but the other investigators recognized the fact early on that we have to embrace this family and tell them everything, even though what we were telling them was not good news. hilton, meredith, her lab ella. the tip line kept ringing with leads good and bad. then four days in, a friday afternoon, a shopper called to say that she d found a black lab mix wandering around a supermarket parking lot. surprised to see any dog running loose in the parking lot. then to find out it s the one that meredith was it was her dog, you know, was a pretty big surprise and shock. she took the dog to an animal clinic where the vet was able to read an identity chip implanted in her. sure enough, it was ella. but where was her owner, meredith? now events were moving quickly. right away came another tip. we get a call from a female acquaintance of hilton stating she had just hung up the phone. he had called her and wanted money.
he held meredith altogether for four days in the woods. and what nature of man is gary hilton? listen to the confession tapes about what he says about meredith s dog ella. he said he knew the dog had the identifying chip when he let the go in the supermarket parking lot. if i wanted to ensure that no one would have associated the dog with her, i would have killed the dog. there s no way i could do that. he was too much of a softy to kill the dog as he explained it. but ella s owner never had a chance. she was dead from the beginning. because i just told you, once you ve done it, you re either going to kill her or get caught. there s no other solution. that sounds cold and cruel, yeah, it was. in his unbelievable cold recollection of the crime, hilton told meredith he was going to let her go after four days of captivity. i told her i m going to take her and release her. instead, hilton went to the van, came back with a tire iron
officer in the nation carrying these things. did those artifacts, the water bottle, baton, found together tell you a story at all, or suggest something ominous? yes. we found those items in an area where the ground had appeared to have been disturbed. we became concerned that possibly a struggle took place there. meredith s water bottles, ella s leash, and signs of a struggle. nothing about the scene looked good to the veteran lawman, especially that expandible police baton that was found. he called in help. we eventually partnered with over 18 or 19 police agencies to help in the search for meredith. had her friends were naturally besides themselves. you know, your heart just broke because you think something happened, somebody had a weapon, and her stuff was there. so you re thinking at the very least she abducted. right. it wasn t something we could talk about until we could prove that.
sure enough, it was ella. but where was her owner, meredith? now events were moving quickly. right away came another tip. we get a call from a female acquaintance of hilton stating she had just hung up the phone. he had called her and wanted money. she commented that she she said, don t you know the world s looking for you? and he hung up. hilton called from a pay phone at a convenience store near where meredith s dog had turned up. you have a living pet, a missing owner and a phone somewhere in the vicinity of this guy you believe is her abductor. yes. while the agents are searching in the area of the convenience store, they look in a dumpster. it was in the dumpster we found meredith s identification, her purse, bags of bloody clothing. at that point, we felt that this was not going to turn out as we had hoped. the purse, three bloody fleece tops. agent kegel and his boss gave meredith s parents the grim update. then, around 8:00 that night,
if i wanted to ensure that no one would associate the dog with her, i would have killed the dog. but there s no way i could do that. he was toofrp much of a sofo kill the dog, he explained it. but poor meredith, ella s owner didn t have a chance. i just told you once you ve done it, you re either going to kill her or get caught. there s no other solution. if that sounds cold and cruel, yeah, it was. in his unbelievably cold recollection of the crime, hilton said he told meredith he was going to let her go after four days of captivity. i told her i m taking her, i m going to release her. instead hilton went to the van, came back with a tire iron and bludgeoned meredith emerson to death. in an attempt to thwart investigators, he decapitated and poured bleach over the body. this is gruesome beyond belief. yes. for what reason? i don t know. hilton confessed to killing