Update: Murder charges in missing hiker case

Drifter Gary Michael Hilton was charged with murder today in the death of Meredith Emerson, who disappeared while hiking in north Georgia on New Year's Day. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says an autopsy has found Emerson died from a blow to the head. The state's chief medical examiner says that after the lethal injury, the 24-year-old was decapitated. Emerson’s remains were found last night in Dawson County. She disappeared from Vogel State Park in north Georgia's Union County.

Meanwhile, the GBI is working with authorities in North Carolina and Florida to determine whether Hilton is connected to kidnappings in those states. The North Carolina case involves John and Irene Bryant who disappeared in October. In the Florida case, the body of Cheryl Hodges Dunlap was found December 19th in the Apalachicola National Forest, southwest of Tallahassee.

UPDATE: Body of missing hiker found Monday night

A spokeswoman for the family of Meredith Emerson confirmed Monday night that the body of the missing 24-year-old hiker had been found. No other details were given, only to confirm that authorities had recovered the body of Meredith Emerson. A news conference was scheduled for 10pm Monday night in Dawsonville.

The discovery ends a search for Emerson that had extended six days, since her disappearance on New Year's Day.

Earlier Monday, the man charged in the case had his first court appearance in Union County. 61-year-old Gary Michael Hilton did not respond to questions from the judge during a 10-minute hearing. The court appointed public defender indicated that Hilton was not prepared to comment. Bond was denied Hilton, who as of the time of the hearing, was facing a charge of kidnapping with bodily injury. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Stay with gpb.org, and GPB's Radio Network for continuing details in this case.

Court appearance today for man charged in missing hiker case

61-year-old Gary Michael Hilton will make his first court appearance today in north Georgia's Blairsville, to answer to the charge of kidnapping with bodily injury. Hilton is charged in the case of hiker Meredith Emerson, who's been missing since last Tuesday when she went for a hike in Vogel State Park near Blood Mountain.

Only trained search and rescue personnel and law enforcement will be involved in today's search, which is now being expanded to a five-county area from north Georgia to metro Atlanta.

Hilton was found and taken into custody in the metro Atlanta area Friday night-—he was charged in the case Saturday. Emerson's dog was recovered safely on Friday, when it was found wandering in a grocery store parking lot in Cumming. Police found some of Emerson's personal effects on Friday, including blood-stained clothing.

Authorities also said Sunday there may be a connection between the Emerson case and the disappearance and presumed killings of a elderly couple in North Carolina last October.

UPDATE: 'Search & Recovery' For Missing Hiker

In this May 2007 photo released by Pat B. Mitchell, Meredith Emerson is seen with her dog Ella, in Flowery Branch, Ga. The 24-year-old hiker has been missing since Tuesday. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Pat B. Mitchell)

Union County Superior Court Judge David Barrett signed a warrant Saturday 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 served the warrant on Hilton on Saturday evening.

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.

On the Net:
Meredith Emerson search: http://www.helpfindmeredith.com

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UPDATE: Man charged in hiker disappearance

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.

UPDATE: Friday night developments in missing hiker case

Authorities in metro Atlanta's DeKalb County Friday night found the 'person of interest' in the case of missing female hiker Meredith Emerson. Additionally, Emerson's dog has been found safe by authorities.

A pair of 9-1-1 calls led police to a convenience store off Ashford-Dunwoody Road in DeKalb, where 61-year-old Gary Michael Hilton was taken into custody. In finding Hilton, authorities also discovered his white Chevy Astro van, which was being processed. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman says agents took Hilton to GBI headquarters in DeKalb soon after for questioning.

Hilton is the last person believed to have been seen with the 24-year-old Emerson. The woman left Tuesday morning with her dog to hike in Vogel State Park. Several witnesses later reported seeing a man fitting the description of Hilton walking with Emerson up the Freeman Trail on Blood Mountian in Union County.

Authorities also confirmed Friday night the discovery of Emerson's dog 'Ella', a black Labrador retreiver. The dog was found after it had wandered into a Kroger store in the Cumming area.

Searchers completed a third straight day of looking for any sign of Emerson in the north Georgia mountains. Early Friday morning, authorities had expanded their search to a 400 square-mile area in north Georgia.

Man sought in hiker's disappearance

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The search will continue again this morning for a missing hiker in the north Georgia mountains. 24-year-old Meredith Emerson left with her dog on Tuesday morning. Authorities found her abandoned car at the base of Blood Mountain, along with a water bottle and dog collar also belonging to Emerson.

Police say now they are looking for 60-year-old Gary Michael Hilton of DeKalb County. Authorities believe he may know something, or be connected to the disappearance of Emerson. A man fitting Hilton's description was seen several times with Emerson by witnesses on New Year's Day. Accounts say the man was wearing a yellow jacket and a backpack with enough gear for at least a couple of days. Police say they think the man drives a 2000-'01 white Chevy Astro van.