National Forest Serial Killer /// Part 1 /// 77 | Forensic Files

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[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] no Trace yet of a missing 24-year-old
Gwynette County woman Meredith Emerson disappeared with her dog while hiking in the North Georgia Mountains on New
Year's Day now investigators are also looking for another hiker they call a person of interest in Meredith's
disappearance 11 lives John sherik is at Vogal State Park in Union County where volunteers will return in the morning to
continue their search and John you have uh some very latest information for us about that person of
interest right Brenda this is a photo of the person of interest the Union County
Sheriff's Office released the photo and name of the person of interest within the past hour he is Gary Michael Hilton
of daab County investigators want to talk with Hilton they say they just don't know yet if Hilton had anything to
do with Meredith Emerson's disappearance all day above Blood Mountain the state Patrol's infrared
detectors scanned for body heat Below on the rugged ground Meredith volunteers shouted Meredith Emerson's
name Meredith she vanished Tuesday afternoon during a hike with her black lab Ella Witnesses say Meredith
encountered an older man on the trail police now identify him as 60-year-old Gary Michael Hilton of decab County he
also had a dog and now police want to find him too they say he looked like he'd been camping in the wilderness for
some time what stood out about him everyone said he had bad teeth or no teeth um I'm I'm praying hard family and
friends Meredith's parents on the trails searching with everyone else they say Meredith is a martial arts student an
experienced hiker tough let me tell you something Meredith Emerson could do anything she is feisty she is strong
she's tiny and petite 120 pounds but let me tell you I have every hope that if anybody could she can run those
mountains investigators are interviewing everyone close to Meredith in Gwynette County her home and in her native
Colorado and they're interviewing everyone else they can find who knows her trying to uncover any other reason
she might have disappeared with her dog leaving her car at the trail head parking lot we're following up on
everything we are following up about her life about her friends now they're not going to give up hope I'm not giving up
hope um I'm hoping there's a a cave or an area where a helicopter couldn't see it but these these uh Saints on foot
can the person of interest Gary Michael Hilton was driving according to investigators a Chevy Astro van possibly
with one of these two plates on it a Georgia tag 76 AZ or a Georgia tag afq 1310 anyone with any information about
Gary Michael Hilton or the van the minivan or these license tags should call the Union County Sheriff's Office
the number is 706 43963 8 again 76439 6038 we'll have that phone number and the license tags on our website 11
live.com Brenda John of course with this information police May in fact get the break that they need in this case but
let me ask you we began this day as you well know with police just looking for a
person of interest and some very sketchy details about it how do we uh come to getting a picture of him and a license
plate ID and the driver's license number and all of that how did that all come together
we asked that very question and investigators do not want to go into Tales right now they have five or six
Witnesses they said who saw uh a man that they now describe as this man five or six independent Witnesses they came
forward separately after uh news of uh this disappearance of Meredith Emerson came out they said we saw a man on the
trail and they described him and they all give a similar description which investigators say match this man but how
they were able to tie those descriptions to him they're not saying just yet all right John sherik reporting from Union
County they're at the Search Command Center and we'll continue to follow the [Applause]
story this case starts off at a place called blood mountain and we have a 24-year-old woman her name is Meredith
Emerson and she has gone missing now now the way that this whole case starts off
is we have New Year's Day January 1st 2008 MH Meredith Emerson is an active smart young woman who often went on day
hikes with her dog Ella which is a black lab now her roommate wakes up to a note
on a chalkboard that simply says took Ella went for a hike this is no big red flag here this is nothing out of the
norm mhm perfectly normal situation now the roommate was very busy with friends on New Year's Day and failed to notice
that Meredith did not return home that night it was not until the next morning that she started to think that something
was up Meredith was absent from work on January 2nd which is a big red flag she was not the type to miss work and most
hikers most Avid hikers will leave a note that they're going hiking but they normally leave some kind of information
on where they'll be hiking at mhm yeah and and that was not the situation here you know the chalkboard simply said took
Ella went for hike well when Meredith when her roommate finds out that she didn't come home and then she doesn't
show up for work they had a mutual friend that worked with Meredith and she contacts the roommate and says look
something's up here because Meredith didn't come to work today it's at this point that the roommate and some of
Meredith's Friends start going through Meredith's belongings to try to figure out where she may have gone hiking that
day they do come across some materials leading them to believe that she would have taken the dog and gone hiking on
blood Mountain now Blood Mountain is the highest peak in in the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail and it's the
sixth tallest mountain in Georgia so this is a very popular hiking destination investigators go to Blood
Mountain looking for Meredith and they are a little taken aback from what little evidence they do find but this is
not pointing to anything good this is not positive feedback that they're getting here they find water bottles and
a dog leash that they believe would have been for Ella belonging to Meredith and
in the same area on a trail someone had reported finding a collapsible police baton and we've all seen one of these
before you know uh on the police officer's belt sometimes it it looks like maybe maybe the length of a pencil
but a little bit fatter yeah this is an item that you would typically find on a police officer on their Batman utility
belt yeah and this took place of the old billy clubs yeah or night stick but it would have the same effect but it's much
more portable you know and you could if you struck somebody with one of these objects it's it's like being hit with a
baseball bat this is an item that comes into play very important later yeah authorities now believe that Meredith
went missing from this location and that she did not get lost or suffer some kind
of accident that she this evidence is pointing towards an abduction and they are now asking for the Public's help
some reports start coming in of Meredith having been seen with a Strang looking wiry old man approxim 50 to 60 years old
there was a photo given to police of a white van this photo was taken the night before Meredith went missing but in the
very same area so police are now thinking that this could be connected and they release the information that
they have received to the public so a be on the lookout is sent out to the public
with the white van a man in his 50s or 60s Strang looking and wiry this man may have had a red retriever dog with him
well this gets the police what they are looking for because a man by the name of
John tabber a business owner calls police and says I believe the man you are looking for is Gary Michael Hilton
he used to work for me taber's company sold an installed siding and windows and Gary Hilton worked for Taber selling
siding for about 10 years he tells the police that Gary Hilton is of that age group last time he had seen him he
looked extremely strange saying something like Gary had told him that he had removed some of his own teeth using
a pair of pliers mhm Gary drove a white Chevy Astro van and had a red colored retriever dog named Dandy and also
carried a police style baton with him almost everywhere he went and he also knew that Gary he loved to hike and he
loved to camp and he did this all the time sometimes he was going to parks and National Force daily to hike with his
dog or as he would call it you know he is taking his dog for a walk well not only did Taber know that Hilton like to
carry a baton a police baton with him but he also knew that he liked to hike at Blood Mountain yeah specifically that
was one of his spots that he would go to yeah and Taber in Hilton's relationship
is is uh kind of aranged at this point that's a very polite way to put it and and I'm sure that this is all
information that he's giving to the police that doesn't come out in these news bulletins because you know they
can't give too much but but talk a little bit about tab in his relationship with Hilton they work
together for 10 years why don't they work anymore well I think there was some back and forth you know Taber was the
businessman he was the money and uh Hilton was you know basically the laborer right yeah he he was more into
the sales end of it he he he prided himself on being if you ask Hilton what his job was he would tell you he was the
number one s salesman for deciding part of the business this guy thinks fondly of himself to say the least and so with
uh Taber so I guess there's some there's there's some discrepancy through their business Endeavors and Hilton believes
that that Taber is not paying him the money right that he's owed so that's not where it stops there it's not just hey
I'm not going to work for you anymore it's all by the way I'm going to kill you yeah yeah it sounds to me as if some
for some reason Hilton believed because he was the quote unquote number one sales guy of all time for tabber for all
these for these sighting uh jobs that they did he believed that Taber owed him a bunch of money and I I believe the
dollar amount was like $10,000 and Taber shows up and he discovers that Hilton's not really doing
a good job anymore he's kind of a disgruntled employee right and he's he's just letting things go he's not really
doing the work anymore after all these years and not only that he appears to either be on drugs or losing it mentally
you know we talked about that situation where Gary Hilton tells tabber that he had removed some of his own teeth with a
pair of pliers yeah and it's at this point they get in this this disagreement about the
$10,000 and Hilton quits the job but all the while he's saying I'm quitting but you owe me 10 grand and if you don't
give me that money well I'm going to kill you I'm going to shoot you yeah and he is so fearful of his life that he
actually goes out and buys a gun buys multiple guns to protect himself uh and you know for a possible attack from
crazy Hilton mhm well and the other thing that Taber knows about Hilton as well is you know he's known him for 10
years and and Hilton would often come to Taber and tell these stories of these hikes that he would go on and he said it
was the same story every time that Gary would go out on these hikes with his dog
and he would get into some altercation with some other hiker out in the woods normally about their dog yeah he he he
would get like very upset if people didn't have their dogs on a leash or if if they were letting them run wild and
he assumed that the dogs would attack him on multiple occasion he had been seen correcting or what others would
call beating some of these other people's dogs right and he would end up in these fights with other people and
tab said you know it's the same story every time that Gary Hilton tell me about this altercation that he got into
and Gary was always the victim you know he always fled the scene and avoided some kind of physical altercation well
right and first of all Gary is very thin he's very looks fragile he's wiry yeah very wi but here here's this guy that he
believes that he's smarter than everybody oh definitely you know so not only is he smarter than everybody but uh
he's always in the right he's always the victim you know again we see that he is
the victim and the whole uh tab's not paying me enough money you know you owe me all this money I'm the victim you
know then we get into this altercation so uh again this guy just you know thinks the world of himself and all by
the way he's smarter than everybody yeah now here's a strange thing Captain this
is on the third day of Meredith Meredith's disappearance or her you know presumed abduction right Gary Hilton
makes a phone call from a pay phone at a diner and the strange thing here is who
does he call he calls John tabber right gu that he hasn't talked to in years yeah and he's unaware that John tabber
has contacted police and said you might be looking for this guy uh regarding this girl's disappearance and what he
says to John Taber is that he says you know he wants to apologize to JN for how he ended things with JN and the company
and how he was he says he was sick for a while but now he's much better and he's
looking for work because he's broke well Taber here he knows that the police are
looking for Hilton because he he he tipped him off right and tabers going to try to set a trap tab agrees to throw
Gary some work and he's going to leave him a little money to help it help Gary out yeah about $800 you're exactly right
he's going to leave a check for 800 bucks and he's going to leave it at this uh one of the company's properties yeah
it was a rental property and Gary Hilton actually lived there for a while so he figured well I'll lower him to the place
that he's familiar with yeah someplace that he's comfortable and police go and they stake out this place but of course
Gary never shows and as this is all going down we have a couple attempts being made to access Meredith's accounts
using an ATM now the police aren't for sure that Gary Hilton is our guy but they're pretty sure yeah yeah they're
looking for Gary And as you had said during this time there's three attempts that we know of that someone tried
unsuccessfully using her bank card uh and this is going to give everybody hope that Meredith is still alive and still
with us because because these attempts are unsuccessful if somebody has taken her and is holding her for the purpose
of robbing her they need to get her pen code so they can extract money and this has not happened yeah this is a weird
thought to me though that people believe that she'd still be alive at this point
because these attempts could be made after she passed away I mean it you know you you get a number or you don't get a
number but you have this card and then you're trying to make access so I don't know what leads them to believe that she
is still alive at this point and I would agree with you they they probably have some information that we are una aware
of because we've seen this in cases that we've covered and and thousands of cases
out there in the news that usually these bank cards are used after somebody's already been killed right um I think the
the thing here is that these attempts were made at multiple different um uh ATMs MH and um I think the thought here
is is that maybe the whoever had possession of this card and was trying to use it might be getting additional
information from Meredith as these attempts progress right meaning you need to you got to try it at this ATM not
that one it won't work or oh I must have gave you the wrong PIN code may maybe they're able to see that you know they
didn't type in 1 12 34 they typed in 4321 the second time um that that's my guess so if there was different
locations if there different codes being used that possibly that leads to the fact that she's still alive and giving
this uh person information is what you're saying yeah and on January 4th a there's a woman at a supermarket parking
lot uh this is in Forth County Georgia a woman at a supermarket parking lot finds
a black lab wandering around uh she decides to take the dog to an animal clinic and the dog is chipped it has one
of those identification chips in it yeah and the dog is quickly identified is Ella as Meredith Emerson's dog the
missing 24-year-old woman's dog well now we have the dog we have Meredith's dog and we have this person driving around
all over trying to use the ATM cards right and so now we can assume that she is just not lost right we have we have
more than we have the pieces that we found at Blood Mountain the piece of evidence you know that were just dropped
by who who knows and now we have mared this dog so now we can definitely assume that she's just not lost somewhere right
that she's been taken and she's been held and even though I I don't have the distance right in front of me between
Blood Mountain and where the dog was found but from my understanding it was a considerable distance and you know yeah
the Meredith has been missing for a few days so it's not inconceivable to that the dog could have traveled that but
it's it's very highly unlikely so they find this dog in the supermarket parking lot they've identified it as Meredith
Emerson's dog and around this in the same area is where they are able to trace the phone call that that Gary
Hilton had made earlier to John Taber and of course they're aware of this phone call because John Taber set up the
Trap and they were staking out the the apartment uh or the home trying to to uh right so now we have this solid evidence
that we believe that she is was abducted no doubt and now we have more solid evidence that hey Gary is our guy yeah
this uh this weirdo that likes to pull his teeth out with you know he's a that's a he's an amateur dentist uh is
is the one that's responsible for this yeah and so we know that and we also have a general area where we think that
that Gary would be or Meredith would be because we found the dog we got the phone call so police are going to start
scavaging that area they're going to start searching that area and within the vicinity of that phone call and where
the dog was F found they find some very disturbing items in a dumpster they find
Meredith Emerson's purse they find her ID and they find some bags with bloody clothing in them there are three
bloodied shirts that they find in these bags all believe to be Meredith emersons
and I'm just wondering cuz I mean I hike but not like you know hike hike I'll go
to local park and go on the trails and stuff like that but it's always just you know for a couple hours I don't ever
make a day of it so I'm just wondering if that maybe that she packs a bag and then she'd have these clothes with her
you know maybe to change afterwards if she wants to go to dinner with friends or whatever that she doesn't want to be
in her sweaty hiking clothes or you're going to dress in layers because it is the winter time uh you might get warm as
you're hiking and need to take layers off or you may get cold have to add layers or it could rain you know these
these hikers you know I go out on day hikes but I don't know what I'm doing I'm so amateur I don't bring any
belongings or Pro Provisions with me um you're an amateur hiker just like Hilton's an amateur dentist that's right
I'm I'm actually taking the dog for a walk um on this same day on January 4th this is around 8:00 p.m. the they start
getting some 911 calls there's at least two calls that come in that are reporting that the person of interest in
the missing Meredith Emerson case has been spotted and he is at a Chevron gas station we'll get to that phone call
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Angie that it's quick beer break and we're back cheers everybody so let's play the clip real quick of the 911
phone call okay 911 what's the exactly I have the person of interest in that missing woman case is at this uh Chevron
gas station on asford dunyon gas station asy yeah you said the man is there the van is here the dog is
the Red Dog and I saw the man's face and I've been watching the news and I know it's him I know it's him he's got a
green uh long sweatshirt and he's wearing a hat and he's emptying all the stuff out of his van pillows and a
blanket and it looks like he's got a sleeping bag right now taking it all to the
trash it's looking around like he's as guilty as Sin okay sir and the dumpster is at the rear of the location yeah the
dumpster well it's kind of right in the front it's right by the car wash okay I can go take him down if you want
stay right there okay okay hold on sir he looks like he's finishing up you guys got to hurry he's got stuff in bags that
he's emptied onto the ground and he's taking load by load to the behind the car wash another this is a third backpack
we've seen him take to the dumpster I'm just shaking you is there somebody in rout
yes sir we here comes the cop yes there yes yes they got them they got I mean they
don't have them yet but they're getting out they got them now two Cruisers pulled up on them two the
Cs I love that 911 call that that's fantastic they get the guy that they're looking for we have a Good Samaritan
that calls in spots the guy that they're looking for M they show up in time thank
God the the the caller sounds a little hesitant like you know this guy's goingon to he's he's almost done dumping
his things he's going to leave if you don't get here soon what's going to happen this guy's going to get get away
right and he offers to go and take the Dude down to take him down that's my that's my favorite part well he first
says hey you want me to go get him yeah which you know uh you I mean the the caller doesn't know that that uh Hilton
doesn't have his weapon of choice on him but you know like we said before Gary Hilton seems like this little tiny wiry
guy that so this caller is probably going man I can take him out and then and then also if you just know that that
that this uh monster that this heinous person is responsible for this 24y old female going missing we don't know if
she's alive or whatever then the adrenaline kicks in because you know you want to um help the police uh the law
enforcement in any way you can to maybe save this lady yeah yeah but the thing here is though the caller and we don't
know what items he has in his van I mean yeah we don't even know if meridith is in the van right and you but you say
without his weapon who knows what form of weapons he has in the van so the right call is to tell the person not to
to go attack him here's the difference I think between you and I I think I would
be similar to the caller where he he's almost like asking for permission like can I go take him down you know is that
allowed where I think I would ask for permission and offer my services definitely ask for permission I think
the captain would take him down and then place the phone call that's how I see it
going down if you were at the Chevron station that it's possible I mean but this guy I mean he is wiy but uh I'll
post some pictures on him on the website and then on Instagram but uh he's a he's
a weird looking dude he's weird looking and you said earlier are fragile and I think that he he may appear fragile 61
yeah he he may appear fragile because of his age but I also want to keep in mind
here his background right this guy is an avid hiker and and when I he he would go
out hiking for hours almost daily and that takes a certain amount of endurance and a certain amount of well look man I
sit in a garage and I talk into a microphone that's some heavy lifting I think I could take this take this sucker
down um no but what a weird situation to be in with the caller cuz you know you're hesitant should I take him down
and then you start you're fearful that this guy is going to get away and yeah we have him dumping you know he said
three backpacks of whatever and to me it's almost like now at this point Gary Hilton knows that people are looking for
him he he knows he's screwed you know his his name his face is all over the place yeah and it seems like he's just
trying to dump evidence yeah as much evidence as he can he'll dump and he's probably doesn't he's probably has no
clue that law enforcement already has the the evidence that he dumped at the last dumpster and the thing here too is
it doesn't come through real clear in the in the audio clip that we have but uh you can hear the caller he's kind of
cheering on the situation like as he sees the cops showing up you can hear him going like yes yes yes yes we're
going to get him uh so I I mean I like I like that caller so just like you hear the guy say Gary Hilton is arrested um
and I believe they originally hold him on some kind of vehicle charge and we'll we'll go back to that in a little bit
but the situation is here they through what they find in his van what they find uh in the dumpster yeah and both
dumpsters yeah and the items collected at Blood Mountain along with eyewitnesses saying you know yeah that
is the guy that we saw with with Meredith em Emerson at the time um that they present Gary with this evidence and
Georgia has the death penalty and very quickly there's a little back and forth and he wants to strike a deal you know
he wants them to I will tell you what happened and I will lead you to Meredith's body yeah CU he's claiming
that you know he he killed her yeah and and but you got to take the death penalty off of the table and that's the
agreement that they make he's going to he's going to conf to it he's going to lead him to the body he's going to tell
them what happened and he's going to get life in prison with the possibility of parole which seems extremely strange but
that is yeah how does that work you get life in prison with I don't know if it you know because these these different
sentences vary from state to state and I don't know if that's like a mandatory life sentence in Georgia maybe
they most of them carry a life uh with the pro possibility of parole I think all he was requesting was was a life
sentence though and for whatever reason the laws that are set up there he he has
to get life with the possibility of parole that's weird I think if I was the detective I'd say listen here you
scumbag uh I'll find her and I'm going to charge you with the death penalty just to scare the piss out of him right
you know so of course now we have Gary he's in custody and he's you know we're going to see this situation it's very
much like you would see in like the movie seven or whatever where he's he Shackled he's in handcuffs they're going
to take him out so he can lead them to her body yeah this gives a little closure to the family MH so they can
bury her and you know and our hearts go out to her family and our friends and it's a tragic situation anytime uh
somebody's life is taken away from them but also being uh this uh vibrant uh smart you know somebody that was really
taken on life you know taken Life by the the horns and and and wrestling with it
and and having such success um to have that be cut so short well and Meredith Emerson was a winner you know we we see
this she she was somebody that worked hard she was somebody that studied hard she led an active life she had lots of
friends loved ones she was a winner and she was senselessly taken down by a loser basically a guy that was not
basically I mean right I mean well animal Savage loser but to sum it up douche canoe you know in the shortest of
terms he he's a loser that was out looking to rob somebody and looking to obtain an ATM card and drain as much
money as as possible and in the process killed senselessly killed somebody yeah and so then the cops are going to just
want to know a little bit more about the actual details of the event and that will happen during the confession Gary
Hilton told investigators that he targeted the 24y old woman because because simply that that she was a woman
that that he had come come across her or seen her uh on New Year's Day and that they actually hiked for a while together
um but he couldn't keep up with her yeah so it's not it's not very clear if uh Hilton went to Blood Mountain to abduct
somebody or rob somebody or even murder somebody in this case um or if it was just a opportunity as maybe he was
walking the dog and then Meredith comes along and she is a she is more of a petite girl so I think maybe he thought
oh well with my knife and with my police baton uh I can overpower her yeah yeah and it's um you know I don't know that I
I think it was more an opportunity situation that he probably was hiking and came across her but he did say in
one interview this is a separate interview here that uh he he had said something to I think he was on the
lookout for a potential victim okay because he had said that he he he was broke he he had $40 to his name and he
only had a couple days worth of food and so he knew he was going to have to go out and kill someone those are his exact
words um so very much an opportunity type killing where he comes across this petite woman like you said I think one
of her family members had said she was about 120 pounds um so he sees this this woman that he thinks he can easily
overpower with these weapons but surprise surprise to him is that Meredith uh not only is she an avid
hiker and uh is in good physical health but she's also a blue belt and Jiu-Jitsu
I believe yeah oh well I think SE she she was familiar with several forms of martial arts yeah so she is going to put
up a fight against Hilton yeah he says that when he couldn't keep up with her on the trails that at some point she had
turned back to come back down the trail you know probably looking for him or asking him if he needed any help you
know being the good person that she is is and when she comes back down or she was just done with her hike and she was
turning back around when she comes back down the trail he's waiting there for her weapons in hand um and immediately
he's going to demand her ATM card and he says that she immediately went on the defensive and you know she grabbed the
blade he had a military style knife she grabbed the blade and the Baton that Hilton had used to try to attack her
yeah and you know he says that she has no she didn't even seem uh she wasn't scared at all to the fact of
grabbing the weapons you know especially a knife you know you see these situations in a whr film or whatever
when when the attacker's coming with a knife you know that you've got to gain control of that weapon uh either right
but if that's something you haven't done multiple times then obviously you're going you know you're not going to know
what to do and so he quickly realizes that this girl knows what's up yeah yeah he he says that um she wouldn't stop
fighting him you know she tried she she grabs the blade she grabs no you shouldn't stop figh you know you got
this scary freaky skinny stupid dude uh attacking you and you know you got to fight for your life and that's what she
was doing she's fighting him and she's yelling at the same time which is exactly what you should do so
immediately he realizes that he needs to both gain control of her and silence her
at the same time I I wonder with her having um Ella her dog with her if that was a hindrance on any you know because
you know 61y old so it's like you don't really have to fight him to win you just
have to fight him in order to get free so you can take off running right and I just wonder if by having a dog that is
some kind of hindrance you know well the fight takes them well off of this trail
that they were on and now they're basically in the woods and fighting yeah I think he said at some point they're
kind of like grappling and due to the fighting they actually went down a hill and she actually she actually gets both
of his weapons away from him during this struggle and they're down the hill and this is where he you know he needs to
gain control of her and he does this by punching her in the face and he says he blackened both of her eyes possibly
breaking her nose but in the process he had broke his hand doing so in the fight
well and also so I mean yeah she has some training and some martial arts but how much actual sparring has she done
I'm I'm assuming not a lot so I mean you know coming from any fighting background
one you know once you get punched in the face it kind of becomes a different thing and you might not be used to that
and that kind of might have threw her off guard and maybe even maybe possibly uh even knocked her unconscious on some
level MH and and I believe that had this been a a scheduled fight let's say uh where he has no weapons I think she
would have got the upper hand on him but I think because she was surprised uh and
didn't expect to be attacked that might have got the best of her in the end and who knows he he may have gained control
of her not just by punching her but he may have hit her with the Baton by this point right um he he says that once he
gained control of her he was able to calm her down by telling her that he just wanted her credit card in her pen
number and now that he had control over he needed to avoid established trails as
he needed to lead her back down the mountain and with her dog and get to his van get to his vehicle and if you're in
Mar this shoes at this point I mean what the heck is going through your head because you just had this uh vicious
altercation with this uh nut job and now you're you know he's saying yeah I I just need your debit card
but then why do I need to go back to your van I and I think at this point you the wheels are turning on what is going
to happen to me is it is it just a simple robbery is it just a a you know I say simple but is it just a robbery is
it just um assault or now is this more because now I'm in this individual's vehicle and they the investigators and
law enforcement say that Emerson she bought herself three days by giving Hilton the wrong pen number for her ATM
card and she told him each time that these numbers are correct I don't know why it's not working or you do need to
go to a different ATM machine she's buying her time well and a lot of people probably at this point go well she
fought him at the mountain right at Blood Mountain then why is she why is she not fighting anymore by this point
once they get back to the vehicle Hilton can just lie to her which he I believe he does because I don't believe he has a
gun but he explains to her that I have a gun mhm and by telling her that he has a
gun it that you know she now basically has to be submissive to him because she's afraid he's just going to pull a
gun and shoot shoot her well and you're you're right they they did find several weapons in his vehicle and he probably
used those to keep control of her one of those items was an air gun you know like
a BB gun right um I don't know because some of these Gun BB guns look very much like a toy and sometimes they look very
much like a real gun um yeah and if you have no knowledge of guns then you would
probably just have to assume I mean this nut job just attacked you while you're hiking with your dog and and this nut
job was hiking with his dog as well so you know at this point you just have to believe whatever he's saying yeah and if
you never get a good look at this BB gun right you know if he if he decides not to show you the full piece um maybe you
you you have to believe it's a real gun a lot of those guns you can't really tell from the side it's really just when
you're looking down the barrel where you would notice that something's off yeah yeah now remember the phone call that we
said was made that he had made from the diner when he called John Taber to ask him for money Meredith was still alive
at this time she was being held captive in his van and he had said that he used a you know he used like one of those
long chains and had chained her basically around her neck to secure her to the inside of the van so she's still
alive out inside the van in the parking lot of this Diner while he's inside making this phone call yeah but that's
just horrific you know I mean you're chained into this you know shitty Astro van and at some point he decides that
he's going to have to kill her this is not working out for him he's trying to get the the money from the ATM machines
this is a nogo for him well he says in an interview like it's to him it's common knowledge that if you abduct
somebody the only way you to not get caught is by murdering this person yeah yeah he says it's basic math if you if
you take someone you either kill them or you get caught and at this point when he
does when he does kill her he says that he didn't know that the police were looking for him he actually says that on
one of the days that he was holding her captive he had seen a newspaper and he noticed I I wonder if this was the
second day that that he had taken her because remember the the um the friend were not really aware that she was
missing until some part on that second day right so she would have been reported missing on that second day he
would have already had her for maybe 24 hours at this point and so this might not have hit the newspapers until
technically that third day that she was held captive right and at some point he says you know he sees a newspaper
there's no mention of Meredith Emerson's name in this newspaper and he he says to
her that they had a conversation about you know their they're not even looking for you your name's not in the paper if
they were looking for you your name would have been in the in the newspaper this may have been a taunt
right but this is just a lonely piece of [ __ ] individual that for some reason you
know Mr always right Mr so freaking intelligent right that's his that's what this guy thinks he is he thinks he's the
number one salesman of all time you know he's he's God's gift to this green earth
and so this is his way of going look nobody gives a [ __ ] about you well because nobody gave a [ __ ] about you you
know like nobody G gave a [ __ ] about Gary Hilton because he was a he was a horrible individual he was not nice to
people he didn't have friends he was a loser and so he was then you know reflecting all his inner T term oil and
all the stuff that was going on wrong with him and saying look nobody's looking for you nobody nobody loves you
mhm yeah and the other thing here too is back this is another newspaper this is on the
final day on January 4th when uh the morning that she was still alive he had killed her some point that morning but
he had said that he later that day had seen a newspaper and his face was on the front page right this is after they're
looking for him they've already identified him as as the number one person of interest in this missing
girl's case right which he's probably thinking how the hell do they know but maybe he's also thinking that somebody
saw him why they're hiking and he says you know that um you know I had I would not have I would not have killed her had
I seen that that newspaper instead of that afternoon if I would have seen it that morning and again it goes back to a
[ __ ] liar because he he said earlier simple math you abduct somebody then you kill them but it's in that same
interview that he says this is the reason for that that had he seen he seen that newspaper that that morning he
would have realized he was already caught and what he was saying was that oh so he's saying if he would have known
he was already caught that he wouldn't have killed that he would have released her right and and it because it now you
have a kidnapping charge instead of a murder charge and and his thought was that you know as he said it's simple
math when you take someone you either kill them or you get caught now if you're already caught meaning they
already know who did this then you don't kill them it makes no sense according to
him yeah I mean this guy is just a he's a lunatic I mean and then the other thing that he did was when he so he
chained her up and basically went back to his van to get um you know um a crowbar or something but he when he
chained her up to this tree basically said I'm going to let you go mhm so you know poor Meredith actually thinks that
hey maybe this is this whole ordeal is over with well well and she actually starts to think at some point that he
has tied me to this tree or chain me to this tree and and now he's not coming back you know this this is his way I
guess of letting me go or just or chaining me to this tree and just walking away right and then he comes
back and he you know he murders her with the the Crowbar yeah and he of course he
waits till she's not not looking um and he's he's taking her from the tree and they're walking and he basically from
behind he attacks her with that tire iron um hitting her over the head but there were several things that mer
did that if she didn't do Gary Hilton might have got away with all this yeah and it's it's I mean it's the stuff of
Heroes right I mean she defends herself to the point where she's able to take these weapons off of him in the middle
of an attack I mean that that is so incredibly Brave of her first of all and second of all like you said it leads to
his capture so if had that baton not been found that that was found on a trail that that other hikers were
walking up and down and and they reported it to law enforcement and here's the thing well and then also once
the the once her friends and family report her missing they then come back and they find the knife right so we find
multiple weapons and now at this point the cops are going hey there's something up so then the cops then present that to
the world and because of because of the cops presenting that to the world then we got uh the eyewitness or the the lead
from you know ex employer of Hilton and that leads to you know people on the lookout for Gary in that area yeah yeah
had that baton not been found um I mean think about this because all they would have found in that situation would have
been the water bottles and the dog leash which doesn't immediately I mean it presents you that she's probably missing
if those items belong to her but as soon as you hear about a weapon involved and
then you see there were obvious signs of of some kind of struggle you know leaves
and things were were Disturbed on the ground in this area where they had where they had fought one another for some
time and that baton found and that tips you off that there's we have a big problem here I think it wasn't until
later um that they had found the uh it was a bayonet or a knife of some form uh they they ended up using like a metal
detector because it it was kind of you know as I said the ground was Disturbed and it was underneath leaves and debris
and such that it wasn't obvious to anybody in the area but once they found those weapons because of her bravery is
what what tipped them off and what what sent Gary Hilton on a path to life in jail well and the other thing there too
is that she kept giving him the wrong information on these on the debit cards or the ATM cards and again it's one of
those things where if she would uh depending on her actions he could have just killed her you know and just you
know just been done with it and then he just drives away yeah he could have been
long gone but the fact that you know she basically kind of keeps up this struggle
for you know 4 days or 3 days then it's like it it accumulates into him being caught mhm I want to talk real quickly
here about this vehicle charge cuz remember earlier we had said that when he was when Gary Hilton was picked up at
the Chevron gas station right uh the Good Samaritan had called in that arrest him because obviously he's a person of
interest in this disappearance case and they had found bloody clothes earlier but they actually arrest him and I
believe they held him on a vehicle charge and um I'm not I'm not 100% uh of understanding of this vehicle
charge here but I'll go through it best that I can and the reason that I bring it up is because this has been a topic
of discussion and a topic of ridicule regarding law enforcement regarding the Gary Hilton case right so before before
Meredith Emerson was abducted Gary Hilton was he had been pulled over and he actually had a warrant out for his
arrest at this point basically what had happened was that he had parked his van illegally parked his van on federal
property this was probably at one of the national forest or state parks that he frequented and they say that he had a
warrant out for his arrest on this charge what what is probably most was that he was ticketed for a parking
offense and when he failed to pay the ticket or appear in court to contest the ticket then he received a bench wart for
his arrest that's what I'm what I'm guessing anyway well it might not have came up in the system just depending on
what area I mean he might have had a warrant in a different County yeah yeah so so if he's in you know if he's in one
County gets the warrant the other County it might not show up in their records and the reason yeah the reason why there
they've caught a lot of flack for the this was because he's pulled over they run a check on him for whatever reason
this doesn't come up in the information so of course the thought here is that if
someone had not dropped the ball then Meredith Emerson may still be alive he may have never had the opportunity to
abduct her yeah yeah but I I don't know I I think that's uh that's put in a lot of again just the way the system works
and and how they put it in in the system for the officer to check I mean it was it something that he missed you know
again who knows I mean cuz then they arrest him he gets out of jail still goes to Blood Mountain Still finds
Meredith she's still I I don't think you can put that on that officer or goes to
the National Forest on a different date finding a different victim exactly and then and I think the other thing too in
this case is how hard it would be for the detectives involved I know that the lead detective it was his last case that
he's ever done MH and um and so you have this you know most of these detectives have daughters or have sisters or
whoever mothers and and and you you fear for this girl's safety and as she's missing you know and once you now know
that she's not just missing but possible abduction now it's we need to find her before she dies you know if she's not
already dead yet and so that the the mind [ __ ] that that would be as a detective you know what I mean well
they're waiting for a call to come in I mean they've done everything that they've could they've they've put
everything out to the public they receive feedback from somebody that knows this individual that now they have
a suspect well but you're not waiting for a call that's what I'm saying you're not because you also have you know the
license plates of these vehicles right so that's what I'm saying it's it's just you're actively investigating you're
following every lead that you can but ultimately I'm I'm telling you you interviewed those detectives in the back
of their mind they're always going we're waiting for a call because we've pushed
this stuff out to the public for good reason we need as many eyes on this situation as possible we need somebody
to spot this guy spot this van see the dog make a phone call you you're not sitting there on your hands waiting for
a phone call you're actively investigating but you know the best chance of catching up to this guy is
somebody in the public seeing him and making well yeah or you know another cop seeing it you know but but
the the stress that that would be you know and then and then to find out uh when you do catch helden and he says hey
well look I I murdered her I mean and what the detective has to go through at that point because you know and the
detectives said too that you know for whatever reason um Meredith Emerson's parents for some reason on this case
they normally hold withhold a lot of evidence from the family or or hold back a lot of stuff that was going on with
the case they actually presented a lot of this stuff to the family as it was happening yeah I believe he said
something to the fact like after he had met her parents it was quickly decided between him and the other detectives
that they were going to share every bit of information we can't hold it back I mean probably their person you know the
the the good nature and the personality of her parents is is probably a big part
of that but the other thing too is you have a situation here where it's very it's it's practically obvious from the
get-go that this is not a situ a family situation this is not a family abduction
or a family attack this is not you don't need to look at those parents or family
members as suspects yeah and I but I also I also think that in this situation uh and just the little bit of
background that we know of Gary Hilton at this point I think it's like you you you're open and honest and forthcoming
with information knowing that the chances of this turning out well is probably not going to happen I mean
you're hopeful but chances are it's not going to turn out well so by sharing the
information that you're learning with the family you're almost preparing them for the worst outcome yeah and I think
that that's why they point out that anytime they got a hit on that bank card was there there was a little sign of
Hope a little possibility and you know I don't want there you know nobody wants there to be more victims or anything
like that but you know the the other strange amongst all the other strange and and cruel behavior in this case but
a strange thing to me was he let the dog go the dog was just wandering around and
he says later in an interview he couldn't bring himself to kill the dog I mean these Psychopaths they make little
to no sense in most of these situations yeah and uh then the other sad thing I mean kind of the closure of the closure
of the confession and everything is when they do find her body I mean she is headless I mean he did decapitate her
and he basically makes claims that he did so because it was about identifying the body yeah it was for forensic
purposes he he wanted her not to be identified again I think this goes back to this idea that he thinks he's going
to be able to because even when he sees himself in the paper and all that stuff I still think he thought he can outsmart
everybody yeah I mean he's driving around he's dumping things in different dumpsters uh he he was making all the
moves to get rid of the evidence get rid of anything tying him to Meredith Emerson and then get out of Dodge and if
that's not horrific enough and all these little tiny events you know all these little happen stance events events that
happen uh to lead to his capture meanwhile as there's they're reporting that this girl is missing and possibly
abducted there's other law enforcement agencies out there going wait we have similar cases now now we have uh we have
a missing person we have bodies that we found and they're starting to link is you know they're starting to question I
guess is this the work of Gary Hilton yeah you're exactly right there are cases out there that have not just
similarities but strong similarities almost the exact same Mo uh people that have gone missing in in National Force
people that have been found in National forest and they're they're going to use things that they find in his confession
as well as items that they find and evidence they find in his van that may lead them to other murder charges yeah
so the law enforcement at this point is going you know we might have a serial killer on our hands and in custody
that's what we'll dive into tomorrow uh what's the recommended reading for this week uh this week we are recommending
the yosity murders by Dennis dogall um this is a case that takes place on on the other side of the United States in
one of the biggest parks in the country uh it's a on the trail of murder in Mayhem um by Dennis McDougall it's the
osity murders and you can pick that up by going to True Crim garage.com and check out the recommended page we have
several books on there as well as some movies and you can use our Amazon Banner to pick up any of your true crime books
or movies and thanks so much for listening thanks so much for telling friend the support the last year has
been overwhelming and uh we just keep uh you know we we talk so much there's so much in this case and there's so much
that involves other cases and a couple big profile cases that are pretty big in the True Crime World um that people
think possibly Hilton is linked to and we'll discuss that tomorrow and uh kind of go into a little bit of backstory
with Hilton as well but again thanks for listening thanks for telling a friend and much love and until tomorrow be good
be kind and don't litter and don't [Music] [Applause] SM you can start your day off right when
you find a professional on Angie to get your plumbing right first connect with skilled professionals
to get all your home projects done well visit angie.com you can do this when you
Angie that

National Forest Serial Killer /// Part 1 /// 77

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They called him the National Forest Serial Killer. He liked to hunt women in the woods. For two years Gary Hilton stalked the backcountry paths of the southern United States. In 2007 he abducted and killed John and Irene Bryant in North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest. Later that year he attacked and killed Cheryl Dunlap in Florida’s Apalachicola National Forest. Then in 2008 he attacked and killed Meredith Emerson in Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest. Gary Hilton is one of the rarest breeds of serial killers waiting until he was in his sixties to start killing, or did he?

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Brief Summary

Meredith Emerson went missing in 2008; Gary Hilton abducted and murdered her after a violent struggle.

Key points

The Disappearance of Meredith Emerson. Meredith Emerson goes missing while hiking on New Year's Day, sparking a massive search effort.
A Person of Interest Emerges. Investigators identify Gary Michael Hilton as a person of interest in Meredith's disappearance.
Strange Connections. Gary Hilton makes a phone call to his former boss, raising suspicions about his involvement.
ATM Attempts Raise Hope. Attempts to access Meredith's bank account suggest she may still be alive.
Dog Identified as Meredith's. A black lab found in a parking lot is identified as Meredith Emerson's dog, raising hopes.
911 Call Leads to Arrest. A Good Samaritan spots the suspect at a gas station, leading to his quick apprehension.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Meredith Emerson could do anything; she is feisty, she is strong.

Discussion about Meredith's character and resilience.

6:46WatchNov 16, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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