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Meredith Emerson, a 24 year old sales manager and University of Georgia graduate, was murdered in January 2008 by drifter Gary Hilton, dubbed the 'National Forest Serial Killer,' while hiking on Blood Mountain in Georgia. Her cause of death was eventually determined to be blunt force trauma to the head.
Emerson was accompanied by her dog, Ella, when she mysteriously disappeared on New Year's Day. Multiple witnesses claimed to have spotted her with an elderly man.
The victim resided in Buford, Georgia, at the time, and was soon reported missing by friends when she failed to return home. Authorities were able to find Ella on January 4 in Cumming, Georgia.
That same day, a clerk at a convenience store gas station recognized Hilton from news reports and informed authorities, which led to his subsequent arrest. He was caught in the act while attempting to rid his van of evidence.
Dateline: Unforgettable is scheduled to revisit Meredith Emerson's chilling murder case. The upcoming episode, titled Mystery on Blood Mountain, airs on Tuesday, December 20, at 8.00 pm ET on Oxygen.
Meredith Emerson was attacked by the National Forest Serial Killer on New Year's Day in 2008
Meredith Emerson was born in Charleston, South Carolina, growing up partly in North Carolina and partly in Colorado. She earned a bachelor's degree in French (Honors) from the University of Georgia in 2005, where she also received the Cecil Willcox Award for 'Excellence in French.' Sources stated that she was working as a sales manager at the time of the tragedy.
It was on January 1, 2008 when Emerson went hiking on the Freeman Trail on Blood Mountain in Vogel State Park, accompanied by her dog Ella. The 24-year-old went missing and multiple witnesses claimed to have seen her with a mysterious older man. Authorities spotted her 1995 Chevrolet Cavalier on January 3, discovering her water bottle, a dog leash, and a police baton inside.
That same day, an extensive investigation of the man who was spotted following Emerson indicated that he was 61-year-old Gary Hilton, a local drifter with a reputation for unusual behavior and a violent temper.
The suspect frequently used the route to stroll his dog, Dandy, and was soon identified as a person of interest in the case. On January 4, authorities rescued Meredith's dog from a Kroger parking lot.
On January 4, a gas station witness contacted authorities and reported that Hilton was attempting to clean his vehicle. Police immediately arrived on the scene and arrested the suspect before he could bleach the interior of his van. Crime scene investigators gathered blood evidence, which was subsequently a perfect match to Emerson's DNA. Gary Michael Hilton was then charged with murder.
In exchange for Hilton helping police find the victim's body, the prosecution agreed to drop the potential of the death penalty. He accepted and ultimately guided detectives to Emerson's remains. The suspect admitted that after asking the victim for her debit card and the PIN, which she refused to provide, he captured her for four days before murdering her.
Meredith Emerson and Gary Hilton hiked together before the attack after which she tricked him for four days to survive
The two reportedly hiked together until 61-year-old Hilton couldn't keep up. When Emerson turned and headed back down the trail, he attacked her, demanding her ATM card. Meredith Emerson got defensive and the two engaged in a brief struggle until he brutally injured her. He then brought her and the dog to his van and asked for her ATM card and pin once again.
According to NBC News, GBI agent Clay Bridges, who interviewed Gary Hilton, stated:
"That's the one thing that broke my heart in this case. She was doing everything she was supposed to do to stay alive, and we didn't get there in time."
Meredith Emerson tricked Hilton for nearly three days by giving him the wrong pin each time, buying herself time to survive. The killer later alleged that on the day he killed the victim, he assured her that she was going home before tying her to a tree and hitting her multiple times with the handle of a car jack from behind.
Speaking about the murder, Hilton reportedly told the investigator that:
"It was hard. You gotta remember we had spent several good days together."
Including Meredith Emerson's murder, Gary Hilton, who is infamous as the 'National Forest Serial Killer,' has been convicted of murdering three other individuals. He remains a suspect in many other killings as well. Hilton was sentenced to death in Florida and will serve life in prison in Georgia and North Carolina.
Oxygen's Dateline: Unforgettable airs Meredith Emerson's case on Tuesday, December 20, at 8.00 pm ET.
