Read this - Post from another hiker- details about GMH a bit..

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panglossian said:
There were a number of us hikers on that thread who joined WS specifically because of this case. True, some of us are "newbies" with limited understanding of this forum's basics and have now been enlightened... to some degree.
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I joined websleuths specifically because of this case. I'm a hiker, tho' not an AT through hiker. (I've hiked the AT in PA and VA, not as far south as GA).

It was a combination of the hiking (I do a LOT of hiking in the Apalachicola Nat'l forest - mostly further east or south of where Cheryl was found) and the fact that I live about a mile from where her car was found that was such a trigger for me. There but for the grace of god...

I really connected with Meredith because I hike by myself all the time... alone, female...

I hadn't meant to get off track... I see it is quite easy to do (Heck, I'm off topic posting this, aren't I?) Newbie-itis. Thread hijacking? sorry.

I think if somebody does find more information in any of the trail journals it would be really interesting to read. I was blown away by the amount of information that folks pulled from trail journals! Perhaps a new thread, if this one is too long... But I do think there should be someplace to post it, if any more is out there.
 
We can make as many threads as there are trail journals! In order to make a new thread, you just have to go to the page of the forum that lists all of the threads and click New Thread...put in a title and the first post. :)

The information is incredible coming out about run ins with GMH from hikers!! I hope everyone who has encountered this man at one time or another has also called LE to inform them.
 
Cheryl Dunlap was an unusual victim for GMH, because she was in a car...with a flat tire...I do not think she was hiking, though her body was found in the forest....
I guess he just got victims wherever he found them...what a sicko...
 
Native New Yorker said:
Cheryl Dunlap was an unusual victim for GMH, because she was in a car...with a flat tire...I do not think she was hiking, though her body was found in the forest....
I guess he just got victims wherever he found them...what a sicko...
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It is crimes of opportunity for the most part with these serials. His was a slightly different MO as he wanted to rob them and then murdered them. Most have murder as the priority. Just to add that as much about profiling is not 100% so all avenues should be looked at when LE profiles.

Another thought, gang related murders are frequently associated with robbery too. So, a closer look at the types of people who commit these crimes could help. It is evil infiltrating many areas that is more isolated and the types of people who commit them should be a priority. Similar to Al Gaeda type operations where lone individuals rule their own roost.
 
Since it seems this thread starts out looking at trail journals and then looking specifically at journal entries from hikers who stayed at shelters near roads, this link may be helpful in determining where shelters are in relation to roadways for those who are not familiar with the Appalachian Trail: ALDHA Thru-Hiker Companion - On-line version

This resource gives the trail miles to various points including shelters and road crossing. Scroll down to the states you wish to see and click the link to open a PDF file of that state. The mile will be listed from Katahdin in Maine on one side of the page and from Springer in Georgia on the other. A road crossing is marked with a capital "R" and a shelter is marked with a capital "S".
 
Hiker -

Did you ever meet up with Hilton? Do you know hikers that have?

Thanks for the link - it's a great one
 
I'm not positive it was him, but my husband and I encountered a man in March of 2004 at Hightower Gap in Georgia. It was a windy day and we had just bought a new 10' x 12' silnylon tarp. We were at the edge of a small parking area in this gap practicing our tarp rigging skills (read - making sure we could pull up our shelter for the evening in that kind of wind). An older man in a white van pulled in next to our car and watched us for quite a while. He never got out of the van. Because it was March - a month when many began hiking the entire Appalachian trail from south to north and also a popular hiking time for day-hikers - there were a lot of people in the area. He may have assumed we would come back to the parking lot, but we hit the trail as soon as we were sure we could put up our tarp (we don't use the shelters along AT because most have rodent problems :eek: )
 
JinxieJada said:
In some areas, The homeless even have voicemail! I'll try to dig up the article but it was about making them more productive ie - being able to call on housing, benefits, jobs etc. Do we know if he didn't have one of these? It wasn't a city/county type program it was nationwide (IIRC) paid for by a homeless nonprofit group.
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The program that you are talking about is called Community Voice Mail. It was started back in the '90's in Seattle by a non-profit organization that focuses on fighting poverty in general, not just homelessness. I believe it's funded by a combination of federal and private funding. Bill Gates (of Microsoft) is a huge supporter/donor.

According to the list of CVM sites, there is one in Atlanta at a place called the Samaritan House of Atlanta (linked below). It doesn't seem like Hilton would need voicemail though. His money came from random home repair jobs or stealing money from the people that he killed and it doesn't appear as though he was trying to get housing. But, it would actually be pretty great if he did, since that might help LE track him around various places where people are still missing or where there are unsolved murders.

http://www.cvm.org/sites.cfm
http://www.cvm.org/whatcvm/atlanta.htm
 
and, as I have mentioned before, I think he was entitled to Veteran's benefits, as he served for 3 years......
 
Hi Everyone, I've been lurking. I'm a longtime reader and occasional poster at Steve Huff's blog. I've been following Meredith Emerson's murder closely for a number of reasons -- one was I was going to start hiking this year. There's been some discussion at Steve's blog about Hilton's eligibility for benefits. I think as a vet and I'm not sure he was in Viet Nam, I think he was in Germany, he would be eligible for cash if he was disabled. He would've been eligible for medical care from the VA but it sounded he went to a local doctor (if what he said to the Tabors was true).
 
The information which was published on Inside Edition said that he did not go to Vietnam, and he had an honorable discharge. I found it odd that he left the Army when he did, as the war was just gearing up....wish we could get some info from some vets of that period...but I understand that no one would want to be associated with GMH...even in that general way!
 
Emily Booth said:
Hi Everyone, I've been lurking. I'm a longtime reader and occasional poster at Steve Huff's blog. I've been following Meredith Emerson's murder closely for a number of reasons -- one was I was going to start hiking this year. There's been some discussion at Steve's blog about Hilton's eligibility for benefits. I think as a vet and I'm not sure he was in Viet Nam, I think he was in Germany, he would be eligible for cash if he was disabled. He would've been eligible for medical care from the VA but it sounded he went to a local doctor (if what he said to the Tabors was true).
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Hi Emily and welcome! Were you considering hiking on the Appalachian Trail? I know when I look at all the AT cases of violence possibly attributed to Hilton, I do wonder if he really was the culprit in all of them. Or if there's another, smarter, cunning individual running a similar game. I haven't hiked on the AT since Meredith because of our weather, but do hike my local parks.
 
Yes, and I also meant to welcome you, Emily! Any thoughts that I ever had about hiking are gone....
will stick to my urban sidewalks...small parks
I have also had some bad experiences/witnessed some bad experiences in dog parks, so also tend to avoid them as well...

Pan, as to what you said about someone else committing some of those murders...I disagree, though it is possible...
GMH looks/appears like a toothless creature straight out of the movie "Deliverance"...but you are seeing him in decline, poor health...
think back to 5-10 years ago...he looked healthier, and had to be sharper...
Even now, he had the cunning to have two identical white vans, who knows how many hiding places...
he is not a stupid man, not by a long shot
in the Army for 3 years, married three times....ability in dog training...
pretty cunning, in my opinion....
 
I am planning on hiking our local forest preserves to get some experience before I tackle the AT. I really admire the Bryants. What wonderful lives they lived. I would like to do what they did, spend my life in nature. It really hurt to see what happened to them and to Meredith.

I'm curious if Hilton hunted animals for food? Why the need for $$ if he lived off the grid? Why the constant moving around? He was a man of the outdoors yet he seemed to spend alot of time driving.
 
I have read that Hilton was not allowed to possess firearms during his probation at one point, if he even honored those restrictions. If he had no gun, then I see him setting snares for wild game, instead of hunting in the traditional sense. No one reported seeing him fishing. I really think his taste ran to energy bars and other processed foods which cost money and we know what he was doing about that.

You are so right about his driving around a lot- long distances, too.

Native- I hope it was Hilton and no one else. That would make it so much safer on the trail. But when I'm out there I'll always wonder.
 
Hilton may have been eating traditional backpacking foods - mac & cheese, ramen noodles, tortillas or bagels instead of bread, peanut butter, lipton sides, cooked cereals, hamburger helper, nuts - and since he was car camping supplementing with canned meats, chips, fruit and/or veggies.

He seemed to be stealing about $300 a month via murder - and my guess is he stole and sold some other items when he could (given his past record of doing this). With about $400 a month, he could have eaten and gassed up the van for his 100 - 200 mile trips. The painting jobs likely financed his trip(s) to Florida.
 
Probably not this year - it is mostly a big party now and not about the hikers anymore.
 
Hiker said:
Probably not this year - it is mostly a big party now and not about the hikers anymore.
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I agree. I am not a hiker - just a camper - but I usually camp at Backbone Rock during Trail Days, and any other time I can get up there. I don't usually go into town but the campground fills up with hikers that don't want to stay at the city campground. I really have enjoyed the ones I have met and love to hear their stories. I met a hiker, friend of my sister, from Atlanta area last year and she didn't want to stay in town so I snagged a campsite for her early in the week so when they got there, all they had to do was pitch a tent. My sister met up with her in Damascus and she seemed to really enjoy getting out of town. Can't say that I blame her. This way, she could go to town for all the activities and still have a nice peaceful campsite waiting. We had a great time and I hope to get to do it again this year.

I love that campground!
 
BTW, one of the backpackers that lives in Damascus thinks GMH used his phone during Trail Days last year. He made his phone available for thru-hikers to call home during TD. There were some thefts in the city's campground, but someone would remember him if GMH had stayed there.

For those not familiar with this event, Trail Days is a huge backpacker homecoming. Probably between 750 and 1,000 people stay in a campground provided by the city. In the past few years the partying has just gotten out-of-control enough that many of us won't stay in the city campground.

Below is a pic a part of the campground in 2006 to give those who haven't been to TD what it is like:
TrailDays2006-ThetentCity.jpg
 
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