Yet another missing person in Georgia

UPDATED: 8:18 p.m. January 03, 2008
Police seek 'person of interest' in case of missing Buford woman
GBI joins the search, water bottle and dog collar belonging to woman found on trail

By GEORGE CHIDI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/02/08

Police are seeking a 60-year-old man as a "person of interest" in the disappearance of 24-year-old Buford hiker Meredith Hope Emerson, missing since New Year's Day in the North Georgia mountains.

Gary Michael Hilton, 60, was seen walking with Emerson before she disappeared, said Kimberly Verdone, a spokeswoman for the Union County Sheriff's Office. Police say he is about 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds.

Police said he was last seen driving a white Chevy Astro van. Hilton has a 1996 white van with license plate number 76APZ and a 2001 white van with plate number AFQ1310, both DeKalb County registered, police said.

Police have yet to say whether they believe foul play is involved — only that they have no evidence to support that conclusion.

Emerson went missing Jan. 1 with her black mixed-breed dog, Ella, on a mountain trail at Vogel State Park.

On Thursday, law enforcement officials and about 100 others searched for her with a mixture of hope and trepidation.

"She's athletic. Very athletic," said Emerson's roommate, Julia Karrenbauer. "She runs all the time, walks all the time, hikes all the time. If faced with a situation, I'd be confident in her abilities."

Family members, close friends, co-workers, former co-workers and even strangers combed the mountains with authorities in search of Emerson.

Her parents, Susan and Dave Emerson, flew in Wednesday from Longmont, Colo., where she grew up. They searched, too.

"Meredith's middle name is Hope, and that's exactly what God grants us," said Peggy Bailey, Emerson's godmother, who is acting as the family spokeswoman.

The revelation that a man was seen with Emerson just before she disappeared alarmed her family, Bailey said. Her parents are "frightened, but they're not going to give up hope," she said.

Emerson went hiking about 11 a.m. Tuesday on the six-mile-long trail with her dog, police said. Before Hilton was identified in the case, several people told investigators they saw Emerson with a gray- or silver-haired man, who wore a backpack and a yellow jacket with black elbow patches and stripes, Verdone said.

In addition to Emerson's water bottle and the dog leash, searchers also found a police baton of some sort but haven't tied it to Emerson's disappearance.

On Thursday, volunteers who knew the 20,000-acre park best and could give medical attention were sent out first in "hasty teams," Union County Fire Department 1st Lt. Brad Niebrand said.

By noon Thursday, about 100 people had assembled at the Vogel State Park visitors center, hoping to assist with the search. Old Army fatigues mixed with hunter's camouflage among the assembled volunteers. Most didn't know her personally. People brought their dogs, hoping to find a scent. Some people showed up in blue jeans and light jackets, and were turned away.

Emerson is a sales manager for a Winder packaging company and a 2005 University of Georgia graduate.

The mountain was cold New Year's Day and colder Thursday morning. Atlanta set a record low for Jan. 3; law enforcement officers estimated the temperature on Blood Mountain dropped below zero Wednesday night, and similar temperatures were expected Thursday night. "It's a very difficult trail, especially when it's covered with snow," Verdone said, noting that the area got 1 to 1 1/2 inches overnight.

As dusk approached, some grumbling emerged from those still at the bottom of the mountain who had not been rounded up into a search team. But law enforcement officials initially wanted to give the heat-sensing equipment on the Georgia Bureau of Investigation helicopter a chance to work without confusion from extra warm bodies on the mountain, Niebrand said.

Later in the day, officers expressed concern about potentially losing someone else on the mountain during the search. The scale of the search was unprecedented, Niebrand said.

Volunteers eventually were replaced with a team of 18 officers from Gwinnett County, who planned to use dogs to continue the search after dark, Niebrand said. It took hours just to pull the volunteer search teams from the mountain.

"Some of them are pretty deep in there," Niebrand said.

Meanwhile, miles away, authorities investigating the presumed double-murder of an elderly North Carolina couple are following the search Emerson closely.

A man wearing a yellow jacket may have been the last person seen with Emerson. In the Bryant case, a surveillance video at a bank in Ducktown, Tenn. — about an hour away from where Emerson was last seen — captured someone wearing a yellow jacket using the couple's ATM card Oct. 22. Nothing else is known about the suspect, Young said.

"Right now we don't see a correlation, but the yellow jacket certainly raised a flag," he said. "They call these things clues."

Anyone with information on the Emerson case is asked to call the Union County Sheriff's Department at 706-439-6066.

— AJC Staff writers Ken Sugiura, Christian Boone and Brandy Wilson contributed to this story.

Re: Yet another missing person in Georgia

padpradasha wrote:

UPDATED: 8:18 p.m. January 03, 2008 Police seek 'person of interest' in case of missing Buford woman GBI joins the search, water bottle and dog collar belonging to woman found on trail By GEORGE CHIDI The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 01/02/08 Police are seeking a 60-year-old man as a "person of interest" in the disappearance of 24-year-old Buford hiker Meredith Hope Emerson, missing since New Year's Day in the North Georgia mountains. Gary Michael Hilton, 60, was seen walking with Emerson before she disappeared, said Kimberly Verdone, a spokeswoman for the Union County Sheriff's Office. Police say he is about 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds. Police said he was last seen driving a white Chevy Astro van. Hilton has a 1996 white van with license plate number 76APZ and a 2001 white van with plate number AFQ1310, both DeKalb County registered, police said. Police have yet to say whether they believe foul play is involved — only that they have no evidence to support that conclusion. Emerson went missing Jan. 1 with her black mixed-breed dog, Ella, on a mountain trail at Vogel State Park. On Thursday, law enforcement officials and about 100 others searched for her with a mixture of hope and trepidation. "She's athletic. Very athletic," said Emerson's roommate, Julia Karrenbauer. "She runs all the time, walks all the time, hikes all the time. If faced with a situation, I'd be confident in her abilities." Family members, close friends, co-workers, former co-workers and even strangers combed the mountains with authorities in search of Emerson. Her parents, Susan and Dave Emerson, flew in Wednesday from Longmont, Colo., where she grew up. They searched, too. "Meredith's middle name is Hope, and that's exactly what God grants us," said Peggy Bailey, Emerson's godmother, who is acting as the family spokeswoman. The revelation that a man was seen with Emerson just before she disappeared alarmed her family, Bailey said. Her parents are "frightened, but they're not going to give up hope," she said. Emerson went hiking about 11 a.m. Tuesday on the six-mile-long trail with her dog, police said. Before Hilton was identified in the case, several people told investigators they saw Emerson with a gray- or silver-haired man, who wore a backpack and a yellow jacket with black elbow patches and stripes, Verdone said. In addition to Emerson's water bottle and the dog leash, searchers also found a police baton of some sort but haven't tied it to Emerson's disappearance. On Thursday, volunteers who knew the 20,000-acre park best and could give medical attention were sent out first in "hasty teams," Union County Fire Department 1st Lt. Brad Niebrand said. By noon Thursday, about 100 people had assembled at the Vogel State Park visitors center, hoping to assist with the search. Old Army fatigues mixed with hunter's camouflage among the assembled volunteers. Most didn't know her personally. People brought their dogs, hoping to find a scent. Some people showed up in blue jeans and light jackets, and were turned away. Emerson is a sales manager for a Winder packaging company and a 2005 University of Georgia graduate. The mountain was cold New Year's Day and colder Thursday morning. Atlanta set a record low for Jan. 3; law enforcement officers estimated the temperature on Blood Mountain dropped below zero Wednesday night, and similar temperatures were expected Thursday night. "It's a very difficult trail, especially when it's covered with snow," Verdone said, noting that the area got 1 to 1 1/2 inches overnight. As dusk approached, some grumbling emerged from those still at the bottom of the mountain who had not been rounded up into a search team. But law enforcement officials initially wanted to give the heat-sensing equipment on the Georgia Bureau of Investigation helicopter a chance to work without confusion from extra warm bodies on the mountain, Niebrand said. Later in the day, officers expressed concern about potentially losing someone else on the mountain during the search. The scale of the search was unprecedented, Niebrand said. Volunteers eventually were replaced with a team of 18 officers from Gwinnett County, who planned to use dogs to continue the search after dark, Niebrand said. It took hours just to pull the volunteer search teams from the mountain. "Some of them are pretty deep in there," Niebrand said. Meanwhile, miles away, authorities investigating the presumed double-murder of an elderly North Carolina couple are following the search Emerson closely. A man wearing a yellow jacket may have been the last person seen with Emerson. In the Bryant case, a surveillance video at a bank in Ducktown, Tenn. — about an hour away from where Emerson was last seen — captured someone wearing a yellow jacket using the couple's ATM card Oct. 22. Nothing else is known about the suspect, Young said. "Right now we don't see a correlation, but the yellow jacket certainly raised a flag," he said. "They call these things clues." Anyone with information on the Emerson case is asked to call the Union County Sheriff's Department at 706-439-6066. — AJC Staff writers Ken Sugiura, Christian Boone and Brandy Wilson contributed to this story.

Thank you