Posted on 01/04/2008 6:42:08 PM PST by RDTF
BLAIRSVILLE, Georgia (CNN) -- The person of interest in the disappearance of a hiker in the north Georgia mountains is in custody and is being questioned by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, police announced Friday evening.
Gary Michael Hilton, 61, was detained after a police officer spotted his van at a convenience store.
Investigators also have another piece of the puzzle: Meredith Emerson's black Labrador retriever, Ella, who walked into a grocery store Friday. The animal was positively identified through an embedded microchip.
The search for Emerson will continue Saturday.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
from your link:
Report: Clue Could Connect Missing Hiker Cases
Woman, Couple Both Disappear While Hiking
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. — Investigators are looking into a possible connection between a missing hiker in Georgia and a couple who disappeared in the Pisgah National Forest, according to an Atlanta newspaper.
Hikers John and Irene Bryant disappeared in the woods in October. Irene Bryant was later found dead from a blow to the head. John Bryant is still missing. One of the few clues in their disappearance is a person who was spotted wearing a yellow jacket believed to have belonged to John Bryant. That person was caught on a surveillance camera using the couple’s ATM card in Tennessee.
-snip-
That is the murder I read about
See # 41 above I'll bet you can carry OC Pepper Spray for the bears.
Update:
Went I went grocery shopping today all was quiet. WSB setting up the camera, said nothing new. (Ryan Young is cute in person).
Several hours later they are searching around the QT on 4 wheelers and a small plane looks as if it has been doing a grid search overhead.
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=205472
Posted: Saturday, January 5th 2008 at 3:23pm
Search for missing Georgia hiker resumes as agents question man
By The Associated Press
ATLANTA - Authorities searching for a missing hiker opened a second area of investigation Saturday at least 40 miles from the state park where the 24-year-old woman disappeared.
Teams searching for Meredith Emerson 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, said Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead
(excerpt)
http://www.accessnorthga.com/s10-north-georgia-news.php
Search for missing Georgia hiker turns from rescue to recovery
Authorities have charged a man who was reportedly seen several times with a missing hiker on the day of her disappearance with kidnapping and say they no longer believe the woman is still alive.
(snip)
Blue belt is not an expert. Low intermediate, roughly.
Yellow jacket - does this sound familiar??
http://www.wyff4.com/news/14585002/detail.html
Sheriff: Killer Could Have Kidnapped Husband Of Victim
Photo Released From Trailhead Parking Lot
POSTED: 2:27 pm EST November 13, 2007
UPDATED: 4:44 pm EST November 15, 2007
TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY, N.C. — Investigators said that the husband of an 84-year-old hiker found dead in the North Carolina mountains last week might have been kidnapped by her killer.
Meanwhile, law enforcement officials released a photo that they hope will lead to information on the case.
Transylvania County Sheriff David Mahoney said earlier this week that someone was caught on a surveillance camera using the couple’s ATM card in Ducktown, Tenn., the day after the 911 call was attempted from their phone.
Possible Suspect Caught On Camera
There was no indication from investigators that the person in the ATM camera photo might have been John Bryant.
Ducktown, Tenn., where the ATM located, is located in Polk County and is about 75 miles away from Pisgah National Forest, in the corner of Tennessee near the borders of North Carolina and Georgia.
Tuesday afternoon, the FBI offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person seen using the ATM card.
They said that they believe the yellow jacket the person was wearing at the ATM machine may have belonged to John Bryant, but they have no way to confirm that.
The man who used the ATM card of missing hiker John Bryant and murdered hiker Irene Bryant was wearing a yellow coat thought to have belonged to John Bryant.
Witnesses who saw Meridith Emerson and her dog walking with a man and another dog several times during a two-hour period on New Years' Day initially described him as a man in a yellow coat.
The witnesses also heard the name of his dog. It was only later that, based on a description of the man and dog and the dog's name, the "person of interest" was identified as Gary Hilton.
Before that, he was just a man in a yellow coat, like the man in a yellow coat who used the murdered hiker's ATM, and like the yellow coat thought to have been worn by the murdered hiker.
Is there a released picture of the guy at the ATM?
Also..i have hiked the AT...even carrying a gun i noticed that i could be suprised very easily on the trail...you spend a lot of time negotiating rocks and such...i come around a tree one time on a ridge and almost ran head on with an old guy...scared both of us to death...i try to stay aware but sometimes on a long days hike you get lulled into just putting one foot in front of the other and keeping the pack from throwing you....the AT can be challenging.
thank you for the update. Sigh.
:( not much else i can say.
There are so many white vans around here.....even though they were looking for a white van, it would not be hard to blend in for a while.
Even though 400 is the main route from metro Atlanta to that area, if he knows the area, he knows the backroads.
My sad point is that her remains could be in many places.
There are so many white vans around here
—
yep...many white shuttle vans...i use them myself.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14987205/detail.html
Searchers Look For Hikers Body; Bloody Clothes Found
POSTED: 11:09 pm EST January 5, 2008
UPDATED: 9:49 am EST January 6, 2008
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. — More than 150 people fanned out in the northern Georgia woods Sunday looking for the body of a 24-year-old hiker believed to have been killed, a day after authorities charged a man with kidnapping her.
Police believe missing hiker Meredith Emerson is dead after finding blood-soaked clothing Saturday in a dumpster.
Shortly after that discovery authorities charged Gary Michael Hilton with her kidnapping.
Officers also found Emerson’s wallet with her driver’s license and her University of Georgia ID, as well as part of a blood-stained seat belt in a trash bin outside a QuikTrip convenience store in Cumming. When police searched Hilton’s van they found a seat belt with part of it missing.
When Hilton was picked up by police he was washing out his van with a bleach and water solution, according to the arrest warrant.
(snip)
I don't know...just my own observation on those stills. The guy at the ATM has sloping/no shoulders, just like Hilton's driver's license pic. Also, the guy appears to have a hunchback similar to what happens when you get older. Just my opinion, though. To the right of the second still, is that a dog? Or are my eyes playing tricks on me? Not knowing how high the ATM machine is, it's difficult to determine the height of the guy, but he appears to be maybe 5'10" at least and slim.
Also, it looks like Hilton tried to use one of Meredith Emerson's credit cards at a bank ATM....interesting, just like the Bryant case:
Thanks for that....i’m glad they got this scum!
Pretty sad state of affairs when you can't even go for a walk! And that means male or female!
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