Search Resumes for Missing Hiker

A helicopter is scouring a North Georgia mountain for any signs of a missing woman who went hiking on New Year's Day.

Officials have asked all other hikers to remain off blood mountain as they use an infrared device to pick up body heat on the mountain. Emergency personnel have been staked out on the Appalachian Trail on Blood Mountain since Wednesday. Cold weather and darkness forced crews to suspend the ground search for Meredith Emerson, 24, Wednesday night. Emerson took her dog with her on a hike there in Union County, and neither has been seen since Tuesday.

She is described as an experienced hiker who knows the area well. Friends said that Emerson does not get turned around easily, causing them more concern over her whereabouts. Given the cold weather, friends and family are desperate to find her.

"Meredith is my roommate. She did not come home last night. She left a note that said she was going hiking yesterday afternoon," said her roommate. "She didn't come home, and then her dog wasn't there this morning, which it usually is, and then we heard that she did not show up for work, which is very unlike her."

Her car was found in the trailhead parking lot, covered in snow. But there was no sign of Meredith or her dog.

While the sheriff's department and GEMA are handing it as a missing persons' case, there are some details that have friends concerned. According to her roommate, a former police officer hiking on the trail on Tuesday said he recalled seeing her and her dog and that he also noticed a man on the trail that gave him an uneasy feeling. That man was carrying a police baton.

The former officer said he continued up the hill. He said that when he came back down the hill he found some of Meredith's belongings including a leash, two water bottles and some dog treats. Also, next to those items, were a police baton and some men's sunglasses. He turned those items into a local shop owner.

All of that information is being checked into and the former officer returned to the scene Thursday morning to help pinpoint the area where he saw the suspicious man.

Searchers covered about six miles of the Appalachian Trail on Wednesday.