Investigators Believe Missing Hiker is Dead

Saturday night, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Meredith Emerson is probably no longer alive. Authorities are now charging Gary Hilton, the man who was taken into custody Friday, with violently attacking and kidnapping Emerson as she was hiking in the North Georgia mountains.

There?s no murder charge against the suspect, Gary Hilton - yet. But investigators said the evidence they've gathered so far points to Hilton as the one who violently kidnapped and attacked Emerson. They no longer believe they will find her alive.

Just before 9 p.m. Saturday, GBI agents drove suspect Gary Hilton into the Union County Jail, to face a charge of kidnapping Meredith Emerson with bodily injury as she hiked near Vogel State Park in Union County on Tuesday.

Late in the afternoon, the announcement from John Bankhead of the GBI brought Meredith's family and friends to speechless tears. There will no longer be a search and rescue mission to save Meredith, he said. It's now a search and recovery mission. Investigators no longer believe Meredith is alive. "It does not look favorable for that to be the case,? Bankhead said. The arrest warrant affidavit describes some of the evidence investigators say they have collected so far against Gary Hilton. Its evidence that includes what they believe Hilton had thrown into a dumpster, in Cumming, in Forsyth County including Meredith Emerson's billfold and drivers license, and UGA student ID, her fleece clothing covered in blood, and part of the rear seat belt from Hilton's van, which had been cut out of the van, and it was covered in blood. Investigators said when they found Hilton outside a DeKalb County convenience store Friday night, he was trying to vacuum the inside of his van and wash it with bleach.

Investigators said they have photos of Hilton at an ATM in Canton, trying to use Meredith's credit card. Saturday night, near the hiking trail where Meredith was last seen, family and friends lit candles, and prayed. And thanked all the volunteers who have worked so hard to find her, beginning to accept the reality they may never see her again. Investigators said Hilton is not cooperating and not talking. Sunday, searchers will walk up and down miles of mountain roads and highways, in case Emerson's body is hidden in some deep, roadside ravine. Hilton is expected to make his first court appearance here on Monday.

Missing Ga. hiker believed dead, kidnapping charges filed against suspect

ATLANTA (AP) -- Authorities said Saturday they believe a hiker who disappeared from the northern Georgia woods on New Year's Day is dead, and they charged the man who was reportedly last seen with her with kidnapping.

Union County Superior Court Judge David Barrett signed a warrant 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 were serving the warrant on Hilton on Saturday evening. The warrant was issued "based on evidence recovered in various locations," Bankhead said.

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 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.

Also on Saturday, authorities went to Forsyth County in the Atlanta suburbs, where Ella was found Friday at a grocery store, Bankhead said. Authorities identified Ella using her implanted microchip, Union County investigator Kimberly Verdone said.

Police picked up Hilton at a convenience store in the Atlanta area, Verdone said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation declined to specify how investigators learned Hilton's name and other details about him.

Karrenbauer described Emerson as an experienced hiker who has a blue belt in martial arts. Other friends said she was familiar with the trail near where her car was found, having jogged on it several times with a partner.

Emerson, formerly of Longmont, Colo., recently moved to Buford, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta.

Vogel is one of Georgia's oldest and most popular state parks. The area includes a segment of the Appalachian Trail, the famous hiking route that stretches from Georgia to Maine.