The Terrifying Case of Gary Michael Hilton, the National Forest Serial Killer: Part 1 Meredith Hope Emerson
There are many risks when venturing into the great outdoors: blisters, exposure, getting lost on the trail, injury, attacks by wild animals, and altitude sickness. But there is also a remote, terrifying chance that you might encounter a serial killer.
Gary Michael Hilton, known as the "National Forest Serial Killer," is infamous for his gruesome murders in wilderness areas of Florida and Georgia between 2007 and 2008, and he is likely responsible for many more slayings.
In 2008, he brutally kidnapped and killed Meredith Hope Emerson (24) after she went hiking with her dog on Blood Mountain in Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest. Meredith bravely tried to fight off Hilton and was subjected to three days of terror as Hilton kept her alive to extract PINs to withdraw cash from ATMs. Her death ultimately led to Hilton being arrested and convicted.
A year before Meredith’s kidnap and death, Hilton brutally murdered John and Irene Bryant (80 and 84 years old) in North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest and Cheryl Hodges Dunlap (46) in Florida’s Apalachicola National Forest. In both cases, he obtained PINs for cash machine withdrawals.
Apart from his known victims, he is suspected of murdering Judy Smith (remains discovered in Pisgah National Forest in 1997), Jason Knapp (disappeared in 1998), Rossana Miliani (disappeared in 2005), and Michael Scott Lewis (remains discovered in Tomoka River in 2007).
He was sentenced to life in prison in Georgia on January 31, 2008, and subsequently to death in Florida on April 21, 2011. On April 25, 2013, he received four additional life sentences in North Carolina. As of 2024, Gary Hilton remains on death row.
Meredith Hope Emerson, Murdered January 5, 2008, Blood Mountain, Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia.
Meredith Emerson
Who was Meredith Emerson?
Meredith Hope Emerson, 24, was originally from Charleston, SC, and the daughter of David Lloyd and Susan Hope Emerson of Longmont, Colorado. She lived in Buford, Georgia, attended the University of Georgia and graduated with honors in French.
Meredith loved to travel and studied in France during her college years at UGA. She was a member of Delta Epsilon Iota, Honor Society, French Honor Society and an active martial arts student with a blue belt in aikido.
She was a keen hiker, loved the outdoors, and owned a black lab mix dog named Ella, whom she adored. Meredith was described as very outgoing and intelligent.
Meredith’s hike on Blood Mountain
On New Year’s Day, January 1, 2008, Meredith was supposed to hang out with her boyfriend, but they had a call, and she felt that he was a little snippy with her, so she decided to head out for a solo hike with her dog to Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest. The name of the location of her hike was to become apt.
Blood Mountain is the highest peak on the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail and the sixth-tallest mountain in Georgia, with an elevation of 4,458 feet (1,359 m). It is located on the border of Lumpkin County with Union County and is within the boundaries of the Chattahoochee National Forest and the Blood Mountain Wilderness.
Some believe the name came from a bloody battle between the Cherokee and Muscogee-Creek long before white settlers arrived in the area. Others think the name comes from red lichen or Catawba rhododendrons growing on the rocky summit. At 4,458, it overlooks an area rich in streams, hiking trails, and scenic recreation spots, one of which, Sosebee Cove, is probably Georgia's only north-facing cove traversed by a paved road at such high elevation. It has an accessible boulder field, northern hardwoods, large buckeyes, and tulip poplars.
There is a short (2-mile) but steep (1,800-foot elevation gain) approach trail to the top of the mountain from a parking area to the immediate north of the Walasi-Yi Interpretive Center, a small stone building located along US 19/129 at Neels Gap, on the eastern side of Blood Mountain. It is notable as the only place where the 2,175-mile-long Appalachian Trail passes through a man-made structure.
This hike includes views as walkers approach the summit, and the final 1.5 miles (2.4 km), past the Flatrock Gap intersection with the Byron Reece Trail, has several switchbacks. It is perhaps the most hiked segment of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. Another approach is from the other side at Lake Winfield Scott via the Slaughter Creek Trail. This approach, which is easier to hike, has campsites and some sources of treatable water.
Meredith parked at the trailhead and began hiking up the trail. The temperature was in the low 50s (10.00 °C), and there was bright sunshine.
The next day, January 2, 2008, Meredith’s employer called her home in Buford, Georgia, to say she hadn’t turned up for work, and her roommate, Julia Karrenbauer, became worried as this was very unusual.
The search
The Union County sheriff’s office and other local emergency personnel conducted the first search after Meredith was reported missing. Then, on the evening of January 2, 2008, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) was asked for assistance. The GBI is an independent, statewide agency that assists the state's criminal justice system in criminal investigations, forensic laboratory services, and computerized criminal justice information.
Meredith had left a message on the chalkboard for her roommate: "Taking Ella hiking. I hope you had fun." Her friends and boyfriend became concerned and began searching for areas she had marked in various hiking books. Her boyfriend eventually came across Meredith's car parked in the Blood Mountain trailhead area. It was covered with a sprinkling of snow as temperatures had dropped overnight.
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