1/07/08: Final update on this entry at bottom of post. Post time and date changed to move entry to top of blog index page.
1/04/08: IMPORTANT UPDATES AT BOTTOM OF ENTRY, PLEASE SCROLL DOWN.
A girl took her dog to Blood Mountain. Folks saw her speaking to a silver-haired, grizzled stranger with a mysterious sheath attached to his belt. The girl disappeared, as did the silver-haired stranger. Now the cops want to talk to the man.
Those are the basic details of the story of the disappearance of 24-year-old Meredith Emerson, so far. The 5'4", 120-lb UGA grad decided to go hiking the Freeman Trail on Blood Mountain in Blairsville, GA on New Year's Day. Meredith had no reason to worry for her safety. She was a Colorado native with plenty of hiking experience. With Meredith was her black lab, Ella. If Ella wasn't enough of a safety precaution, Meredith also was a blue belt-level martial artist, capable of defending herself against attackers twice her size.
Several people saw Emerson on the trail that day. Some saw her speaking with a man they described as about 5'10", 160 lbs, carrying a large yellow backpack, the kind you wear if you are doing several days' worth of hiking. One witness said the man was toothless and 'weathered,' and looked as if he'd been hiking for a while. He may have been accompanied by a large dog with a red coat that he called either "Dandy" or "Danny."
Police are treating Meredith's disappearance as a missing persons case, but there are troubling hints that something happened to the young woman. A water bottle and Ella's collar have been found on the trail, and the mysterious man, who may have been driving a white minivan, has been referred to as a "person of interest" to cops and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Even if the circumstances of her disappearance didn't involve foul play, time is of the essence in finding Meredith and, for that matter, Ella. Georgia has experienced a rare cold snap, with temperatures in the Atlanta area dipping into the teens at night and below zero in the mountains.
Anyone who thinks they have information relevant to the disappearance of Meredith Emerson from the trail on Blood Mountain on New Year's Day should call 706-439-6038.
This entry will be updated and revised.
UPDATE, 6:42 p.m.
Atlanta's Fox affiliate has reported that police in Union County, GA are seeking 60-year-old Gary Michael Hilton in connection with Meredith Emerson's disappearance. They want to question Hilton as to his whereabouts on New Year's Day. A photo of Hilton, a resident of DeKalb County, GA, was shown on the news, and he fit the description of the man seen talking to Meredith Emerson on the trail New Years Day. According to Fox 5, Hilton also drives at least one white minivan.
UPDATE, 10:02 p.m.
A source close to the investigation spoke with an employee at the Mountain Crossing shop yesterday. A baton was definitely turned in by a hiker to that shop, along with the water bottles, dog leash, and men's sunglasses.
This person, a friend Meredith Emerson's, also said that as far as she knew there were 5 people who saw Meredith either speaking with or near someone fitting Hilton's description. Meredith's friend said another, mutual acquaintance was also hiking in the same area around 10 on the morning of January 1st and saw Hilton "hanging around with his dog in the trailhead parking lot..."
Meredith Emerson practiced a martial art called kyuki-do, and had been involved with it for about a year.
As for Ella, the only signs of her found in the area were dog treats and her leash.
Additionally, a poster in the discussion thread about Meredith's disappearance at Websleuths came up with Gary Hilton's solicitation raps from Cobb County, GA.
UPDATE, 1/04/08, 11:15 a.m.
Not only has the Atlanta Journal-Constitution drawn a possible connection between person-of-interest Gary Michael Hilton and a double murder that took place in North Carolina last year, but Hilton's record in Georgia and Florida continues to be revealed.
He's faced felony arson charges in the past, and a 35-year-old theft charge against Hilton in Miami was only cleared up in 2007. Save for the arson, none of Hilton's criminal history so far seems violent so much as it shows evidence of persistent criminal behavior.
Hilton's choice in clothing was one thing that made investigators wonder about the double murder in North Carolina. Rather than a yellow backpack, Hilton was actually wearing a yellow coat when he was seen speaking with missing hiker Meredith Emerson.
In October, 2007, elderly hikers John and Irene Bryant disappeared while hiking in the Mt. Pisgah National Forest. Irene Bryant was found dead, but her husband John is still missing. Shortly after they vanished, authorities turned up ATM surveillance footage from Ducktown, TN of an unknown person in a yellow jacket using the couple's debit card.
UPDATE, 11:48 a.m.
This just got a little closer to personal for me. I am the tenor section leader and soloist for a large Presbyterian Church choir in Roswell, GA. We have a pretty efficient system of spreading info among choir members via e-mail. Ten minutes ago I received an e-mail from Beth, the main distributor of those messages. It was titled, "Urgent prayer request..." The following is the message text, with some names redacted for privacy reasons:
They've got my prayers, that's for sure.
UPDATE, 10:16 p.m.
CNN is reporting that Ella, Meredith's dog, has been found alive and ok. Additionally, Gary Michael Hilton has been picked up for questioning after a cop spotted him at a convenience store.
Ella reportedly walked into a grocery store "30 miles north" of Atlanta. That's only 10 miles further from the city center than my location, which feels basically as if I'm living in the Atlanta metro. In other words -- not as far from Atlanta as it sounds, and a good distance from where Ella and her owner, Meredith, disappeared.
UPDATE, 1/07/08, 8:45 p.m. ET
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Meredith Emerson's body was found this evening in one of the search areas. Authorities had been focusing on parts of several counties as well as the area where Meredith vanished on January 1 in the North Georgia Mountains.
As of 8:30 this evening authorities were not divulging the exact location of Meredith's remains. Reannan, writing in the comments on this post, quoted a message board post indicating that Meredith was found "in the Dawson Forest." I added the link in the preceding quote.
Any further blogging about this case will be done in a new entry. Keep checking the comments, as certain commentators are often well ahead of me in tracking new developments in the story.
Sources, links:
1/04/08: IMPORTANT UPDATES AT BOTTOM OF ENTRY, PLEASE SCROLL DOWN.
A girl took her dog to Blood Mountain. Folks saw her speaking to a silver-haired, grizzled stranger with a mysterious sheath attached to his belt. The girl disappeared, as did the silver-haired stranger. Now the cops want to talk to the man.
Those are the basic details of the story of the disappearance of 24-year-old Meredith Emerson, so far. The 5'4", 120-lb UGA grad decided to go hiking the Freeman Trail on Blood Mountain in Blairsville, GA on New Year's Day. Meredith had no reason to worry for her safety. She was a Colorado native with plenty of hiking experience. With Meredith was her black lab, Ella. If Ella wasn't enough of a safety precaution, Meredith also was a blue belt-level martial artist, capable of defending herself against attackers twice her size.
Several people saw Emerson on the trail that day. Some saw her speaking with a man they described as about 5'10", 160 lbs, carrying a large yellow backpack, the kind you wear if you are doing several days' worth of hiking. One witness said the man was toothless and 'weathered,' and looked as if he'd been hiking for a while. He may have been accompanied by a large dog with a red coat that he called either "Dandy" or "Danny."
Police are treating Meredith's disappearance as a missing persons case, but there are troubling hints that something happened to the young woman. A water bottle and Ella's collar have been found on the trail, and the mysterious man, who may have been driving a white minivan, has been referred to as a "person of interest" to cops and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Even if the circumstances of her disappearance didn't involve foul play, time is of the essence in finding Meredith and, for that matter, Ella. Georgia has experienced a rare cold snap, with temperatures in the Atlanta area dipping into the teens at night and below zero in the mountains.
Anyone who thinks they have information relevant to the disappearance of Meredith Emerson from the trail on Blood Mountain on New Year's Day should call 706-439-6038.
This entry will be updated and revised.
UPDATE, 6:42 p.m.
Atlanta's Fox affiliate has reported that police in Union County, GA are seeking 60-year-old Gary Michael Hilton in connection with Meredith Emerson's disappearance. They want to question Hilton as to his whereabouts on New Year's Day. A photo of Hilton, a resident of DeKalb County, GA, was shown on the news, and he fit the description of the man seen talking to Meredith Emerson on the trail New Years Day. According to Fox 5, Hilton also drives at least one white minivan.
UPDATE, 10:02 p.m.
A source close to the investigation spoke with an employee at the Mountain Crossing shop yesterday. A baton was definitely turned in by a hiker to that shop, along with the water bottles, dog leash, and men's sunglasses.
This person, a friend Meredith Emerson's, also said that as far as she knew there were 5 people who saw Meredith either speaking with or near someone fitting Hilton's description. Meredith's friend said another, mutual acquaintance was also hiking in the same area around 10 on the morning of January 1st and saw Hilton "hanging around with his dog in the trailhead parking lot..."
Meredith Emerson practiced a martial art called kyuki-do, and had been involved with it for about a year.
As for Ella, the only signs of her found in the area were dog treats and her leash.
Additionally, a poster in the discussion thread about Meredith's disappearance at Websleuths came up with Gary Hilton's solicitation raps from Cobb County, GA.
UPDATE, 1/04/08, 11:15 a.m.
Not only has the Atlanta Journal-Constitution drawn a possible connection between person-of-interest Gary Michael Hilton and a double murder that took place in North Carolina last year, but Hilton's record in Georgia and Florida continues to be revealed.
He's faced felony arson charges in the past, and a 35-year-old theft charge against Hilton in Miami was only cleared up in 2007. Save for the arson, none of Hilton's criminal history so far seems violent so much as it shows evidence of persistent criminal behavior.
Hilton's choice in clothing was one thing that made investigators wonder about the double murder in North Carolina. Rather than a yellow backpack, Hilton was actually wearing a yellow coat when he was seen speaking with missing hiker Meredith Emerson.
In October, 2007, elderly hikers John and Irene Bryant disappeared while hiking in the Mt. Pisgah National Forest. Irene Bryant was found dead, but her husband John is still missing. Shortly after they vanished, authorities turned up ATM surveillance footage from Ducktown, TN of an unknown person in a yellow jacket using the couple's debit card.
UPDATE, 11:48 a.m.
This just got a little closer to personal for me. I am the tenor section leader and soloist for a large Presbyterian Church choir in Roswell, GA. We have a pretty efficient system of spreading info among choir members via e-mail. Ten minutes ago I received an e-mail from Beth, the main distributor of those messages. It was titled, "Urgent prayer request..." The following is the message text, with some names redacted for privacy reasons:
[Redacted] just called from the mountains of North Georgia where they are in their second day of joining in the search of close family friend Meredith Hope Emerson hiker who has been missing since New Years Day. [Meredith] is a special friend of their son...The person who called from the mountains is a soprano in the choir, her husband a bass. Their son who is friends with Meredith often comes during the Christmas season to add a strong, youthful tenor sound to my section.
[Redacted] asked for prayers for Meredith's safety and that searchers will find her quickly. She said there is concern that there might be foul play involved but nothing to prove that...
They've got my prayers, that's for sure.
UPDATE, 10:16 p.m.
CNN is reporting that Ella, Meredith's dog, has been found alive and ok. Additionally, Gary Michael Hilton has been picked up for questioning after a cop spotted him at a convenience store.
Ella reportedly walked into a grocery store "30 miles north" of Atlanta. That's only 10 miles further from the city center than my location, which feels basically as if I'm living in the Atlanta metro. In other words -- not as far from Atlanta as it sounds, and a good distance from where Ella and her owner, Meredith, disappeared.
UPDATE, 1/07/08, 8:45 p.m. ET
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Meredith Emerson's body was found this evening in one of the search areas. Authorities had been focusing on parts of several counties as well as the area where Meredith vanished on January 1 in the North Georgia Mountains.
As of 8:30 this evening authorities were not divulging the exact location of Meredith's remains. Reannan, writing in the comments on this post, quoted a message board post indicating that Meredith was found "in the Dawson Forest." I added the link in the preceding quote.
Any further blogging about this case will be done in a new entry. Keep checking the comments, as certain commentators are often well ahead of me in tracking new developments in the story.
Sources, links:
- WBIR.com;
- WSBTV.com;
- AJC.com;
- Meredith's private MySpace profile;
- Discussion of the disappearance at WhiteBlaze.net;
- http://www.helpfindmeredith.com/;
- Map showing the route from Brevard, NC, where the Bryants vanished, to Ducktown, TN, where the mysterious ATM footage was recorded, to Blairsville, the site of Meredith Emerson's disappearance;
- Kali Chondra's account of finding Meredith's dog Ella in a Kroger in Cumming, GA.
