether authorities believe the two cases are related, Bankhead said, "We don't know. But there are similarities where we feel it necessary to meet with North Carolina and others involved in the investigation."

Emerson is believed to be dead, so authorities have changed the search to a recovery effort, not a rescue mission. The search was to resume Monday, but it was to be scaled back. Only law enforcement and trained searchers, not volunteers, were set to participate, officials said.

Emerson's father pleaded for information Monday.

"Please have everyone search their minds to recall any evidence that could help bring our daughter home," said Dave Emerson during a news conference near the trail where Meredith was last seen alive.

Hilton was detained Friday. He had tried to use Emerson's credit card, according to the warrant.

Three bloody fleece tops and a bloodstained piece of a car's seat belt were found in a trash bin beside a convenience store where Hilton had used a pay phone, the warrant stated. Hilton had tried to vacuum and wash portions of his 2001 Chevrolet Astro van, which was found without the rear seat belt, according to the document.

Hilton was not cooperating with authorities, Bankhead said.

Union County Officer Gayle Bachelor declined to allow The Associated Press to speak with Hilton by phone.

On Sunday, searchers focused again on a 5-square-mile area of mountainous terrain about 90 miles north of Atlanta in the Chattahoochee National Forest, near where Emerson's car was discovered Wednesday, sheriff's investigator Kimberly Verdone said.

The search had been focused on Vogel State Park, at the base of Blood Mountain, where Emerson was last seen on New Year's Day hiking with her black Labrador retriever, Ella.
<snip>

[rd]

CNN is reporting breaking news that Meredith's remains have been found.

May she rest in peace.

rd

[gozgals]

May she rest in peace and our thoughts go out to her family and friends.

Confirmation updated link

<snip>
Missing Georgia Hiker Found After Suspect Leads Police to Body
Monday, January 07, 2008





ATLANTA — The body of missing hiker Meredith Emerson was found in the mountains of northern Georgia Monday after the suspect charged with her kidnapping led police to the body, authorities said Monday.

Gary Michael Hilton, 61, the last person to see Emerson alive, told police where they could find the body in the Dawson Forest Management Area and then led them to the location, Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents said at news conference Monday night.
<snip>

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,320905,00.html

[gozgals]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,321107,00.html


SNIP
Officials: Georgia Hiker Died of Blow to Head, Later Decapitated
Tuesday, January 08, 2008


DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — A missing hiker — found only after a drifter accused of murdering her took authorities to her body — died of blunt force trauma to the head and was decapitated after her death, officials said Tuesday.

Authorities were led to the hiker's decapitated body after Gary Michael Hilton, 61, charged with murder, reached an agreement with prosecutors to not seek the death penalty against him.
SNIP

This story is so sad and I wish they would have given this SOB the death penalty. What a senseless crime and what a shame.

I feel so bad for her family and hope his prison time is hard.