police were convinced the missing hiker meredith emerson was under the control of gary hilton somewhere in north georgia. the more they learned about the survivalist odds ball who was the person of interest in two murders in national forests elsewhere, the more they feared for her. a friend of meredith's family appealed directly to hilton. >> i hope that if he realized that this would be helpful, that his heart would be softened and turned to come forward with information. so, please, please have the courage to come forward. we need you. >> their next lead, the big one, came from an unlikely source, the suspect himself. three days into meredith's disappearance, gary hilton called his old boss tabor. >> i answered my cell phone, and i heard his voice. couldn't believe it. he pretended -- acted as if nothing was wrong.