00:00:00
Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, thanks
00:00:46
for listening. I'm your host, Nick. And with me as always, a man who you and over 100 million more people can watch
00:00:52
on TV this Sunday, ladies and gentlemen, Lady Gaga's least favorite backup dancer, the very light on his feet, the
00:01:00
captain. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's good to be seen and it's good to see you. And man, my legs are tired.
00:01:08
[Music] Today we are drinking creme brulee by Southern Tier Brewing Company. Garage
00:01:18
grade five out of five bottle caps. I absolutely love this. I had this for the first time last Friday night. It's
00:01:24
unreal how they mask the 10% ABV with total dessert goodness. This tastes like creme brulee 100%. These dessert beers
00:01:33
though, I like to drink a little 5 oz glass of these because you know, you got to watch out for these things. They
00:01:39
taste so good, but they got so much alcohol, you don't want to put yourself into a bad situation. This for me,
00:01:44
Captain might replace Lizard of Cause is my current favorite. And this week's beer is brought to us by
00:01:50
the True Crime Garage Army. First up, we have Ally Joy and Elizabeth, both from Parts Unknown. Thank you, Ally Joy, and
00:01:57
Elizabeth. Next up, we have Melissa in Mint Hill, North Carolina. We also have Bradley, who is trapped in Cubicle Jail
00:02:04
in Bloomington, Illinois. Bradley says, "Cheers, fellas." Thank you, Bradley. Let's stay in Illinois and say hi to
00:02:11
Becky from Chicago. Becky wants us to cover a female serial killer case. We could do a Girls Gone Wild episode,
00:02:18
Captain. We also have Shana in Bastrop, Texas. She says she is just down the road from the Chainsaw Massacre grocery
00:02:26
store. So, lucky you. And last but not least, we have Sarah from Olympia, Washington, who recommends some great
00:02:34
beers to try. as she recommends trying Dawn of the Red and Spaced Space Dust IPA. So, thank you to everyone for
00:02:41
buying the beer for this week's show. And if you want to kick in and buy for next week's show, go to trueimegage.com
00:02:47
and click on the donate button. >> Big happy birthday to Tony Stark on Twitter like your G. For all things
00:02:54
social media, we are trueimeg. And if you'd like to go to our website, true crimegar.com, check out our blog post
00:03:01
there. We post a blog for each and every case that we cover. You can leave your questions, comments, and theories there.
00:03:07
>> And that's enough of the business. >> All right, gather around, grab a chair,
00:03:11
grab a beer, and let's talk some true crime. [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause]
00:03:50
[Music] [Applause] No trace yet of a missing 24year-old Gwynette County woman. Meredith Emerson
00:03:59
disappeared with her dog while hiking in the North Georgia mountains on New Year's Day. Now, investigators are also
00:04:05
looking for another hiker they call a person of interest in Meredith's disappearance. 11 Live's John Shurik is
00:04:12
at Vogel State Park in Union County where volunteers will return in the morning to continue their search. And
00:04:18
John, you have uh some very latest information for us about that person of interest.
00:04:24
>> Right, Brenda? This is a photo of the person of interest. The Union County Sheriff's Office released the photo and
00:04:29
name of the person of interest within the past hour. He is Gary Michael Hilton of Dicab County. Investigators want to
00:04:36
talk with Hilton. They say they just don't know yet if Hilton had anything to do with Meredith Emerson's
00:04:42
disappearance. All day above Blood Mountain, the State Patrol's infrared detectors scanned for
00:04:50
body heat below on the rugged ground. >> There it is. Volunteers shouted Meredith
00:04:58
Emerson's name. >> She vanished Tuesday afternoon during a hike with her black lab, Ella. Witnesses
00:05:05
say a Meredith encountered an older man on the trail. Police now identify him as
00:05:09
60-year-old Gary Michael Hilton of Dicap County. He also had a dog. And now police want to find him, too. They say
00:05:17
he looked like he'd been camping in the wilderness for some time. What stood out
00:05:22
about him? Everyone said he had bad teeth or no teeth. >> Um, I'm I'm praying hard.
00:05:30
>> Family and friends, Meredith's parents on the trails searching with everyone else. They say Meredith is a martial
00:05:35
arts student, an experienced hiker. Tough. >> Let me tell you something. Meredith
00:05:41
Emerson could do anything. She is feisty. She is strong. She's tiny and petite. 120 lbs. But let me tell you, I
00:05:48
have every hope that if anybody could, she can run those mountains. Investigators are interviewing everyone
00:05:54
close to Meredith in Gwinnet County, her home, and in her native Colorado. And they're interviewing everyone else they
00:06:01
can find who knows her, trying to uncover any other reason she might have disappeared with her dog, leaving her
00:06:07
car at the Trail Head parking lot. >> We're following up on everything. We are following up about her life, about her
00:06:14
friends. >> Yeah, they're not going to give up hope. I'm not giving up hope. Um, I'm hoping
00:06:19
there's a a cave or an area where a helicopter couldn't see it, but these these uh saints on foot can.
00:06:27
>> The person of interest, Gary Michael Hilton, was driving, according to investigators, a Chevy Astro van,
00:06:33
possibly with one of these two plates on it, a Georgia Tech 76APZ or a Georgia Tag AFQ1310.
00:06:45
Anyone with in any information about Gary Michael Hilton or the van, the minivan, or these license tags should
00:06:51
call the Union County Sheriff's Office. The number is 706-4396038. Again, 706-4396038.
00:07:02
We'll have that phone number and the license tags on our website, 11alive.com. Brenda,
00:07:07
>> John, of course, with this information, the police may in fact get the break that they need in this case. But let me
00:07:12
ask you, we began this day, as you well know, with police just looking for a person of interest and some very sketchy
00:07:19
details about it. How do we uh come to getting a picture of him and a license plate ID and a driver's license number
00:07:26
and all of that? How did that all come together? >> We asked that very question. And
00:07:30
investigators do not want to go into details right now. They have five or six witnesses, they said, who saw uh a man
00:07:37
that they now describe as this man. Five or six independent witnesses. They came
00:07:42
forward separately after uh news of uh this disappearance of Meredith Emerson came out. They said, "We saw a man on
00:07:49
the trail and they described him and they all give a similar description which investigators say match this man."
00:07:55
But how they were able to tie those descriptions to him, they're not saying just yet.
00:08:00
>> All right, John Sherik reporting from Union County there at the search command
00:08:04
center and we'll continue to follow the story. [Applause] This case starts off at a place called
00:08:20
Blood Mountain and we have a 24year-old woman, her name is Meredith Emerson, and
00:08:25
she has gone missing. Now, the way that this whole case starts off is we have New Year's Day, January 1st, 2008.
00:08:34
Meredith Emerson is an active, smart young woman who often went on day hikes with her dog Ella, which is a black lab.
00:08:42
Now, her roommate wakes up to a note on a chalkboard that simply says, "Took Ella, went for a hike." This is no big
00:08:49
red flag here. This is nothing out of the norm. >> Mhm. >> Perfectly normal situation. Now, the
00:08:54
roommate was very busy with friends on New Year's Day and failed to notice that Meredith did not return home that night.
00:09:01
It was not until the next morning that she started to think that something was up. Meredith was absent from work on
00:09:08
January 2nd, which is a big red flag. She was not the type to miss work. >> And most hikers, most avid hikers will
00:09:15
leave a note that they're going hiking, but they normally leave some kind of information on where they'll be hiking
00:09:21
at. >> Yeah. And and that was not the situation here. You know, the chalkboard simply
00:09:26
said took Ella, went for a hike. Well, when Meredith when her roommate finds out that she didn't come home and then
00:09:33
she doesn't show up for work, they had a mutual friend that worked with Meredith
00:09:37
and she contacts the roommate and says, "Look, something's up here because Meredith didn't come to work today."
00:09:42
It's at this point that the roommate and some of Meredith's friends start going through Meredith's belongings to try to
00:09:48
figure out where she may have gone hiking that day. They do come across some materials leading them to believe
00:09:53
that she would have taken the dog and gone hiking on Blood Mountain. Now, Blood Mountain is the highest peak in in
00:10:00
the Georgia section of the Appalachin Trail, and it's the sixth tallest mountain in Georgia. So, this is a very
00:10:06
popular hiking destination. Investigators go to Blood Mountain looking for Meredith, and they are a
00:10:13
little takenback from what little evidence they do find, but this is not pointing to anything good. This is not
00:10:20
positive feedback that they're getting here. They find water bottles and a dog leash that they believe would have been
00:10:27
for Ella belonging to Meredith. And in this same area on a trail, someone had reported finding a collapsible police
00:10:34
baton. >> And we've all seen one of these before, you know, uh on the police officer's
00:10:39
belt. Sometimes it it looks like maybe maybe the length of a pencil, but a little bit fatter.
00:10:45
>> Yeah. This is an item that you would typically find on a police officer on their Batman utility belt.
00:10:49
>> Yeah. And this took place of the old billy clubs. >> Yeah. Or night stick. But it would have
00:10:54
the same effect, but it's much more portable, you know, and you could if you struck somebody with one of these
00:10:59
objects. It's it's like being hit with a baseball bat. >> This is an item that comes into play
00:11:04
very important later. >> Yeah. Authorities now believe that Meredith went missing from this location
00:11:09
and that she did not get lost or suffer some kind of accident. that she this evidence is pointing towards an
00:11:15
abduction >> and they are now asking for the public's help. Some reports start coming in of
00:11:22
Meredith having been seen with a strange looking wiry old man approximately 50 to
00:11:28
60 years old. There was a photo given to police of a white van. This photo was taken the night before Meredith went
00:11:35
missing, but in the very same area. So police are now thinking that this could be connected and they release the
00:11:42
information that they have received to the public. So a be on the lookout is sent out to the public with the white
00:11:48
van, a man in his 50s or 60s, strangelooking and wiry. >> This man may have had a red retriever
00:11:56
dog with him. Well, this gets the police what they are looking for because a man
00:12:02
by the name of John Taber, a business owner, calls police and says, "I believe the man you are looking for is Gary
00:12:09
Michael Hilton. He used to work for me." Taber's company sold and installed siding and windows. And Gary Hilton
00:12:16
worked for Taber selling siding for about 10 years. He tells the police that Gary Hilton is of that age group. Last
00:12:24
time he had seen him, he looked extremely strange, saying something like Gary had told him that he had removed
00:12:30
some of his own teeth using a pair of pliers. >> Gary drove a white Chevy Astro van and
00:12:36
had a redcoled retriever dog named Dandy and also carried a police style baton with him almost everywhere he went. And
00:12:44
he also knew that Gary, he loved to hike and he loved to camp. And he did this all the time. Sometimes he was going to
00:12:51
parks and national forest daily to hike with his dog or as he would call it, you
00:12:57
know, he's taking his dog for a walk. >> Well, and not only did Taber know that Hilton like to carry a baton, a police
00:13:04
baton with him, but he also knew that he liked to hike at Blood Mountain. >> Yeah. Specifically, that was one of his
00:13:10
spots that he would go to. >> Yeah. And Taber and Hilton's relationship is is uh kind of stranged
00:13:16
at this point. >> That's a very polite way to put it. And and I'm sure that this is all
00:13:21
information that he's giving to the police that doesn't come out in these news bulletins because, you know, they
00:13:26
can't give too much away, but but talk a little bit about Taber and his relationship with Hilton. They worked
00:13:32
together for 10 years. Why don't they work together anymore? >> Well, I think there was some back and
00:13:37
forth. You know, Taber was the businessman. He was the money >> and uh Hilton was, you know, basically
00:13:43
the laborer, right? >> Yeah. He he was more into the sales end of it. He he he prided himself on being
00:13:50
if you ask Hilton what his job was, he would tell you he was the number one sale salesman for the sighting part of
00:13:57
the business. >> This guy thinks fondly of himself to say the least. >> And so with uh Taber, so I guess there's
00:14:05
some there's there's some discrepancy through their business endeavors. And Hilton believes that that Taber is not
00:14:14
paying him the money, right, that he's owed. So that's not where it stops there. It's not just, hey, I'm not going
00:14:22
to work for you anymore. It's, oh, by the way, I'm going to kill you. >> Yeah. Yeah. It sounds to me as if if
00:14:27
some for some reason Hilton believed because he was the quote unquote number one sales guy
00:14:33
>> of all time >> for Taber for all these for these sighting uh jobs that they did.
00:14:38
>> He believed that Taber owed him a bunch of money. And I I believe the dollar amount was like $10,000.
00:14:44
>> And Taber shows up and he discovers that Hilton's not really doing a good job
00:14:49
anymore. He's kind of a disgruntled employee, right? >> And he's he's just letting things go.
00:14:54
He's not really doing the work anymore after all these years. And not only that, he appears to either be on drugs
00:15:00
or losing it mentally. You know, we talked about that situation where Gary Hilton tells Taber that he had removed
00:15:07
some of his own teeth with a pair of pliers. >> Yeah. >> And it's at this point they get in this
00:15:12
this disagreement about the $10,000 and Hilton quits the job, but all the while he's saying, "I'm quitting, but you owe
00:15:19
me 10 grand and if you don't give me that money, well, I'm going to kill you. I'm going to shoot you."
00:15:23
>> Yeah. and he is so fearful of his life that he actually goes out and buys a gun, buys multiple guns to protect
00:15:30
himself uh and you know for a possible attack from crazy Hilton. >> Mhm. Well, and the other thing that
00:15:36
Taber knows about Hilton as well is, you know, he's known him for 10 years. And and Hilton would often come to Taber and
00:15:42
tell these stories of these hikes that he would go on. And he said it was the same story every time that Gary would go
00:15:48
out on these hikes with his dog and he would get into some altercation with some other hiker out in the woods
00:15:54
>> normally about their dog. >> Yeah. He he he would get like very upset if people didn't have their dogs on a
00:16:00
leash or if if they were letting them run wild. And he assumed that the dogs would attack him on multiple occasions.
00:16:06
He had been seen correcting or what others would call beating some of these other people's dogs, right?
00:16:12
>> And he would end up in these fights with other people. And Taber said, you know,
00:16:16
it's the same story every time that Gary Hilton, tell me about this altercation that he got into. And Gary was always
00:16:21
the victim. you know, he always fled the scene and avoided some kind of physical
00:16:26
altercation. >> Well, right. And and first of all, Gary is very thin. He's very It looks
00:16:32
fragile. >> He's wiry. >> Yeah. Very wiry. But here here's this guy that he believes that he's smarter
00:16:39
than everybody. >> Oh, definitely. >> You know, so not only is he smarter than everybody, but uh he's always in the
00:16:45
right. He's always the victim. You know, again, we see that he is the victim and
00:16:50
the whole uh Taber's not paying me enough money. You know, you owe me all this money. I'm the victim. You know,
00:16:56
then we get into this altercation. So, uh again, this guy just, you know, thinks the world of himself and all, by
00:17:03
the way, he's smarter than everybody. >> Yeah. Now, here's a strange thing, Captain. This is on the third day of
00:17:08
Meredith Meredith's disappearance or her, you know, presumed abduction, right? Gary Hilton makes a phone call
00:17:15
from a pay phone at a diner. And the strange thing here is who does he call? He calls John Taber,
00:17:21
>> right? >> That he hasn't talked to in years. >> Yeah. And he's unaware that John Taber
00:17:26
has contacted police and said, "You might be looking for this guy regarding this girl's disappearance." And what he
00:17:33
says to John Taber is that he says, you know, he wants to apologize to John for how he ended things with Jon in the
00:17:41
company and how he was he says he was sick for a while, but now he's much better and he's looking for work because
00:17:48
he's broke. >> Well, Taber here, he knows that the police are looking for Hilton because he
00:17:54
he he tipped him off, >> right? >> And Taber's going to try to set a trap. Taber agrees to throw Gary some work and
00:18:02
he's going to leave him a little money to help help Gary out. >> Yeah. About $800.
00:18:07
>> You're exactly right. He's going to leave a check for 800 bucks and he's going to leave it at this uh one of the
00:18:12
company's properties. >> Yeah. It was a rental property and Gary Hilton actually lived there for a while.
00:18:17
So he figured, well, I'll lure him to the place that he's familiar with. >> Yeah. Some place that he's comfortable.
00:18:22
And police go and they stake out this place. >> But of course, Gary never shows. And as
00:18:28
this is all going down, we have a couple attempts being made to access Meredith's
00:18:33
accounts using an ATM. Now, the police aren't for sure that Gary Hilton is our guy, but they're pretty sure. Yeah.
00:18:42
Yeah. They're looking for Gary. And as you had said, during this time, there's three attempts that we know of that
00:18:47
someone tried unsuccessfully using her bank card. Uh, and this is going to give everybody hope that Meredith is still
00:18:54
alive and still with us because because these attempts are unsuccessful. If somebody has taken her and is holding
00:19:01
her for the purpose of robbing her, they need to get her pen code so they can extract money. And this has not
00:19:08
happened. >> Yeah. This is a weird thought to me though that people believe that she'd
00:19:13
still be alive at this point because these attempts could be made after she passed away. I mean it, you know, you
00:19:20
you get a number or you don't get a number, but you have this card and then you're trying to make access. So, I
00:19:27
don't know what leads them to believe that she is still alive at this point. >> And I would agree with you. They they
00:19:32
probably have some information that we are unaware of because we've seen this in cases that we've covered and and
00:19:38
thousands of cases out there in the news that usually these bank cards are used after somebody's already been killed,
00:19:45
>> right? Um, I think the the thing here is that these attempts were made at multiple different um uh ATMs.
00:19:54
>> And um I think the thought here is that maybe the whoever had possession of this
00:20:00
card and was trying to use it might be getting additional information from Meredith as these attempts progress.
00:20:07
>> Right? >> Meaning you need to you got to try it at this ATM, not that one. It won't work.
00:20:12
Or oh, I must have gave you the wrong pen code. maybe they're able to see that, you know, they didn't type in 1 2
00:20:18
3 4, they typed in 4 321 the second time. >> Um, that that's my guess. >> So that if there was different
00:20:25
locations, if there's different codes being used, that possibly that leads to the fact that she's still alive and
00:20:31
giving this uh person information is what you're saying. >> Yeah. And on January 4th, a there's a
00:20:37
woman at a supermarket parking lot. >> Uh this is in Forsith County, Georgia. A woman at a supermarket parking lot finds
00:20:45
a black lab wandering around. Uh she decides to take the dog to an animal clinic and the dog is chipped. It has
00:20:52
one of those identification chips in it. >> Yeah. >> And the dog is quickly identified as
00:20:57
Ella as Meredith Emerson's dog, the missing 24year-old woman's dog. >> Well, now we have the dog. We have
00:21:03
Meredith's dog and we have this person driving around all over trying to use the ATM cards,
00:21:10
>> right? And so now we can assume that she is just not lost, right? We have we have
00:21:17
more than we have the pieces that we found at Blood Mountain, the pieces of evidence, you know, that were just
00:21:24
dropped by who who knows. And now we have Meredith's dog. So now we can definitely assume that she's just not
00:21:32
lost somewhere, >> right? That she's been taken and she's been held. And even though I I don't
00:21:37
have the distance right in front of me between Blood Mountain and where the dog was found, but from my understanding it
00:21:42
was a considerable distance and you know, yeah, the Meredith has been missing for a few days. So it's not
00:21:48
inconceivable to that the dog could have traveled that, but it's it's very highly
00:21:53
unlikely. >> So they find this dog in the supermarket parking lot. They've identified it as
00:21:58
Meredith Emerson's dog. And around this in the same area is where they are able to trace the phone call that that Gary
00:22:07
Hilton had made earlier to John Taber. And of course they're aware of this phone call because John Taber set up the
00:22:13
trap and they were staking out the the apartment uh or the home trying to to uh >> Right. So now we have this solid
00:22:20
evidence that we believe that she is was abducted. No doubt. And now we have more
00:22:26
solid evidence that hey Gary is our guy. >> Yeah. this uh this weirdo that likes to
00:22:31
pull his teeth out with, you know, he's a that's a he's a amateur dentist uh is is the one that's responsible for this.
00:22:40
>> Yeah. And so we know that and we also have a general area where we think that
00:22:44
that Gary would be or Meredith would be because we found the dog. We got the phone call. So police are going to start
00:22:50
scavenging that area. They're going to start searching that area. And within the vicinity of that phone call and
00:22:56
where the dog was f found, they find some very disturbing items in a dumpster. They find Meredith Emerson's
00:23:03
purse. They find her ID. And they find some bags with bloody clothing in them. There are three bloodied shirts that
00:23:11
they find in these bags. All believed to be Meredith Emerson. >> And I'm just wondering cuz I mean I
00:23:17
hike, but not like, you know, hike hike. I'll go to a local park and go on the trails and stuff like that, but it's
00:23:24
always just, you know, for a couple hours. I don't ever make a day of it. So, I'm just wondering if that maybe
00:23:29
that she packs a bag and that she'd have these clothes with her, you know, maybe
00:23:33
to change afterwards if she wants to go to dinner with friends or whatever, that
00:23:37
she doesn't want to be in her sweaty hiking clothes. >> Or you're going to dress in layers
00:23:40
because it is the winter time. Uh you might get warm as you're hiking and need to take layers off or you may get cold,
00:23:46
have to add layers, or it could rain. you know, these these hikers, you know, I go out on day hikes, but I don't know
00:23:52
what I'm doing. I'm so amateur. I don't bring any belongings or pro provisions with me. Um,
00:23:57
>> you're an amateur hiker, just like Hilton's an amateur dentist. >> That's right. I'm I'm actually taking
00:24:01
the dog for a walk. Um, on this same day on January 4th, this is around 8:00 p.m.
00:24:07
The they start getting some 911 calls. There's at least two calls that come in that are reporting that the person of
00:24:14
interest in the missing Meredith Emerson case has been spotted and he is at a Chevron gas station.
00:24:20
>> We'll get to that phone call right after this quick beer break. And we're back.
00:24:24
Cheers everybody. So, let's play the clip real quick of the 911 phone call. >> Okay, that one. What's the exact
00:24:30
location? I had the the person of interest in that missing woman case is at this uh Chevron gas station on
00:24:38
Ashford Duny. >> Chevron gas station at Ash for Dunwhaty. >> Yeah. >> You said the man is there.
00:24:45
>> The van is here. The dog is here. The red dog. And I saw the man's face and I've been watching the news and I know
00:24:51
it's him. I know it's him. He's got a green uh long sleeve sweatshirt and he's wearing a hat and he's emptying all this
00:24:58
stuff out of his van. Pillows and a blanket and it looks like he's got a sleeping bag right now.
00:25:05
Taking it all to the trash. [Music] >> It's definitely looking around like he's as guilty as sin.
00:25:13
>> Okay, sir. And the dumpster is at the rear of the location. >> Yeah, the dumpster Well, it's kind of
00:25:19
right in the front. It's right by the car wash. >> Okay. I can go take him down if you want. No,
00:25:25
sir. Stay right there. >> Okay. >> Okay. Hold on, sir. >> He looks like he's finishing up. You
00:25:30
guys got to hurry. He's got stuff in bags that he's emptied onto the ground and he's taking load by load
00:25:38
behind the car wash. Another This is the third backpack we've seen him take to the dumpster. Oh, I'm
00:25:45
just shaking. You guys are Is there somebody in route? >> Yes, sir. Here we go. >> Here comes the cops.
00:25:54
>> Yes. You sleep there? >> Yes. >> They got them. >> They got them. >> I mean, they don't have them yet, but
00:26:02
they're getting out. >> They got them now. Two cruisers pulled up on them. Two of the cabs trying to
00:26:12
>> I love that 911 call. That That's fantastic. They get the guy that they're looking for. We have a good Samaritan
00:26:18
that calls in, spots the guy that they're looking for. >> They show up in time. Thank God. The the
00:26:23
the caller sounds a little hesitant like, you know, this guy's going to he's he's almost done dumping his things.
00:26:29
He's going to leave if you don't get here soon. What's going to happen? This guy's going to get get away, right? And
00:26:36
he offers to go and take the dude to take him down. >> That's my that's my favorite part. Well,
00:26:41
he first says, "Hey, you want me to go get him?" >> Yeah. which you know uh you I mean the
00:26:46
the caller doesn't know that that Hilton doesn't have his weapon of choice on him
00:26:52
but you know like we said before Gary Hilton seems like this little tiny wiry guy that so this caller is probably
00:26:59
going I can take him out and then and then also if you just know that that that this uh monster that this heinous
00:27:06
person is responsible for this 24 year old female going missing we don't know if she's alive or whatever then the
00:27:13
adrenaline kicks because you know you want to um help the police uh the law enforcement in any way you can to maybe
00:27:21
save this lady. >> Yeah. Yeah. But the thing here is though the caller and we don't know what items
00:27:27
he has in his van. I mean >> Yeah. And we don't even know if Meredith is in the van,
00:27:31
>> right? And you but you say without his weapon, who knows what form of weapons
00:27:35
he has in the van. So the right call is to tell the person not to to go attack him. Here's the difference. I think
00:27:40
between you and I, I think I would be similar to the caller where he's he's almost like
00:27:46
>> asking for permission like can I go take him down? You know, is that allowed?
00:27:50
Where I think I would ask for permission and offer my services. >> Definitely ask for permission.
00:27:55
>> I think the captain would take him down and then place the phone call. That's
00:27:59
how I see it going down. If you were at the Chevron station that >> it's possible. I mean, but this guy, I
00:28:04
mean, he is wiry, but uh I'll post some pictures on him on the website and then on Instagram, but uh he's a he's a weird
00:28:11
looking dude. >> He's weird looking. And you said earlier fragile, and I think that he he may
00:28:16
appear fragile. >> 61. >> Yeah, he he may appear fragile because of his age, but I also want to keep in
00:28:22
mind here his background, right? This guy is an avid hiker and and when I he he would go out hiking for hours almost
00:28:30
daily and that takes a certain amount of endurance and a certain amount of >> Well, look, man. I sit in a garage and I
00:28:35
talk into a microphone. That's some heavy lifting. >> I think I can take this take this sucker
00:28:41
down. Um, no, but what a weird situation to be in with the caller cuz you know, you're hesitant. Should I take him down?
00:28:49
And then you start you're fearful that this guy is going to get away. And yeah, we have him dumping, you know, he said
00:28:55
three backpacks of whatever. And to me, it's almost like now at this point, Gary
00:29:01
Hilton knows that people are looking for him. >> He he knows he's screwed. You know, his
00:29:08
his name, his face is all over the place. And it seems like he's just trying to dump evidence. Yeah.
00:29:14
>> As much evidence as he can, he'll dump. and he's probably doesn't he's probably
00:29:18
has no clue that law enforcement already has the the evidence that he dumped at the last dumpster.
00:29:24
>> And the thing here too is it doesn't come through real clear in the in the audio clip that we have, but uh you can
00:29:31
hear the caller. He's kind of cheering on the situation like as he sees the cops showing up, you can hear him going
00:29:37
like, "Yes, yes, yes, we're gonna get him." Uh so I I mean I like I like that caller. So, just like you hear the guy
00:29:44
say, Gary Hilton is arrested. Um, and I believe they originally hold him on some
00:29:50
kind of vehicle charge, and we'll we'll go back to that in a little bit. But the
00:29:55
situation is here, they through what they find in his van, what they find uh in the dumpster.
00:30:02
>> Yeah. >> And both dumpsters. >> Yeah. and the items collected at Blood Mountain along with eyewitnesses saying,
00:30:09
you know, yeah, that is the guy that we saw with with Meredith Emer Emerson at the time. Um, that they present Gary
00:30:17
with this evidence and Georgia has the death penalty and very quickly there's a little back and forth and he wants to
00:30:27
strike a deal. You know, he wants them to I will tell you what happened and I will lead you to Meredith's body.
00:30:34
>> Yeah. He's claiming that, you know, he he killed her. >> Yeah. And and but you got to take the
00:30:39
death penalty off of the table. And that's the agreement that they make. He's going to he's going to confess to
00:30:44
it. He's going to lead him to the body. He's going to tell them what happened and he's going to get life in prison
00:30:50
with the possibility of parole, which is seems extremely strange, but that is >> Yeah. How does that work? get life in
00:30:57
prison. >> I don't know if it, you know, because these these different sentences vary
00:31:02
from state to state and I don't know if that's like a mandatory life sentence in Georgia. Maybe they
00:31:08
most of them carry a life uh with the poss possibility of parole. I think all he was requesting was a life sentence
00:31:15
though and for whatever reason the laws that are set up there he he has to get life with the possibility of parole.
00:31:22
>> That's weird. I think if I was the detective, I'd say, "Listen here, you scumbag. Uh, I'll find her and I'm going
00:31:29
to charge you with the death penalty >> just to scare the piss out of him." >> Right?
00:31:33
>> You know, >> so, of course, now we have Gary. He's in custody and he's, you know, we're going
00:31:38
to see this situation. It's very much like you would see in like the movie Seven or whatever where he's he's
00:31:44
shackled. He's in handcuffs. They're going to take him out so he can lead them to her body.
00:31:50
>> Yeah. This gives a little closure to the family >> so they can bury her and you know and
00:31:56
our hearts go out to her family and her friends and it's a tragic situation anytime uh somebody's life is taken away
00:32:03
from them but also being uh this uh vibrant uh smart you know somebody that was really taking on life you know
00:32:11
taking life by the horns and and and wrestling with it and and having such success um and to have that be cut so
00:32:20
short >> well And Meredith Emerson was a winner. You know, we we see this. She she was
00:32:24
somebody that worked hard. She was somebody that studied hard. She led an active life. She had lots of friends,
00:32:29
loved ones. She was a winner. And she was senselessly taken down by a loser. Basically, a guy that was
00:32:35
>> not basically. I mean, I mean, well, >> animal savage loser. But to sum it up,
00:32:41
>> douche canoe, >> you know, in the shortest of terms, he's he's a loser that was out looking to rob
00:32:46
somebody and looking to obtain an ATM card and drain as much money as as possible, right? And in the process
00:32:54
killed, senselessly killed somebody. >> Yeah. And so then the cops are going to just want to know a little bit more
00:33:01
about the actual details of the event and that will happen during the confession. Gary Hilton told
00:33:06
investigators that he targeted the 24year-old woman because because simply that that she was a woman that that he
00:33:13
had come across her or seen her uh on New Year's Day and that they actually hiked for a while together. Um but he
00:33:21
couldn't keep up with her. >> Yeah. So, it's not it's not very clear if uh Hilton went to Blood Mountain to
00:33:28
abduct somebody or rob somebody or even murder somebody in this case. Um or if it was just an opportunity as maybe he
00:33:37
was walking the dog and then Meredith comes along and she is a she is more of a petite girl.
00:33:45
>> So, I think maybe he thought, "Oh, well, with my knife and with my police baton,
00:33:50
uh I can overpower her." >> Yeah. Yeah. And it's um you know, I don't know that I I think it was more an
00:33:57
opportunity situation that he probably was hiking and came across her, but he did say in one interview, this is a
00:34:04
separate interview here, that uh >> he he had said something to the I think he was on the lookout for a potential
00:34:11
victim, >> okay? >> Because he had said that he he was broke. He he had $40 to his name and he
00:34:17
only had a couple days worth of food. And so he knew he was going to have to go out and kill someone. Those are his
00:34:23
exact words. Um so very much an opportunity type killing where he comes across this petite woman like you said.
00:34:30
I think one of her family members had said she was about 120 lb. Um so he sees this this woman that he thinks he can
00:34:38
easily overpower with these weapons. But surprise surprise to him is that Meredith uh not only is she an avid
00:34:46
hiker and uh is in good physical health, but she's also a blue belt and jiu-jitsu, I believe.
00:34:54
>> Yeah. Well, I think se she was familiar with several forms of martial arts. >> Yeah. So, she is going to put up a fight
00:35:01
against Hilton. >> Yeah. He says that when he couldn't keep up with her on the trails that at some
00:35:06
point she had turned back to come back down the trail. You know, probably looking for him or asking him if he
00:35:11
needed any help. You know, being the good person that she is. And when she comes back
00:35:15
>> or she was just done with her hike and she's turning back around. >> When she comes back down the trail, he's
00:35:20
waiting there for her weapons in hand. Um, and immediately he's going to demand her ATM card. And he says that she
00:35:28
immediately went on the defensive. You know, she grabbed the blade. He had a military-style knife. She grabbed the
00:35:34
blade and the baton that Hilton had used to try to attack her. >> Yeah. >> And you know, he says that she has no
00:35:42
she didn't even seem uh she wasn't scared at all to the fact of grabbing the weapons. You know, especially a
00:35:49
knife. You know, you see these situations in a horror film or whatever when when the attacker is coming with a
00:35:54
knife, you know that you've got to gain control of that weapon. Uh >> right. But if that's something you
00:36:00
haven't done multiple times, then obviously you're going, you know, you're not going to know what to do. And so he
00:36:06
quickly realizes that this girl knows what's up. >> Yeah. Yeah. He he says that um she
00:36:13
wouldn't stop fighting him. You know, she tried she she grabs the blade. She grabs
00:36:17
>> hell no. You shouldn't stop fighting. You know, you got this scary, freaky, skinny, stupid dude uh attacking you and
00:36:26
you know, you got to fight for your life. And that's what she was doing. >> She's fighting him and she's yelling at
00:36:31
the same time, which is exactly what you should do. So immediately he realizes that he needs to both gain control of
00:36:38
her and silence her at the same time. >> And I I wonder with her having um Ella,
00:36:44
her dog, with her if that was a hindrance on any, you know, because you know, 61year-old, so it's like you don't
00:36:53
really have to fight him to win. You just have to fight him in order to get free so you can take off running,
00:37:00
>> right? >> And I just wonder if by having a dog that is some kind of hindrance, you
00:37:05
know. >> Well, the fight takes them well off of this trail that they were on and now
00:37:09
they're basically in the woods and fighting. >> Yeah. I think he said at some point
00:37:14
they're kind of like grappling and due to the fighting they actually went down a hill
00:37:21
>> and she actually she actually gets both of his weapons away from him during this
00:37:26
struggle >> and they're down the hill and this is where he you know he needs to gain
00:37:32
control of her and he does this by punching her in the face and he says he blackened both of her eyes possibly
00:37:37
breaking her nose but in the process he had broke his hand doing so in the fight.
00:37:42
>> Well, and also I mean, yeah, she has some training and some martial arts, but
00:37:46
how much actual sparring has she done? I'm assuming not a lot. So, I mean, you know, coming from any fighting
00:37:54
background, you know, once you get punched in the face, it kind of becomes a different thing and you might not be
00:37:59
used to that. And that kind of might have threw her off guard and maybe even maybe possibly uh even knocked her
00:38:05
unconscious on some level. Mhm. >> And I and I believe that had this been a a scheduled fight, let's say, uh where
00:38:12
he has no weapons, I think she would have got the upper hand on him. But I think because she was surprised uh and
00:38:18
didn't expect to be attacked, that might have got the best of her in the end. And
00:38:23
who knows, he he may have gained control of her not just by punching her, but he
00:38:27
may have hit her with the baton by this point, >> right? Um he he says that once he gained
00:38:31
control of her, he was able to calm her down by telling her that he just wanted her credit card and her pen number. And
00:38:38
now that he had control of her, he needed to avoid established trails as he needed to lead her back down the
00:38:46
mountain and with her dog and get to his van, get to his vehicle. And if you're in Meredith's shoes at this point, I
00:38:54
mean, what the heck is going through your head because you just had this uh vicious altercation with this uh nut job
00:39:02
and now you're, you know, he's saying, "Yeah, I I just need your debit card, but
00:39:08
then why do I need to go back to your van?" And I think at this point >> you the wheels are turning on what is
00:39:15
going to happen to me. Is it is it just a simple robbery? Is it just a a you know I say simple but is it just a
00:39:22
robbery? Is it just um assault or now is this more because now I'm in this individual's vehicle. And they the
00:39:32
investigators and law enforcement say that Emerson she bought herself 3 days by giving Hilton the wrong PIN number
00:39:39
for her ATM card. And she told him each time that these numbers are correct. I don't know why it's not working or you
00:39:45
do need to go to a different ATM machine. She's buying her time. >> Well, and a lot of people probably at
00:39:49
this point go, "Well, she fought him at the mountain, right, at Blood Mountain. Then why is she why is she not fighting
00:39:56
anymore?" >> By this point, once they get back to the vehicle, Hilton can just lie to her,
00:40:03
which he I believe he does because I don't believe he has a gun, but he explains to her that I have a gun. Mhm.
00:40:10
>> And by telling her that he has a gun, that, you know, she now basically has to
00:40:16
be submissive to him because she's afraid he's just going to pull a gun and shoot her shoot her.
00:40:21
>> Well, and you're you're right. They they did find several weapons in his vehicle
00:40:26
and he probably used those to keep control of her. One of those items was an air gun, you know, like a BB gun,
00:40:32
right? Um, I don't know because some of these gun BB guns look very much like a toy and sometimes they look very much
00:40:39
like a real gun. Um, >> yeah. And if you have no knowledge of guns, then you would probably just have
00:40:46
to assume. I mean, >> this nut job just attacked you while you're hiking with your dog. And and
00:40:52
this nut job was hiking with his dog as well. So, you know, at this point, you just have to believe whatever he's
00:40:59
saying. >> Yeah. And if you never get a good look at this BB gun, right? You know, if he
00:41:04
if he decides not to show you the full piece, >> um maybe you you believe you have to
00:41:09
believe it's a real gun. >> A lot of those guns you can't really tell from the side. It's really just
00:41:14
when you're looking down the barrel where you would notice that something's off.
00:41:18
>> Yeah. Yeah. Now, remember the phone call that we said was made that he had made
00:41:23
from the diner when he called John Taber to ask him for money. >> Meredith was still alive at this time.
00:41:29
She was being held captive in his van and he had said that he used a, you know, he used like one of those long
00:41:35
chains and had chained her basically around her neck to secure her to the inside of the van. So, she's still alive
00:41:42
out inside the van in the parking lot of this diner while he's inside making this
00:41:46
phone call. >> Yeah, but that's just horrific, you know? I mean, you're chained into this,
00:41:51
you know, shitty Astro van >> and at some point he decides that he's going to have to kill her. this is not
00:41:58
working out for him. He's trying to get the the money from the ATM machines. This is a no-go for him.
00:42:04
>> Well, he says in an interview like it's to him it's common knowledge that if you
00:42:10
abduct somebody, the only way you to not get caught is by murdering this person.
00:42:16
>> Yeah. Yeah. He says it's basic math. If you if you take someone, you either kill
00:42:20
them or you get caught. And at this point when he does when he does kill her, he says that he didn't know that
00:42:27
the police were looking for him. He actually says that on one of the days that he was holding her captive, he had
00:42:34
seen a newspaper and he noticed I I wonder if this was the second day that that he had taken her because remember
00:42:40
the the um >> the friends were not really aware that she was missing until some part on that
00:42:47
second day, >> right? >> So she would have been reported missing on that second day. he would have
00:42:51
already had her for maybe 24 hours at this point. And so this might not have hit the newspapers until technically
00:42:57
that third day that she was held captive, >> right? >> And at some point he says, you know, he
00:43:03
sees a newspaper, there's no mention of Meredith Emerson's name in this newspaper. And he he says to her that
00:43:10
they had a conversation about, you know, they're not even looking for you. Your name's not in the paper. If they were
00:43:15
looking for you, your name would have been in the in the newspaper. Right. But this may have been a taunt,
00:43:20
>> right? But this is just a lonely piece of [ __ ] individual that for some reason,
00:43:25
you know, Mr. always right. Mr. So freaking intelligent, right? That's that's what this guy thinks he is. He
00:43:32
thinks he's the number one salesman of all time. You know, he's he he's God's gift to this green earth. And so this is
00:43:39
his way of going, look, nobody gives a [ __ ] about you. Well, because nobody gave a [ __ ] about you. you know, like
00:43:46
nobody gave a [ __ ] about Gary Hilton because he was a he was a horrible individual. He was not nice to people.
00:43:53
He didn't have friends. He was a loser. And so he was then, you know, reflecting
00:43:59
all his inner turmoil and all the stuff that was going on wrong with him and saying, "Look, nobody's looking for you.
00:44:07
Nobody nobody loves you." >> Yeah. And the other thing here too is back this is another newspaper. This is
00:44:15
on the final day on January 4th when uh the morning that she was still alive. He
00:44:19
had killed her some point that morning. But he had said that he later that day had seen a newspaper and his face was on
00:44:28
the front page. >> Right. >> This is after they're looking for him. They've already identified him as as the
00:44:33
number one person of interest in this missing girl's case, >> right? Which he's probably thinking, how
00:44:38
the hell do they know? But maybe he's also thinking that somebody saw him. why they're hiking.
00:44:45
>> And he says, you know, that um you know, I had I would not have I would not have
00:44:52
killed her had I seen that that newspaper instead of that afternoon if I would have seen it that morning. And
00:44:57
again, it goes back to >> is a [ __ ] liar because he he said earlier, it's simple math. You abduct
00:45:04
somebody, then you kill them. >> But it's in that same interview that he says this is the reason for that. that
00:45:10
had he seen he seen that newspaper that morning, he would have realized he was already caught.
00:45:15
>> And what he was saying was that >> Oh, so he's saying if he would have known he was already caught that he
00:45:20
wouldn't have killed her, >> that he would have released her, >> right? >> And and it because it now you have a
00:45:25
kidnapping charge instead of a murder charge. And and his thought was that, you know, as he said, it's simple math.
00:45:32
When you take someone, you either kill them or you get caught. Now, if you're already caught, meaning they already
00:45:37
know who did this, then you don't kill them. It makes no sense according to him.
00:45:42
>> Yeah. I mean, this guy is just he's a lunatic. I mean, and then the other thing that he did was when he so he
00:45:48
chained her up and basically went back to his van to get um you know um a crowbar or something. But he when he
00:45:58
chained her up to this tree, basically said, "I'm going to let you go." >> Mhm. >> So, you know, poor Meredith actually
00:46:04
thinks that, hey, maybe this is this whole ordeal is over with. Well, well, she actually starts to think at some
00:46:10
point that he has tied me to this tree and or chained me to this tree and and now he's not coming back. You know, this
00:46:16
is this is his way, I guess, of letting me go or just or chaining me to this tree and just walking away,
00:46:21
>> right? And then he comes back and he, you know, he murders her with the the crowbar.
00:46:26
>> Yeah. And of course, he waits till she's not not looking. Um, and he's he's taken
00:46:33
her from the tree and they're walking and he basically from behind he attacks her with that tire iron um, hitting her
00:46:40
over the head. >> But there were several things that Meredith did that if she didn't do Gary
00:46:46
Hilden might have got away with all this. >> Yeah. And it's it's I mean, it's the
00:46:49
stuff of heroes, right? I mean, she defends herself to the point where she's able to take these weapons off of him in
00:46:56
the middle of an attack. Mhm. >> I mean, that that is so incredibly brave of her, first of all, and second of all,
00:47:03
like you said, it leads to his capture. So, if had that baton not been found, that that was found on a trail that the
00:47:10
other hikers were walking up and down and they reported it to law enforcement. And here's the thing,
00:47:16
>> well, and then also once the the once her friends and family report her missing, they then come back and they
00:47:22
find the knife, >> right? >> So, we find multiple weapons. And now at this point, the cops are going, "Hey,
00:47:28
there's something up." So then the cops then present that to the world. And because of because of the cops
00:47:34
presenting that to the world, then we got uh the eyewitness or the the lead from, you know, ex employer of Hilton
00:47:44
and that leads to, you know, people on the lookout for Gary in that area. >> Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Had that baton not been
00:47:52
found, um I mean, think about this. Cuz all they would have found in that situation would have been the water
00:47:59
bottles and the dog leash, which doesn't immediately I mean, it presents you that
00:48:04
she's probably missing if those items belong to her. But as soon as you hear about a weapon involved and then you see
00:48:11
there were obvious signs of of some kind of struggle, you know, leaves and things
00:48:16
were were disturbed on the ground in this area where they had where they had fought one another for some time
00:48:23
>> and that baton's found and that tips you off that there's we have a big problem
00:48:26
here. I think it wasn't until later um that they had found the uh it was a bayonet or a knife of some form. Uh they
00:48:35
they ended up using like a metal detector because it it was kind of you know as I said the ground was disturbed
00:48:41
and it was underneath leaves and debris and such that it wasn't obvious to anybody in the area. But once they found
00:48:47
those weapons because of her bravery is what what tipped them off and what what sent Gary Hilton on a path to life in
00:48:55
jail. Well, and the other thing though too is that she kept giving him the wrong information on these on the debit
00:49:02
cards or the ATM cards. And again, it's one of those things where if she would uh depending on her actions, he could
00:49:11
have just killed her, you know, and just, you know, just been done with it and then he just drives away.
00:49:18
>> Yeah. He could have been long gone. But the fact that, you know, she basically
00:49:21
kind of keeps up the struggle for, you know, 4 days or 3 days, then it's like it it accumulates into him being caught.
00:49:30
>> Mhm. I want to talk real quickly here about this vehicle charge cuz remember earlier we had said that when he was
00:49:36
when Gary Hilton was picked up at the Chevron gas station, >> right? uh the good Samaritan had called
00:49:41
in. They arrest him because obviously he's a person of interest in this disappearance case and they had found
00:49:48
bloody clothes earlier, but they actually arrest him and I believe they held him on a vehicle charge. And um I'm
00:49:57
not I'm not 100% uh of understanding of this vehicle charge here, but I'll go through it best
00:50:03
that I can. And the reason that I bring it up is because this has been a topic of discussion and a topic of ridicule
00:50:10
regarding law enforcement regarding the Gary Hilton case. >> Right. >> So before before Meredith Emerson was
00:50:17
abducted, Gary Hilton was he had been pulled over and he actually had a warrant out for his arrest at this
00:50:25
point. Basically what had happened was that he had parked his van illegally parked his van on federal property. This
00:50:32
was probably at one of the national forest or state parks that he frequented. And they say that he had a
00:50:38
warrant out for his arrest on this charge. What what is probably most likely was that he was ticketed for a
00:50:44
parking offense and when he failed to pay the ticket or appear in court to contest the ticket, then he received a
00:50:50
bench warrant for his arrest. That's what I'm what I'm guessing anyway. >> Well, it might not have came up in the
00:50:55
system just depending on what area. I mean, he might have had a warrant in a different county. Yeah. Yeah.
00:51:02
>> So, so if he's in, you know, if he's in one county, gets the warrant, the other
00:51:06
county, it might not show up in their records. >> And the reason, yeah, the reason why
00:51:10
there's they've caught a lot of flack for this was because he's pulled over, they run a check on him. For whatever
00:51:15
reason, this doesn't come up in the information. So, of course, the thought here is that if someone had not dropped
00:51:21
the ball, then Meredith Emerson may still be alive. He may have never had the opportunity to abduct her.
00:51:27
>> Yeah. Yeah. But I I don't know. I I think that's uh that's put in a lot of again just the way the system works and
00:51:38
and how they put it in in the system for the officer to check. I mean is it was it something that he missed, you know,
00:51:45
again, who knows? I mean, cuz then they arrest him, he gets out of jail, still goes to Blood Mountain, still finds
00:51:53
Meredith. She's still I I don't think you can put that on that officer >> or goes to the national forest on a
00:51:59
different date finding a different victim. >> Exactly. And then and I think the other
00:52:03
thing too in this case is how hard it would be for the detectives involved. I know that the lead detective, it was his
00:52:10
last case that he's ever done. And um and so you have this, you know, most of these detectives have daughters or have
00:52:19
sisters or whoever, mothers, and and and you you fear for this girl's safety. And
00:52:24
as she's missing, you know, and once you now know that she's not just missing, but possible abduction, now it's we need
00:52:32
to find her before she dies, you know, if she's not already dead yet. And so that the the mind [ __ ] that that would
00:52:42
be as a detective, you know what I mean? >> Well, they're waiting for a call to come
00:52:46
in. I mean, they've done everything that they've could. They've they've put everything out to the public. They
00:52:51
received feedback from somebody that knows this individual that now they have a suspect.
00:52:56
>> Well, but but you're not waiting for a call. That's why I'm saying you're not
00:53:00
because you also have, you know, the license plates of these vehicles, >> right? So that's why I'm saying it's
00:53:05
it's just >> well you're active you're actively investigating. You're following every
00:53:09
lead that you can. But ultimately I'm I'm telling you you interview those detectives in the back of their mind
00:53:14
they're always going we're waiting for a call because we've pushed this stuff out
00:53:17
to the public for good reason. We need as many eyes on this situation as possible. We need somebody to spot this
00:53:24
guy, spot this van, see the dog, make a phone call. You you're not sitting there
00:53:29
on your hands waiting for a phone call. You're actively investigating. But, you know, the best chance of catching up to
00:53:35
this guy is somebody in the public seeing him and making >> Well, yeah. Or, you know, another cop
00:53:40
seeing it, you know, but but the the stress that that would be, >> you know, and then and then to find out
00:53:48
uh when you do catch Held and he says, "Hey, well, look, I I murdered her." M >> I mean and what the detective has to go
00:53:56
through at that point because you know and the detective said too that you know for whatever reason um Meredith
00:54:04
Emerson's parents for some reason on this case they normally hold withhold a lot of evidence from the family or or
00:54:12
hold back a lot of stuff that was going on with the case. They actually presented a lot of this stuff to the
00:54:18
family as it was happening. >> Yeah. I believe he said something to the fact like after he had met her parents,
00:54:25
it was quickly decided between him and the other detectives that they were going to share every bit of information.
00:54:31
>> We can't hold it back. I mean, >> probably their person, you know, the the the good nature and the personality of
00:54:36
her parents is is probably a big part of that. But the other thing, too, is you have a situation here where it's very
00:54:43
it's it's practically obvious from the get-go that this is not a situ a family situation. This is not a family
00:54:50
abduction or a family attack. This is not You don't need to look at those parents or family members as suspects.
00:54:57
>> Yeah. And I but I also I also think that in this situation uh and just the little bit of background
00:55:03
that we know of Gary Hilton at this point, I think it's like you you you're open and honest and forthcoming with
00:55:12
information knowing that the chances of this turning out well is probably not going to happen. I mean, you're hopeful,
00:55:20
but chances are it's not going to turn out well. So, by sharing the information that you're learning with the family,
00:55:26
you're almost preparing them for the worst outcome. >> Yeah. And I think that that's why they
00:55:31
point out that anytime they got a hit on that bank card was there there was a little sign of hope, a little
00:55:37
possibility. And you know, I don't want there, you know, nobody wants there to be more victims or anything like that,
00:55:42
but you know, the the other strange amongst all the other strange and and cruel behavior in this case, but a
00:55:51
strange thing to me was he let the dog go. The dog was just wandering around. And he says later in an interview, he
00:55:57
couldn't bring himself to kill the dog. I mean, these psychopaths, they make little to no sense in most of these
00:56:05
situations. >> Yeah. And uh then the other sad thing I mean kind of the closure of the
00:56:12
closure of the confession and everything is when they do find her body I mean she
00:56:16
is headless. I mean he did decapitate her and he basically makes claims that he did so because it was about
00:56:24
identifying the body. >> Yeah. It was for forensic purposes. He he wanted her not to be identified.
00:56:30
Again, I think this goes back to this idea that he thinks he's going to be able to because even when he sees
00:56:36
himself in the paper and all that stuff, I still think he thought he can outsmart
00:56:41
everybody. >> Yeah. I mean, he's driving around, he's dumping things in different dumpsters,
00:56:45
uh he he was making all the moves to get rid of the evidence, get rid of anything
00:56:51
tying him to Meredith Emerson, and then get out of dodge. And if that's not horrific enough and all these little
00:56:58
tiny events, you know, all these little happen stance events events that happen uh to lead to his capture. Meanwhile, as
00:57:07
there's they're reporting that this girl is missing and possibly abducted, there's other law enforcement agencies
00:57:13
out there going, "Wait, we have similar cases now. Now we have uh we have a missing person. We have bodies that we
00:57:21
found and they're starting to link is, you know, they're starting to question, I guess, is this the work of Gary
00:57:28
Hilton. >> Yeah, you're exactly right. There are cases out there that have not just
00:57:32
similarities, but strong similarities. Almost the exact same mo. Uh people that have gone missing in in National Forest,
00:57:40
people that have been found in National Forest, and they're they're going to use
00:57:45
things that they find in his confession as well as items that they find and evidence they find in his van that may
00:57:53
lead them to other murder charges. >> Yeah. So, the law enforcement at this point is going, you know, we might have
00:57:59
a serial killer on our hands and in custody. That's what we'll dive into tomorrow. Uh, what's the recommended
00:58:06
reading for this week? >> Uh, this week we are recommending the Yoseimity murders by Dennis McDougall.
00:58:12
Um, this is a case that takes place on on the other side of the United States in one of the biggest parks in the
00:58:19
country. Uh, it's a on the trail of murder and mayhem um by Dennis McDougall. It's the Yoseimite murders
00:58:26
and you can pick that up by going to true crimegar.com and check out the recommended page. We have several books
00:58:32
on there as well as some movies and you can use our Amazon banner to pick up any
00:58:37
of your true crime books or movies. And thanks so much for listening. Thanks so much for telling a friend. The support
00:58:43
the last year has been overwhelming and uh we just keep uh you know we we talked
00:58:48
so much. There's so much in this case and there's so much that involves other cases and a couple big profile cases
00:58:55
that are pretty big in the true crime world uh that people think possibly Hilton is linked to and we'll discuss
00:59:02
that tomorrow and uh kind of go into a little bit of backstory with Hilton as well. But again, thanks for listening.
00:59:08
Thanks for telling a friend and much love. >> And until tomorrow, be good, be kind,
00:59:13
and don't litter >> and don't smitter. Heat. Heat. [Music]