She could be alive and we just cant let up. Could this old movie be the key to these cases . A little blood, a little sex, a little violence. A film fantasy turns chilling reality. If someone has her, shes afraid. Who could be behind this, and how would this reallife story end . She was a blue belt in judo. If anyone could survive it was meredith. If anyone could fight, it was meredith. Our National Forests are places of refuge. There are folks that want to get away from the city and have a sense of peace, commune with nature. But you have to be aware of your surroundings all the time because you just never know. The splendors of Americas National parks and forest lands are poems just waiting to be written by each new visitor. From the cathedrals of the rockies to the quiet glades and old growth of the appalachians. Its here in the parks we have the promise of stepping out of the hubbub of our chat kreterin daily routine. That was the kind of serenity Meredith Emerson saw on a crisp new years day in the north georgia mountains. Not more than foothills really for a young woman who loved to trail climb her native rockies. It was 2008 as the young Sales Assistant set out from buford, georgia with her dog ella. Her roomie Julia Karenbauer from college days had slept in that morning. She had left me a little note on the chalk board, taking ella. Went hiking. Not where, not when, not when im going to be back. It wasnt really anything out of the ordinary. Meredith, like roomie julia, was a dog person. She doted on ella, her black lab mix, since finding her at a rescue shelter. She had two dogs growing up and she wanted one of her own. She just kind of talked about it and researched what she wanted and definitely wanted to rescue a dog. And finally found one, went out, loved her and brought her home. It really was the light of her life. Julia the roommate didnt know meredith and ella were heading 40 miles north to Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National forest. Despite the creepy teen slasher movie name, Blood Mountain is one of the most popular places to hike in the southeast. The famous appalachian trail to maine takes off from just south of here. Back in buford, the roommate spent her new years day with friends and didnt notice that meredith hadnt come home until the next morning. A back to work day. She would leave ella in my room and i would take care of her in the morning. And im like oh, ellas not here. That was a little strange to me. And i called her cell phone and it went straight to voice mail. I kind of thought maybe she was at work. When did you become anxious . When i got to work, she worked with a good friend of ours. And the friend called me and said meredith didnt show up for work. And meredith was always at work. She was the first one at work. Reliable meredith wasnt where she was supposed to be. Julia called the Sheriffs Office. Then she and some of merediths other friends assembled a search party. Maybe shed twisted her ankle hiking and taken a tumble. They started with that note on the chalkboard. Do you know where im going hiking would naturally be . We had a few ideas. We took some books she had and places shed highlighted and kind of just started driving. The friends split up, looking for merediths car at trailheads shed marked in her hiking guides. There was four of us in the car, trying to call park rangers, anybody that may have seen her or her car. Then a friend of hers found her car, called us and said i found it. There was snow on it. The car was in a parking area at the base of Blood Mountain. We just drove as fast as we could there and just knew, you know, just that sinking feeling when you first see it. The friends raced up the Blood Mountain feeder path to the appalachian trail, but no trace of meredith or ella. So by nightfall the search became all the more urgent as a cold front moved in and temperatures on Blood Mountain plunged below zero. At daybreak, thursday now, the friends were joined by deputies from the local Sheriffs Office. John kegel, just shy of retirement, was the agent in charge for the Georgia Bureau of investigation, the states top cops. We received a request from a local agency to help with a missing hiker. The case of the hiker missing for two days didnt look good to the seasoned detective because of some disturbing items that had been recovered on the trail. What were the things found out on the trail area that you thought were alarming . A couple of water bottles, a dog leash and a police expandible baton. This is a piece of professional gear. It is. Its just a metal pipe that is expandible. You see almost every Uniformed Police officer in the nation carrying these things. Did those artifacts, the water bottle, the 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. Merediths water bottles, ellas leash, and signs of a struggle. Nothing about the scene looked good to the veteran lawman, especially that expandable 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. Her friends were naturally beside themselves. You know, your heart just broke because you think something happened, somebody had a weapon, and her stuff was there. So youre thinking at the very least shes been abducted. Right. And it was so hard because it wasnt something we could talk about until we could actually prove that. The cops commandeered a Park Building as headquarters. We began getting information pretty quickly. From people who had hiked the trails that day . Right. Remembered her . Remembered her. And we began to get disturbing news of a strangelooking individual with meredith who also had a dog. Thumbnail description of this other person. What were you hearing . Strangelooking, just a wiry kind of guy. Older guy. Older guy. We even developed a vehicle description, a white van. The lead on the van came from this photo taken by a hiker in the Blood Mountain parking lot the night before Meredith Emerson went missing. A be on the lookout advisory went out for the guy driving a white van accompanied by his reddish dog. It is going to be a white male between the ages of 50 and 60 years old, approximately 160 pounds. It was described as he has bad dental. He had a dark reddish colored retriever. We put out that information through the media in atlanta and actually got a call from somebody who said, i think i know who this is. Coming up this mysterious stranger would prove to be stranger than anyone expected. I just turned white at one point. I felt the blood leave my face. Meredith emerson had not been the only one missing in the forest. If shes still alive and someone has her, shes afraid. When mystery on Blood Mountain continues. Do we really need a sign to live, laugh, and love . Yes. The answer is no. I can help new homeowners not become their parents. Keeonoh. Nope. Coeenoah. No. Joaquin. No. It just takes practice. Give it a shot. [ grunts, exhales deeply ] did you hear that . Yeah. Its a constant battle. Were gonna open a pdf. Whos next . Progressive cant save you from becoming your parents, but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto with us. No fussin, no cussin, and no air wick scented oils arenceso infuseds in nature. With natural essential oils for fragrance day after day,up to 60 days air wick scented oils. Connect to nature. Businesses today are looking to tomorrsetting the course. Ating. But new ways of working demand a new type of network. One thats more than just fast. You need flexibility to work from anywhere and manage from everywhere. Advanced technology. With serious security. And reliable coverage, nationwide. Forwardthinking enterprises deserve forwardthinking solutions. And thats what we deliver. So bounce forward, with comcast business. Meredith emerson and her lab ella were two days missing on georgias Blood Mountain early in a freezing january of 2007. Her friends had alerted the authorities and people from all over the greater atlanta area were scouring the hiking trails. So many volunteers they couldnt use all of them. People just showed up and just said, i have a daughter who likes to hike, i have a sister who could have been meredith easily. And they just volunteered their time. But the search in the National Forest had become something more ominous than a lost hiker incident. Meredith had been last seen in the company of an unsavorylooking stranger, and Law Enforcement was about to identify him. The tip came from john tabor, an atlanta businessman. He was watching the continuing News Coverage of missing meredith during his morning workout. When they started giving the description of the person of interest, my ears really perked up. I think i just turned white at one point. I felt the blood leave my face. Tabor the businessman thought this has got to be gary hilton. Hilton was a guy who worked on and off for him for years. First as a telemarketer then as an independent contractor in a siding business. He even lived for a while in this little house tabor owned. What was the thought thats taking shape as youre listening to this . The first thing that got my attention is where the event happened, where she went missing, Blood Mountain. I knew that was a place he liked to hang out. That he had a dog with him. And most importantly was the evidence that they had found at the scene. I knew hilton always had an expandable police baton with him. The tip and a name quickly led to a georgia drivers license for 61yearold Gary Michael Hilton. Investigators showed the photo to hikers who i. D. d him as the scruffy mystery man seen with meredith on Blood Mountain. The manhunt was on. We put that name and face out. Its plastered all over the Metro Atlanta area. It is. The apb went well beyond the georgia border. Hiltons name and picture were all over the regional news. Light bulbs began going off to the south around tallahassee, floridas capital, when people there saw his photo on tv. The search for gary hilton was about to widen. The mystery man person of interest in the Meredith Emerson case looked familiar to people who thought theyd seen him just about the time theyd learned of the sad case of another woman whod gone missing. Sheryl dunlap, a nurse and mother. When sheryl didnt turn up for church one december sunday in 2007 and then missed her sunday school class, red flags went up. Nextdoor neighbor and friend tonya ladd. Sunday morning at church id turned around and looked at her usual spot and she wasnt there. And she didnt teach her class . She didnt. And immediately we knew something was wrong. Because thats just not like her. Everyone who knew her agreed. 46yearold sheryl was reliable, a woman solid in her faith and set in her habits. Her fellow nurse, friend and prayer partner, laura walker. She always liked to hear what we call our praise reports, like something good that happened with a patient or a coworker. When monday morning rolled around and tonya still hadnt been able to reach sheryl, she walked next door. I went back down to her house and saw the dog was at the house but the car was gone. So i called her office several times and they hadnt seen her. Sheryls daughterinlaw tabitha called the Sheriffs Office to report her missing. When tonya said she didnt show up work, i knew there was a problem. After that missing persons report was filed, the friends heard about a car that looked like sheryls spotted on the side of the highway leading into tallahassee. They headed up there. It was sheryls car and immediately they sent a deputy up there and just took over from that point. Are you apprehensive . Yeah. I was very uneasy. I knew there was something wrong. Sheryls car was parked well off the highway. Florida department of Law Enforcement agent annie white. It was pretty clear from the beginning thats not some place that she would have parked it. As well as the tire looked like it had been purposely flattened on the vehicle. An abandoned car, a slashed tire. Lord, where is she . Searchers, Law Enforcement, volunteers began fanning out into the adjacent 57,000acre apalachicola National Forest. All of them with dread in their hearts. I would be devastated if Something Like this happened to my family. And so thats why i want to be out here and try to help as much as i can. There were massive searches in town, thousands of people showed up to comb the woods looking for her. It was clear very early on that this was unusual for her. She would not have gotten in the car with someone. She just was not the person who would have disappeared. Tallahassee Democrat Senior writer Jennifer Portman covered the story. Were talking about north florida in the panhandle area. People are bound by their schools, by their family, their churches. And sunday School Teachers with children and a grandchild dont go missing. Thats exactly right. Her friends and family were as baffled as the police by sheryls disappearance. Law enforcement was trying to put the pieces together. When they looked into sheryls background, nothing jumped out at them. Two sons, a long settled divorce, no boyfriends. Then on tuesday, four days after she was last seen, the cops got her bank records. Something was up. We found where some atm activity occurred in leon county. So thats a big break. Yes, sir. And then upon viewing that video in leon county it was clear it was not her. This was a male subject using her card. He was disguising his face. So we knew at that point definitely that it it was probably not going to be a good outcome for miss dunlap. The disguised man made three separate withdrawals of 700. The atm he tapped was in downtown tallahassee near the campus of the state u, miles from where cheryls car was found. So you and the team stake out the atm machine. We stay there several days, day and night, watching the atm. And he never came back to that one. The search for cheryl stretched on for weeks. A lot of us went out on our own and searched the woods and went to places we thought she could possibly be. But the more time goes on inevitably, the fear sinks in. I just remember sleepless nights, just because im thinking, if shes still alive and someone has her, shes afraid. Mid december 2007, two weeks after cheryl disappeared, some hunters out training their dogs in the National Forest noticed a vulture circling in the sky above them. And they went to check it out and discovered the body. A female body missing its head and hands, a grisly fact not released at the time. Youd think that this is someone trying to conceal the identity. Very much. It took a dna sample from her toothbrush to identify the remains as those of Cheryl Dunlap. Someone called and said, laura, they found a body. We pulled over on the side of the road and just you know, just that was it, huh . Yeah. The awareness was there. It was surreal. You know, the thing you hear about in movies. It was so close to home that in our Small Community that Something Like this could happen. Now, with cops in florida looking hard at gary hilton in the dunlap murder, and counterparts in georgia convinced that he had taken Meredith Emerson, authorities started hearing about yet another National Forest homicide, this one in North Carolina. So then youve got to be saying to your team of investigators what do we have here . Thats right. So now were really wondering who we have here and where is he. And more importantly, wheres meredith . Coming up do we have a killer running around loose in the National Forest . Concern for meredith deepens, but her friends know something that man on the mountain couldnt. A blue belt in aikido and a blue belt in judo. If anybody could survive, it was meredith. When mystery on Blood Mountain continues. Blood mountain continues. But the right pad can. 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We were there through the night in the cold and all the searchers. But if anybody could survive, it it was mere