Page 132 - Meredith News Today

Work to be done. >> we started an organization in her memory. >> judith, her one time roommate in georgia, has founded along with others something called right to hike, advocating hikers safety. >> we dont want anyone else to go through this again and maybe think about it twice to take a friend and be safer. >> the organization sponsored by merediths friends have had a huge turn of people and dogs. her dog lives together with her parents in colorado. >> seeing people come and say, i never met me...

Heads. >> one thing we realized quickly on these trails our cell phones dont work. meredith had her cell phone with her and that didnt help her. >> if you ever hike blood mountain, you might notice a stick are the, "remember m.e., meredith emerson. she most of all would like you to enjoy your day in the outdoors. >> she likes nature and watching ella play with other dogs, a peaceful place for her to be. >> people go to these places to relax and get away from everyday life and enjoy the outdoors....

Outcome, yes. like laura said, hes off the streets, not able to hurt anyone again. yes, i think it matters. >> and there are regrets on the part of the officers who investigated the hilton cases? >> could there have been one tip line come in sooner and one fragment of information we could put together quickly and spared her? >> there hasnt been a day gone by i havent thought about meredith and what we could have done differently. she is the ultimate hero and did the best she could hoping we coul...

Meredith during his morning workout. >> when they started giving the description of a person of interest my ears perked up. i think i just turned white at one point. >> tabor thought this has got to be gary hilton. hilton was a guy who worked on and off for him as years, first as a telemarketer, then as an independent contractor in a siding business. he even lived for a while in a house that tabor owned. >> the first thing that got my attention was where the event happened, where she went missin...

Returning to our story, here again is dennis murphy. meredith emerson and her lab ella were two days missing on georgias blood mountain early in a freezing january of 2007. her friends 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 t...

Murder, because that is what it had been, and then he said he would lead investigators to merediths body in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table. nobody in law enforcement likes to make deals without holding their nose. >> we had to do it. you know, we needed to find meredith, and given the circumstances i would do the same thing now. >> im guessing, agent, the situation in your interview room is, gary, you told us what did to her. now where did you put her? >> yes. and he told us...

This photo taken by a hiker in the parking lot the night before meredith went missing. a be on the lookout advisory went out for the man in the white van accompanied by his reddish dog. >> it was a white male between the ages of 50-60 years old, approximately 160 pound. 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 someone who said i think i know who this is. coming up, th...

Welcome back to "dateline extra." returning to our story, here again is dennis murphy. >> where was meredith hope emerson? could she still be alive somewhere out there in the national forest? and did the 24-year-old hiker have a prayer if she were indeed in the clutches of mystery man gary hilton? the search on blood mountain went into a third day. >> we had the hope. we were there from sunup to sundown plus. we were there through the night and the cold. if anybody could survive, it was meredith...

>> theyve it got him now. two cruisers pulled up on him. >> gary hilton was under arrest. detectives swarmed over the filthy astro van and inventoried his possessions looking for any clue to merediths faith. a gbi spokesman updated the media. >> its a missing persons investigate investigation right now. thats how were pursuing it. >> take me inside your situation room when you get the news atlantas got him. >> were very pleased that now we have this man, but we cant lose sight of the fact we don...

For her. >>realized this would be helpful, his heart would be softened and turned to coming forward with information. 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 merediths disappearance dpar gary hilton d his old boss. >> i answered my cell phone and i heard his voice. couldnt believe it. he pretended nothing was wrong. >> he didnt let onto you he was the subject of a manhunt? >> absolut...