Ga. Hiker Disappears Near Blood Mountain

Rescue Workers Continue To Look For 24-Year-Old Woman Who Vanished Days Ago With Dog

(AP)  Rescue workers and canine teams worked through the night and into Friday morning for a missing 24-year-old hiker near Blood Mountain and a man they described as a "person of interest" in her disappearance.

"The last team came in at 6 o'clock this morning," Union County investigator Kimberly Verdone said Friday, as the overnight search for Meredith Emerson continued into the daylight hours.

Verdone said 15 professional search and rescue teams were searching for Emerson on Friday, and volunteers had been asked to pass out fliers instead of being on the park trails. The searchers were combing a 401 square mile area of rugged terrain.

"Today it's clear and the wind is not blowing and they will be able to cover a lot of area," she said.

Officials said they are seeking a "person of interest:" Gary Michael Hilton of DeKalb County in suburban Atlanta. They said Hilton, who is in his 60s, drives a 2000-2001 white Chevy Astro van. He was reportedly seen several times on New Year's Day with Emerson.

"It's not that, you know, he's a suspect. He is somebody that was last seen talking to her, last seen with her," Verdone said during a morning news conference.

She said investigators want to know when was the last time he saw Emerson and what they talked about.

Authorities say they have found a water bottle and a dog leash that belonged to Emerson.

One of Georgia's oldest and most popular state parks, Vogel State Park is located at the base of Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest.

On Friday, the door of the park's Visitor's Center displayed "Missing Hiker" fliers with pictures of Emerson and her dog, posted by friends and family members.

Friends said Emerson went hiking with Ella, her 1-year-old black Labrador retriever, on Tuesday. Her 1995 Chevrolet Cavalier was found abandoned Wednesday at the base of Blood Mountain.

Emerson, 24, is formerly of Longmont, Colo., and recently became a resident of Buford, Ga., in suburban Atlanta.

Her roommate, Julia Karrenbauer of Buford, said as many as 100 friends and family members have come to the park to aid in the search. Emerson's father, Dave Emerson of Longmont, headed to the mountain trails Friday with investigators and rescue workers to help look for his daughter.

"They're frightened, scared and we're all very hopeful," Karrenbauer said of Emerson's parents. "We're all trying to stay really positive here. It's been a really long three days."

Karrenbauer said Emerson is an experienced hiker with a blue belt in martial arts.

Tom and Peggy Hayduke of Seminole, Fla., said they have brought their four children to the park to hike for the last few years and were on the park's trails just a day before Emerson disappeared.

"It's a little scary," Peggy Hayduke said of the hiker's disappearance. But the Haydukes said they plan to return to the park next year.

At the request of the Union County Sheriff's Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation sent four agents to join in the search Thursday morning, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said.

John Cagle, special agent in charge with the GBI's Field Division, declined to specify how investigators learned his name and other details about him.

"We are making every attempt to locate him," Cagle said.

The Georgia State Patrol pitched in with a helicopter using an infrared device. The helicopter had been grounded by high winds on Wednesday. On Friday, the rescue staging area at the park's Visitor Center was abuzz with takeoffs and landings from the helicopter amid the crisp but clear day.

[woodsboy11]

I am an extreme backwoods searcher. I want to talk to anyone who has dreamed about where Meredith may be. Serious responses only please. I am still in woods searching for her. call or text 1st at 706-463-2333 or email at [e-mail]
posted Sunday 10:10pm 1/6/08

[Krazcarl]

I live in Ga a great place but you have angry blacks and stupid whites and safety is miminal.

[cricketmk3]

There are a lot of sick cookies EVERYWHERE...not just GA. So the dog was found? I only read about a water bottle, dog leash, and vehicle. Is there more news?

[kennergirl]

I hope they find her safe too. But with the dog found 50 miles from where she was supposed to be hiking I hate to say it but it don''t look good. I hope I''m wrong. I hope the family knows she is in our prayers for a safe return.

[runewic]

so keithle1 i have a question for you. are you saying that all women can''t leave there home by themselves unless they want to die and torture? because it is not just woman that are alone also men get kidnapped and tortured to death and also it is not because they are alone it can be someone they trust and know that would do that to them. it can happen and it does happen just have to be smarter and one step ahead of the sickos that are out there.

[memerider]

This is why women are well-advised to own and be trained to use a gun and concealed carry it for just such emergencies. Only 15% of women successfully escape violent attacks, according to the FBI uniform crime stats for 2005. A gun levels the playing field.

[keithle1]

If you''re a young woman, you can''t just do whatever you want & go wherever you want. Rapists, murderers, serial killers, etc, can spot & smell a woman wandering alone in the middle of nowhere from 5 miles away. That''s Christmas & their birthday combined times infinity.

Prepare to die. But only after prolonged torture & sexual assault.

[susieq_13]

I hope they find her safe and sound. And real soon.

[Krazcarl]

There is a lot to much sick cookies in Ga.