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From the dumpster outside atlanta where hilton was recovered. a georgia cop on blood mountain had found the bayonet wrestled away from gary hilton. now investigators in florida had a theory. >> what was interesting about that knife is, before we knew of mr. hilton, before he had killed ms. emerson and been caught, our analyst in our lab showed us, this is the style -- this is what the knife's going to look like. >> cameras and memory cards were found inside the van. the techie detectives in the fdle computer lab were working overtime trying to unscramble deleted material from the evidence. and...

>> dekalb, 911. >> i have the person of interest in that missing woman case is at this chevron gas station on asher dunwoody. >> the man is there? >> the van is here. the dog is here, the road dog. and i saw the man's face. i've been watching the news and i know it's him. i know it's him. he's emptying the stuff out of his van, looking around like he's guilty as sin. i can go take him down if you want. >> no, sir. stay right there. >> here comes the cops. yes. yes. >> police are there? >> they've it got him now. two cruisers pulled up on him. >> gary hilton was under arrest. detectives swarmed...

>> i believe you have nothing more than a bully and a weak-minded coward who preys on others. he fancies himself a survivalist. well, anyone can see he's a scared little man on the run. >> the state honored the deal it made with the killer. no death penalty and he was sentenced to life in prison. hilton admitted nothing beyond the emerson murder. >> this is it the first time you've ever done anything like this? >> i'll let my attorney answer. >> by now, investigators from half a dozen southeastern states as well as fbi profilers were rummaging through hilton's past. by the time he was captured...

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 e...

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, t...