The man believed last seen with a missing female hiker in the north Georgia mountains was officially charged in the case Saturday. 61-year-old Gary Michael Hilton was charged with kidnapping with bodily injury, in connection to the disappearance of 24-year-old Meredith Emerson. Authorities now do not believe Emerson is alive.
The arrest warrant for Hilton was signed by a Union County Superior Court judge late Saturday afternoon. Hilton was expected to be transferred from custody in metro Atlanta, where he's been held by DeKalb County police, to Union County.
Breaks in the case came Friday night, when phone tips led police to finding Hilton at a metro Atlanta conveinence store. His Chevy Astro van was also recovered. At a different location, near Cumming, Emerson's dog 'Ella' was recovered safely when it had wandered into a Kroger store. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman confirmed that from one of the sites, evidence was recovered that indicated Emerson had suffered "bodily injury".
Emerson has been missing since Tuesday, when she went for a hike with her dog in the area of Blood Mountain in north Georgia. Several witnesses said a man fitting the description of Hilton was seen at some point Tuesday afternoon walking with Emerson.
Authorities and volunteers on Saturday completed a fourth day of searching for any sign of Emerson. The search had been narrowed to a 5-mile area of terrain in the mountains. Because the disappearance happened on national park land, federal agencies, along with the FBI, are now involved in the case.
Searchers expect to be back out in the area early Sunday morning. Authorities now are calling this a search-and-recovery operation, instead of search-and-rescue.
The arrest warrant for Hilton was signed by a Union County Superior Court judge late Saturday afternoon. Hilton was expected to be transferred from custody in metro Atlanta, where he's been held by DeKalb County police, to Union County.
Breaks in the case came Friday night, when phone tips led police to finding Hilton at a metro Atlanta conveinence store. His Chevy Astro van was also recovered. At a different location, near Cumming, Emerson's dog 'Ella' was recovered safely when it had wandered into a Kroger store. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman confirmed that from one of the sites, evidence was recovered that indicated Emerson had suffered "bodily injury".
Emerson has been missing since Tuesday, when she went for a hike with her dog in the area of Blood Mountain in north Georgia. Several witnesses said a man fitting the description of Hilton was seen at some point Tuesday afternoon walking with Emerson.
Authorities and volunteers on Saturday completed a fourth day of searching for any sign of Emerson. The search had been narrowed to a 5-mile area of terrain in the mountains. Because the disappearance happened on national park land, federal agencies, along with the FBI, are now involved in the case.
Searchers expect to be back out in the area early Sunday morning. Authorities now are calling this a search-and-recovery operation, instead of search-and-rescue.
