Meredith Emerson Feared Dead as Search Becomes Recovery Effort

The search for the 24-year-old Georgia hiker who disappeared on New Year’s Day has shifted to a recovery effort as authorities now hold little hope of finding Meredith Emerson alive.

Police identified Gary Michael Hilton as a person of interest in the case and arrested the 61-year-old man on Saturday and are holding him on a federal warrant for failure to appear on a citation.

Emerson’s car was discovered on Saturday near the Chattahoochee National Forest on Wednesday. Police also discovered her black Labrador’s dog collar. On Saturday Emerson’s dog, Ella, was found at a grocery store nearly 40 miles away from Vogel State Park, the area in which she disappeared.

Hilton was spotted on the trail Emerson was believed to have been on and has been charged with kidnapping with bodily injury.

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