All That is Hidden True Crime
All That is Hidden True Crime presents new and classic cases narrated by Kristen Roberts. Each episode explores solved and unsolved murders, deception, and con games that will leave you breathless.
All That is Hidden True Crime
Meredith Emerson - Part 1: You Picked the Wrong Girl
Courage in the face of terror defines the story of Meredith Hope Emerson, a "feisty" 24-year-old whose New Year's Day hike on Blood Mountain, GA in 2008 turned into a brutal fight for survival against a predator who'd been stalking multiple national forests.
Listen as we explore how one woman's courage created a legacy that continues to protect wilderness adventurers today, and discover how Monsters can come in all sizes and ages.
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You're listening to All that Is Hidden True Crime. I'm your host, kristen Roberts. This episode contains discussions of sensitive topics including mental illness, sexual assault and other distressing subject matter. Some content may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 1:This episode is about Meredith Hope Emerson, a 24-year-old who was kidnapped while she was hiking on Blood Mountain on New Year's Day in 2008. I didn't realize this, but this is the same year as Ira Yarmolenko's death. This happened in January 2008. And if you listened to our last episode on Ira, that happened in May 2008. Both ladies actually had a lot in common Students loved French and there's actually a French scholarship in Meredith's name after this occurrence. But same year and they both really are cases that I often think about, and I think about them for different reasons. Iris is just such a mystery. Meredith is not a mystery. In fact, you'll have a full timeline of exactly what happened in her attack. But I think the best part is she knew martial arts and if you've ever been hiking alone, if you travel alone, I think you're just always thinking about your surroundings.
Speaker 1:What if you were attacked? What would you do? You would hope that you would fend off your attacker and get away For me, I'll take pepper spray. I even have lipstick pepper spray that I travel with. It gets through TSA. But sometimes I think what if the attacker gets it away from me and then uses it on me? So there's that. My family and I have a joke that I'm always saying, because I travel a lot, I say do not make eye contact, d-n-e. I just think that it can invite unwanted attention. Someone's going to approach you that wouldn't, because you made eye contact and others didn't. However, I was in a self-defense class once and they stated make eye contact because if the attacker knows that you can identify them, they're less likely to attack you. Then I started thinking well, if they know that, maybe they'll just finish the job. I don't know what the answer is, but I do know in this situation he picked the wrong girl. She put up one heck of a fight, so much so that he talks about it in his interrogation later on. And I think that if you're a loved one or a friend and your friend leaves the earth this way, you'd like to think they put up a fight If you stick around until the end of this episode.
Speaker 1:There are a lot of changes that were made because of Meredith's case, especially for someone like you who might go out hiking occasionally or be out in the wilderness just trying to enjoy nature on your own. And so we will begin our story in Blood Mountain, along a trail connecting to the Appalachian Trail. I was curious why it's called Blood Mountain and thought no doubt this is why it received so much media attention. She was hiking on Blood Mountain, but that's not why, and it's not for other reasons that you might be thinking like. She's a young Caucasian woman. They seem to get more media attention when they're missing. It goes so much deeper than that and it will off-road us to several other national parks. If you don't know this case, you will not believe how investigators pieced it all together.
Speaker 1:Back to Blood Mountain's name. There are various theories of the origin of the name. Some believe that it came from a bloody battle between the Cherokee and Muscogee Native Americans. Some people believe it got its name from the reddish color of the algae and Catawba Red Bay growing near the summit. Blood Mountain is the highest peak on the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail and the sixth tallest mountain in Georgia, with an elevation of 4,450 feet. There are waterfalls and recreational areas around the trail and the main hike is over three miles long, considered pretty difficult. So that should tell you that Meredith was in pretty good shape. The Appalachian Trail, also called the AT, is a hiking trail in the eastern United States extending almost 2,200 miles between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin, the highest mountain in the US of Maine at 5,269 feet, and the trail passes through a total of 14 states. The Appalachian Trail is considered to be the world's longest hiking-only trail. More than 3 million people hike its segments each year. On New Year's Day there were several hikers out on the trail, which means there were witnesses.
Speaker 1:Meredith Emerson was born June 20, 1983, in Charleston, south Carolina. She was raised in Holly Springs, north Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and in Longmont, colorado. In 2005, she graduated with honors from the University of Georgia with a bachelor's degree in French and was given the Cecil Wilcox Award for Excellence in French. Her parents, david Lloyd and Susan Hope Emerson, were still living in Colorado when Meredith went missing. Meredith was an active martial arts student with a blue belt and a keto. Her judo teacher said at 5 feet 4 inches and 120 pounds. Her judo teacher said at 5 feet 4 inches and 120 pounds. She, quote trained with us. Like she lived every day, hard and with everything she had. Meredith had recently adopted a cute black Labrador retriever, ella, and was training her to be a physical therapy dog. She had a boyfriend and a roommate, julia, who described her as feisty and also as an angel.
Speaker 1:It was Julia who became concerned about Meredith, but not at first. She had left a note on their chalkboard on Tuesday, january 1st that she was taking Ella hiking, but didn't indicate where. When she didn't show for work the next day, which was unlike her, everyone became concerned and reported her missing. At the time it was January and the temperature dropped well below freezing at night. Julia and Meredith's friends gathered at their place to look at maps that Meredith had outlined for frequent hiking and went out searching on their own.
Speaker 1:The Union County Sheriff's Office, a lead agency in Emerson's search, initially considered the investigation purely a missing persons case, citing no evidence of foul play, and they considered her an overdue hiker. Emerson's snow-covered 1995 Chevrolet Cavalier was found early Wednesday at a trailhead at the foot of Blood Mountain. High winds prevented a Georgia State Patrol helicopter from searching the area that Wednesday and the search was called off at sundown before resuming the next morning. Emerson's friends had growing concerns and her parents arrived from her native Colorado to assist authorities after a dog's leash, water bottle and pair of sunglasses were found on the hiking trail. As investigators began asking the public who was hiking on New Year's Day and if they had seen Meredith, several eyewitnesses came forward. The hiker that found Meredith's items also discovered a retractable police baton and kept it because they thought it was a strange thing to be lying around in the woods next to the other items of interest.
Speaker 1:Another hiker reportedly told officials that he saw a man with a similar police baton clipped to a belt as he hiked the same trail where he had seen Emerson and her dog Ella. Several witnesses reported a man that they described as silver-haired, a white male, about 60 years old, and his teeth looked to be missing and he looked grungy. They saw him in the area where Emerson was hiking the day she disappeared. Some witnesses reported to authorities seeing the man talking to Emerson. He was wearing a yellow rain jacket and carrying a backpack and had a dark red color large breed dog that answered to the man's call of Dandy. The dog's name was also known because a woman reported the man walking up to her on the trail on New Year's Eve, asking her questions like did she come prepared for the hike? Did she have a cell phone? She told him that he had a pretty dog and he said that the red golden retriever's name was Dandy. Like a good dresser. She said he left when her dad caught up with her on the trail. She didn't think much of it until she heard of Meredith missing, with the same description of the man.
Speaker 1:Lead investigator of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, john Cagle, said by the hundreds, hikers and everyday citizens showed up Quote there were probably 19 different police agencies up here helping. It was a sudden thing. I was surprised at how big it got and how fast it got so big. This would be Cagle's last case before he retired, but the biggest one of his overall career, so much so that he wrote a book in 2020 called those Days in January. You can find it on Amazon.
Speaker 1:Cagle received a key tip the morning of January 3rd from an Atlanta attorney who recognized the picture of the man last seen with Emerson. In a follow-up call later that day, that man, john Tabor, said that he had heard from his former employee, gary Hilton, two hours earlier. He said he recognized Hilton as a man on the news that was wanted in the disappearance of Meredith. His failure to immediately notify law enforcement proved costly. John informed them about his past with Gary. He had known him a decade and he had to cut ties with him in 2007 when he started acting erratic. He had pulled his teeth out with pliers, stating he wanted to scare people with his appearance. He stated Gary stopped working as a construction contractor but demanded payment anyway and then started threatening John's life. It scared him so much that he bought a Glock and started driving a rental car to avoid Hilton. He said he eventually packed up his white van with his dog and took off. When John finally reported him to the police, gbi agent John Cagle stated that at the point of Hilton's initial call to John, tabor Emerson was still alive, but we were two hours behind. They would never catch up.
Speaker 1:Several eyewitnesses called in describing the strange-looking man in a yellow raincoat, wearing duct tape around his hiking shoes, ducking around behind bushes, avoiding passing others with dogs. Some young girls also said he'd approached them, wanting his dog to play with theirs, and they quickly took off because he gave them the creeps. Some saw Meredith walking with the man and at some point both of their dogs were loose and running around. Others saw this man in the parking lot and actually had a picture of his white van in the background, but no plate number was captured.
Speaker 1:On Saturday, january 4th, ella was found in Cumming, georgia, which is approximately 60 miles from where she and her owner had last been seen. Ella was in a Kroger parking lot and the lady who found her took her to a vet where they were able to see it was Meredith's dog from the chip. Data began searching the area and across the street from Kroger, they found bloody clothing Emerson's purse and a wallet and men's boots with blood on the inside inside of a dumpster. Cagle said quote that was when we realized this was not going to turn out like we hoped it would. There would be more crucial information that would come too late. Bank officials didn't notify investigators that there were failed attempts to withdraw money from Emerson's account until three days after her disappearance, a delay that still frustrates Cagle. Dekalb County police finally caught up with Hilton because of a call from a citizen who watched Hilton clean out his van at a gas station. This call is pretty funny to hear, so you have to listen.
Speaker 2:I have. The person of interest in that missing woman case is at this Chevron gas station on Ashford, dunwoody. It's definitely him. The van is there, the dog is there. I saw his face. He's making multiple trips back to his van and gets out and taken into a dumpster Pillows and a blanket and it looks like he's got a sleeping bag right now, taking it all to the trash. It's definitely him. He's looking around like he is guilty of sin. I can go take him down if you want. Don't, sir, stay right there. Oh, I'm just shaking. Here we go. Here comes the cops. Yes, yes, police are there.
Speaker 1:I love that whole I could take him down piece. You know the public was very frustrated and that actually was the third call into 911 stating that they are seeing Gary Hilton trying to remove evidence from the white van. So the DeKalb County police pulled up and arrested him on the spot. They then began processing the van for evidence and it took five hours to gather evidence. Meanwhile, during Hilton's arrest, he started stating his own Miranda rights and when they took him to the station he demanded a lawyer. By the time Gary Hilton was brought in, investigators had him on camera at several ATMs trying to withdraw money from Meredith's accounts, but he had disguised his face. However, he was wearing the yellow rain jacket and they did find this when they were processing the van. There were some other things going on behind the scenes, where he was also a suspect in two other National Forest incidents in both North Carolina and Florida.
Speaker 1:Police had collected information and would use the interrogation time to try and get Gary to admit if he had anything to do with the other crime scenes. At first Gary wouldn't talk, but when he decided to, he would not shut up. He yapped and yapped for four hours. The entire interrogation is taped and you can find it on YouTube. By the way, I couldn't listen to the whole thing. It's a lot. It's like listening to an older man you can picture who loves to talk about himself and go on and on. You know someone like that. Much of the time he was bragging about how smart he was His IQ tested at 120, so he was pretty smart. But he wanted the interrogators to understand how beneath him they were and how every human being on earth was beneath him. They asked him lots of questions to keep him talking. He spoke about his youth. At age 14, he had fired a gun at his stepfather, almost killing him, and had to be mentally evaluated. Hilton had served in the military but when he got out he never held down a steady job. He did scam people out of money over a fake children's charity and somehow he had been married times over his life. But finally, when he spoke about what happened to Meredith, he told the Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent, clay Bridges, these details. He said he targeted the 24-year-old University of Georgia graduate because she was a woman For a time.
Speaker 1:They had hiked together on New Year's Day near the Appalachian Trail in Union County, but the 61-year-old Hilton couldn't keep up. When Emerson turned and headed back down the trail, hilton was waiting with a military style knife. He demanded her ATM card and Emerson immediately went on the defense, grabbing the blade and baton Hilton used to counter her struggle. She actually cut her hand when she grabbed the knife and then she lost control of the knife. The baton came out next and then she grabbed the baton away from him as well. She wouldn't stop, he said. She wouldn't stop fighting and yelling at the same time. So I needed to both control her and silence her. Hilton said he did that by punching her, blackening her eyes and possibly breaking her nose. He said the blows almost broke his hand, but he had worn her down. Emerson fought him again. She just kept playing, like you know. She was defeated and as soon as he would release a little she would start fighting him again.
Speaker 1:Hilton said he calmed her down finally by telling her that he just wanted her credit card and pin number, then avoided established trails as he led Emerson back down from the mountain and placed her and her dog into the van. It's also I've seen in reports. Ben said that he pulled a gun on her at that time and I could see a gun absolutely working. I mean, the last thing that she wants is for him to shoot her dog Ella. So if he did pull a gun out, she probably did comply. And then, if they passed anyone on the trail, a few people said they had seen them. Now that may have been for him, because they did hike together before he attacked her. He does say later on in an interview on Crime TV that he used his dog to get close to Meredith and hike with her and that as soon as he saw her he instantly targeted her.
Speaker 1:Emerson bought herself three days by giving Hilton the wrong PIN number for her ATM card, telling him each time that the numbers were correct. He said. She kept making him feel crazy like he was the one doing the wrong thing. Gbi agent Clay Bridges said quote 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.
Speaker 1:On the day Hilton killed Emerson, he told her that she was going home. He secured her to a tree, walked back to his van to collect himself and made coffee. When he returned he said. Emerson told him I was afraid you weren't coming back. When he returned he said Emerson told him I was afraid you weren't coming back. I mean, she's tied up to a tree and she probably thought he was just going to leave her there. And, you know, let her starve to death, which is a horrible thought. He said he walked behind her and hit her several times with the handle from a car jack.
Speaker 1:Hilton said he couldn't bring himself to kill her dog. And then he said you know? The investigator said you know, why didn't you feel that way about him? I mean, how could you feel such compassion for a dog and not a human? But Hilton described killing her as surreal. He said quote it was hard. You got to remember we had spent several good days together, several good days. For someone with a 120 IQ he sure could not read the room. This isn't often documented or spoke about. But when Hilton was asked if he sexually assaulted Meredith, he oddly said he did the first night, but it was consensual, but she was tied up, so it was probably more like rape.
Speaker 1:Years later he was interviewed by a court TV reporter and confessed to other crimes. But he did give more details about what happened with Meredith. The reporter said he tortured people and Hilton laughed and said he never tortured anybody. His delusional brain must have thought they were enjoying it. In exchange for dropping the death penalty and it was referred to as making a deal with the devil the death penalty against him was dropped and also that they assured him that his dog Dandy, would have a safe rehoming. Of course he's worried about his dog.
Speaker 1:Hilton agreed to reveal where he had disposed of Emerson's remains and he then took the investigators to a couple of spots, and one spot was her body and another spot was her head. He had decapitated her in order to prevent identification, but the coroner determined that he had done that post mortem. Jbi Clay Bridges account of finding the body in her head was absolutely hard to watch and there are several interviews with him where he said he absolutely lost it With the death penalty off the table. Hilton, 61, pleaded guilty to the murder of the 24-year-old and was immediately sentenced to life in prison. The resolution of the murder was swift. Hilton could get parole in 30 years when he was 91.
Speaker 1:But the judge said she signed off on the plea deal because even if prosecutors had won the death penalty, hilton probably would not live long enough for the state to execute him. You'll find out that those words might be true in episode two of this case. Emerson's father, david Emerson, told the judge that no punishment was too great for Hilton. Told the judge that no punishment was too great for Hilton. Quote the judge made it clear she was not issuing the life sentence at a penalty. Quote, justice. In your case, mr Hilton, would be an immediate execution. The court is not taking mercy on you because of your age. Now Gary Hilton would go to jail and not have to face the death penalty a narcissist's nightmare.
Speaker 1:But thanks to his lengthy police interview and teasing that North Carolina and Florida would never pay the millions of dollars that it would take to raise evidence and take him to trial, they did just that. In episode two, join me as you find out Gary Hilton's other huge list of sins and why he's been dubbed the National Forest Serial Killer and is the oldest serial killer alive. But don't let him haunt your dreams, because he likes that idea. With that said, we will end episode 2 with all the beautiful changes that Meredith's unfortunate homicide led to over the years after her passing. Said, we will end episode two with all the beautiful changes that Meredith's unfortunate homicide led to over the years after her passing. Thank you for listening and join me next time as we find all that is hidden in true crime. Thanks for watching.
