GA - Meredith Emerson, 24, Blood Mountain, 4 January 2008

[SuziQ]

Witnesses in Emerson's case should be able to quickly id or not, the jacket in the Bryant case. And from what I gather, Emerson's dog was well trained, to be a therapy dog in fact.

 

[JinxieJada]

Looking at this case objectively, it doesn't not seem strange to me that Meredith would be seen talking and hiking with Gary Hilton (61 years old; he may have stamina, more so than strength if he is an avid hiker). I've went hiking before (never alone) and i've brought my dog many times (she is one that i would never let off the leash). On many hikes, we've encountered others hiking with dogs also, some taking a spot right next to us to swim with their dogs. I could see Meredith having a conversation with Hilton, as they both had there dogs in common and for conversation. Many people let their dogs off the leash hiking, yet never take the collar off. If the dog is welled trained enough, they let them off the leash.
I've also seen many people carry things sticklike in nature hiking (even many cases walking down the street) in case they have to fend off an attacker or animal attacking.

Hilton's garb doesn't seem unrealistic to me. It sounds like having been an avid hiker, he set out preparing for all sorts of scenarios. The backpack seems to be described as the large camping/hiking style ones that almost have the metal rack for your back and a sleeping bag attachment. The yellow jacket (also common in the elderly's couple case) is practical to wear while hiking, as it provides high visibility in case of bad weather or hunters. Would a person suspect in both cases be stupid enough to wear a similiar jacket? Hilton has a rap sheet, yet has been clean for the past 10 years. With him having a backpack that large on and his age and stature (6 feet yet 160lbs, is smaller size for his frame) i don't imagine it would be easy for him to win a fight against Meredith weighted down. Hilton was also lingering around that area, many people would have spotted him in bright yellow and with his dog. It's not like he was trying to blend in or not be spotted. He appeared not to care. Anything is possible, i'm just throwing some things out into the open here.

Then there's the ex cop witness. He got a funny feeling about seeing Meredith and Hilton hiking together. Well from his cop experience, wouldn't it make sense to trail them or engage in conversation and hike with them if he was so suspicious about them? I agree with Reb on this..
Then to top things off later the ex cop witness finds the items at the scene and turns them in. Did he not think for a second after his gut was at first telling him something wasn't right that he was destroying a potential crime scene? Not to mention did he have gloves on or was he barehanded, as his prints would then be on the evidence turned in, or could have messed up the prints already on the items found. The baton found was ASP available only to law enforcement. Also, at what points did the excop witness see Meredith and the hiker? If he saw them while hiking, got an uneasy feeling since the man was carrying a police baton and was obviously not a cop, why didn't he follow them??!! Then when returns to the parking area he sees the items by the car. Did anyone else see Hilton with a baton? Any other witnesses?

I don't believe Meredith is still on the mountain. With Ella's leash being found near the car and the water bottle.. She seems to love Ella, and i doubt she would just leave the leash behind, and then start hiking. I think whoever kidnapped her, waited until she got to the car, grabbed her, either set Ella off the leash.. I am glad to hear Ella is microchipped, i think Ella is a huge part of this case and will help solve it. I wonder if Meredith was abducted and is somewhere around the county area, will Ella attempt to make it to her? Being a dog owner myself, there is such devotion..

I know that the yellow jackets are similiar in the two cases; yet would a person involved in both stick around the same area and wear the same style/color jacket? That seems like pure stupidity to me.
Then we have the ex cop muddling up the crime scene when he thought it suspicious to begin with..
Something doesn't fit here..

some very good thoughts. I also think ella will be a key factor in Meredith's being found/discovered. The rest I'm still not sure about one way or another. I will find it odd if someone does not hear from this man very, very, soon, considering he is all over the media right now. SOMEONE has to know him somewhere. (caps for emphasis not shouting) And those someone's should have at least one way to get in contact with this person.

If he does in fact come forward (and I have every toe and finger crossed that he does, and it was just a meetup on the trail between dog owners/hikers etc) whether he was involved negatively or not, I think he can provide valuable insight about the situation.

 

[MeoW333]

I don't think it's the same jacket, if i recall an article said the one Hilton had, had black elbow patches on it; as opposed to the one in the surveillance videos stills that didn't appear to have black patches. I'm sure they could be sewed on, yet i doubt anyone would go through the trouble.
This case is so mind boggling..
I really wish it was a case where they could just find her and Ella safe under a manmade shelter she to stay out of the storm..
I really think Ella will help, if Meredith was abducted which appears the case at this point, i doubt the suspect would have brought Ella also. Is Ella out there somewhere right now, tracking her mother? Dogs have been know to travel states to return to owners. Even if Ella has never been to where Meredith is, she might still be able to get to her with success. She's well trained, SuziQ, said she's a therapy dog, the bond is so strong between dog and owner also..
I'm praying...

 

[JinxieJada]

Witnesses in Emerson's case should be able to quickly id or not, the jacket in the Bryant case. And from what I gather, Emerson's dog was well trained, to be a therapy dog in fact.

I don't know either way on the cases being related BUT, I did see the surveillance photos and to me the person in them seems like it is a younger person. They almost look like they are throwing their posture off a bit (It seems they are hunched "down" a bit at the knee and waist if that makes sense?) and they seem a bit taller than 5'10.

But it could also be that I'm just trying to be optimistic and don't want to face that they (crimes) may be related. Im still hoping that it was nothing more than innocent chatter amongst a couple of people that had common interests. I know it doesn't look that way at the moment. but we can always hope....right?

 

[MeoW333]

some very good thoughts. I also think ella will be a key factor in Meredith's being found/discovered. The rest I'm still not sure about one way or another. I will find it odd if someone does not hear from this man very, very, soon, considering he is all over the media right now. SOMEONE has to know him somewhere. (caps for emphasis not shouting) And those someone's should have at least one way to get in contact with this person.

If he does in fact come forward (and I have every toe and finger crossed that he does, and it was just a meetup on the trail between dog owners/hikers etc) whether he was involved negatively or not, I think he can provide valuable insight about the situation.

Jada, it sounds like he's a drifter, maybe he's living out of his vans in a lot somewhere or random areas where he won't get kicked out of for being a car transient.. I hope they find him, so if anything we can at least get his take on this whole situation.. He's got ties to Ga, he had to live in Ga to have the license there; maybe he got down on his luck so is living out of his vans. If he is transient, then it is very possible he has no idea people are looking for him. If he has a van campsite in some rural area, then he's not going to have a tv and get the newspapers.
Are there places in the county where transients are permitted to camp, or wouldn't be kicked out, or any areas he would stay where the people wouldn't notice or care? ..guessing he's living out of his van..

 

[JinxieJada]

Jada, it sounds like he's a drifter, maybe he's living out of his vans in a lot somewhere or random areas where he won't get kicked out of for being a car transient.. I hope they find him, so if anything we can at least get his take on this whole situation.. He's got ties to Ga, he had to live in Ga to have the license there; maybe he got down on his luck so is living out of his vans. If he is transient, then it is very possible he has no idea people are looking for him. If he has a van campsite in some rural area, then he's not going to have a tv and get the newspapers.
Are there places in the county where transients are permitted to camp, or wouldn't be kicked out, or any areas he would stay where the people wouldn't notice or care? ..guessing he's living out of his van..

There is an address in Marietta (sp?) that has appeared a couple of different times throughout the years w/ him being registered to. If anyone is familiar w/ the area. How far away is that to where he was seen hiking/talking to meredith? If it's a semi far distance - is it possible he went on the trail for a couple days (as witnesses described his pack would generally be used for) and was in transit back to that area when the description (not his identity) was released?


Trying to play devils advocate w/ myself so I don't slaughter/convict this guy w/o "due process" so to speak. I think it looks very bad for him based on his past record/events. BUT there is still an inkling of me that just doesn't see it happening. (Just based on age/physical description compared to Meredith's etc, interactions based on witness accounts, the only one I've seen negatively was the ex-cops, the rest if I've read them correctly, only confirm that she was spotted talking to him, with their dogs etc. If one were going to do harm to someone, wouldn't you NOT want to be seen by everyone and their brother so to speak?)


Another scenario someone brought up, is, aren't hikers etc told if you're injured/lost/whatnot to "shelter in place" Is it possible they are sheltered somewhere on the trail, and playing by that rule? Could it be an innocent interaction and she just got hit w/ the weather her temp dropped (I understand she was dressed for the weather etc) and she became disorientated? Not likely, but even experienced people can run into issues right?


**When I mention "You" I'm not referring to anyone/calling anyone out individually, just using it for the general context**

 

[Elphaba]

The dog: has LE made a point of getting her pic and description out? she could easily be taken in by someone thinking she was a stray, if they saw her wandering around. Sure, the microchip is in her, but not a whole lot of people that take in strays head straight to the vet with them. If they could run a picture of Ella asking the community if they have seen or come across a wandering dog that could be her, during the news spots about Meredith, it could be helpful.

Or maybe they are doing it... but I haven't seen anything indepth like what I am referring to in the news reports I have read and seen.

 

[MountainMama]

Let me throw out a few possible scenarios here:

1. Meredith was going hiking with someone else on New Years Day. They got into a fight. Are you picturing a female "someone else" here, cause I'm sure as heck not. Sounds to me like this companion was a male. Who knows how bad the fight was, maybe this person went after her to continue the fight and things got out of hand.

2. Maybe after the fight, her judgement was clouded and she didn't use the same caution in talking to Hilton as she normally would.

3. She had let her dog go off leash. Maybe the dog spotted a rabbit or squirrel and took off, she ran after the dog and was injured. This would explain why the dog hasn't been found, often dogs will stay by their owners till the end.

4. Its not entirely uncommon for hikers to go missing. She could just be lost.

 

[JinxieJada]

The dog: has LE made a point of getting her pic and description out? she could easily be taken in by someone thinking she was a stray, if they saw her wandering around. Sure, the microchip is in her, but not a whole lot of people that take in strays head straight to the vet with them. If they could run a picture of Ella asking the community if they have seen or come across a wandering dog that could be her, during the news spots about Meredith, it could be helpful.

Or maybe they are doing it... but I haven't seen anything indepth like what I am referring to in the news reports I have read and seen.

I did it on my myspace bulletin, but Other than some random mentions being in detail, I haven't seen an outlet focus "solely" on the dog. There was a search done on petfinder and the areas craiglist site, earlier just to see if anything had been posted about a dog picked up, or seen running in the area, but so far nothing, has been posted.

 

[MeoW333]

Jada, in reviewing the yellow jacket surveillance video stills again, at first i thought it was a younger person, also. Especially the first photo, the second photo still makes me rethink that..
Link to photo stills again:

http://www.wyff4.com/slideshow/news/14585610/detail.html

The person seems to be keeping his head down as to see where he's walking and be less identifiable. Is there any way LE can measure that exact ATM and then estimate the person's height from that? I think that would be a good bet. If the person straightened their posture, i believe their chin would be above the height of the atm.
So if LE measure it from the ground up (atm resting on curb) then we can at least have an estimate of the height. Or if any locals on here can do that?

What if it is completely random a scenario; say someone who was present around the hiking area saw Hilton and that he was wearing a yellow jacket, and was aware of the other case, took advantage of witnesses seeing Hilton and Meredith together, and then figured that would provide himself an alibi (not alibi my brain is racked; yet they would think the man in yellow is culprit as in the Bryant's case due to the jackets), thus throwing suspicion off the real culprit..?

 

[JinxieJada]

Meo,

I agree he's keeping his head down. But then again, it's pretty common knowledge that atm's have cameras so it is probably a preemptive measure on his part. Still struggling with the age thing, not really sure. I do agree he's messing with his posture. He appears to be almost bending his knees a bit/hunching down. Same thing w/ the head. If you look at it, it's like he's pulling into himself a bit...Not sure of another way to put it lol.

I do agree w/ you on the yellow coat thing..can't figure out someone being that dumb either LOL!

 

[txsvicki]

If the yellow jacketed man did something to Emerson and the elderly couple, he must have first gained a little bit of trust by acting like a simple older man who had hiking and dogs in common. At least enough trust to get near or behind in order to inflict a head injury. Even if it wasn't this way, I don't think Emerson could fight off a six foot man sucessfully. She's pretty small, the same height and weight as me, and there's no way I could. Fight yes, but not win.

 

[kyresearcher]

MeoW333, in the pictures at the ATM the yellow jacket appears to have silver duct tape around the waist. Why would anyone place the tape there? Could it be he had a backpack on and this helped to conceal it by keeping the jacket closer to the body? This just breaks my heart that anyone can't even go for a hike without someone hurting them, hopefully this won't be the case and she will be found but I bet something happened to her when she got back to her car and was attempting to leave the trail-head.

 

[SuziQ]

I've been reviewing Gary Hilton's solicitation arrest. How does one get charged 21 counts for a single incident? I also noticed that they were negotiated guilty pleas. Which probably means that the original crimes were more serious. I'm also looking at another doc I don't want to link yet, the below link says defendant not arrested. But it looks like he was in jail for a few days after he plead guilty. And how does someone go from being a career criminal for 15 years or so and then stop?

http://www.cobbsuperiorcourtclerk.o...seno=94900196&source=/FinesByName&color=1&D=2

Eta: And are there usually victim impact statements (7 of them) for a solicitation charge?

 

[JinxieJada]

If the yellow jacketed man did something to Emerson and the elderly couple, he must have first gained a little bit of trust by acting like a simple older man who had hiking and dogs in common. At least enough trust to get near or behind in order to inflict a head injury. Even if it wasn't this way, I don't think Emerson could fight off a six foot man sucessfully. She's pretty small, the same height and weight as me, and there's no way I could. Fight yes, but not win.

DH and I were discussing this earlier. If GMH did have something to do with this...picture this. ME is going to her car, GMH has his mini van parked next to her car. A mini would shadow over a cavalier I believe. She was bent down/over putting stuff in the car, and she gets a knock to the head. Not enough to seriously harm her, but enough to stun etc. The rest is anyone's guess.

I think it's plausible HOWEVER - If there was snow fallen, shouldn't that have shown up? DH brought up a counter to that one. What about if it snowed that night, but not that day? Activity would have occured during daylight hours. It sounds like this area is pretty populated for being unpopulated ( I hope ya'll understand what I mean by that) Wouldn't someone have seem something like that occuring and think it's odd?


Far fetched? Most definetly? Possible, We've seen wilder things happen. Likely, not really. But we were trying to figure out why the baton would be dropped, and esp. dropped near her car. (Seen reports of both, it being on the trail and the car so been bouncing both around)

Hoping with them searching more through the night we'll have great news in the morning.

L

 

[MeoW333]

In the ATM pictures there is silver duct tape, wrapped around the waist area of the jacket. Also that the duct tape was placed around the yellow jacket in order to distort the person's shape so it would appear other that what it was. It was done hastily, messily taped around the jacket once they had it on. This duct tape wasn't on there for reflective purposes at night. And as Jada says, if you look at the stills he is hunching his shoulders and bending his knees alittle in order to disguise his posture.
I don't think the person had a backpack on in those video stills. Then he would have looked like a hunchpack in a yellow jacket..
In Meredith's case, having been seen talking to Hilton, who was seen wearing a larger size backpack (i'm thinking the really big ones with the metal frame sometimes, that have the spot for the roled up sleeping bag and all- hardcore outdoor camping hiking enthusiast's type backpacks.

I am trying to think outside the box on this case, and not be quickly connecting it to the Bryants. I don't know for sure that the cases involve the same suspect. I doubt it's the same yellow jacket involved in both cases. In Meredith's case it was said in one article that Hilton had black elbow patches on his yellow jacket. (some jacket types have supported elbows, that would be the patches).
I don't want to focus on Hilton as the only person of interest, i think there may be more elements involved in this case.. also focusing on one, (especially with the similiarities of the yellow jacket wearing with the 2 different cases) it can be quick to jump the gun. It may not have been Hilton at all, or it may have, it could have been someone else hiking that day that after seeing Hilton leave, decided to take advantage of what they saw as the potential to have blame placed on someone else, more straggly looking, bad teeth, and once again, wearing a yellow jacket. Hilton didn't seem worried about people seeing him there. He wore bright yellow that stood out, had on a large hiking gear backpack, and a red dog with him. In my opinion he doesn't seem to have been nervous or cared if people saw him, which obviously they would have. He made no attempt to blend it. It doesn't rule him out, yet what if someone else was there that knew he was a transient? Should we consider him missing endangered also?

 

[SuziQ]

Meow, all good points. I thought about Hilton being a vic but the fact his van is gone, leads me away from that. But then there could be a carjacking angle. I would also think that Hilton would be wearing a heavier Jacket at this time of year. And the one in the ATM pics looks like a windbreaker. I can't get past Hilton's rap sheet, it's pretty lengthy. To me he would be more of a perp than a vic, IMO.

 

[MeoW333]

Did any witnesses see the minivan parked next to Meredith's car? I don't recall, although i may have missed it in all the confusion of the articles. If the mini van was parked next to her car, what side of her car was it parked on? and also what side of her car were the items on the ground on? I'm guessing the minivan has a side sliding door. When i get into my car with my dog, i let her jump in first through the driver's side door, then i get it once she is in. I'm not sure if Meredith took the same course of action (Ella being more trained than my dog) or if she had Ella ride in the back of the car. Either way, she would be facing the car bending down slightly to make sure Ella got in and over to the passenger side at least, was settled in, maybe she was giving her a drink of water? On which side of the vehicle was there more activity of people in general? Would the van have parked to block that side from view and is that the side the sliding door is on or no? Was it backed in? Is there witnesses who saw exactly where both cars were parked?

 

[MeoW333]

Hilton's rap sheet is the only thing that gives him the guilt angle, the prostitution solicitation mainly. We hardly know much about him aside from the rap sheet. He behaved for the past ten years. Did he have sexual problems as he got older and stopped soliciting for prostitutes? We don't know..
That could be a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it.. I don't like to judge people on past crimes, yet the prostitution bit and the amount of counts is odd.
I was thinking maybe Hilton was wearing a windbreaker over a jacket or layers of clothing..
We need more info..

 

[txsvicki]

I read somewhere else, but didn't link, that Hilton has two vehicles. Does anyone know anything about this?