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Gary Hilton

Also known as: Gary Michael Hilton, National Forest Serial Killer, Murder of Meredith Emerson

Active
2007–2008
Region
North Georgia, western North Carolina and the Florida Panhandle, USA
States
FL, GA, NC
Kind
Serial
Status
Pleaded guilty
Victims
4

On New Year's Day 2008, Meredith Emerson, 24, went hiking with her dog on Blood Mountain in north Georgia and was abducted by Gary Hilton, a drifter then 61. He held her for four days and killed her. A witness who recognized him from news coverage called police as he cleaned out his van at a DeKalb County gas station, and he was arrested on January 4. He led investigators to her body in Dawson Forest in exchange for the State not seeking death, and pleaded guilty to her murder that month, receiving life in prison. He was later convicted by a Florida jury of murdering Cheryl Dunlap in the Apalachicola National Forest in December 2007 and sentenced to death in 2011, and in 2012 he pleaded guilty in federal court to murdering John and Irene Bryant, an elderly couple hiking in western North Carolina in October 2007.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

Timeline of locations

  1. November 10, 2007
    Barnett Branch trail, Pisgah National Forest (Irene Bryant) (Recovery site, approximate area)

    The Bryants left for a hike on October 21, 2007. Hilton admitted killing Irene Bryant in Pisgah National Forest, Transylvania County; her body was found on the Barnett Branch trail on November 10, 2007.

  2. December 1, 2007
    Leon Sinks Geological Area (Abduction)

    Cheryl Dunlap was last seen alive at Leon Sinks, south of Tallahassee, on December 1, 2007. Her car was found two days later beside Crawfordville Highway, and her body was found on December 15 near a forest road in the Apalachicola National Forest.

  3. January 2008
    Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area (Recovery site, approximate area)

    After the plea agreement, Hilton led investigators to Emerson's remains in the Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area in Dawson County.

  4. January 1, 2008
    Byron Herbert Reece trailhead, Blood Mountain (Abduction)

    Meredith Emerson was hiking Blood Mountain with her dog on January 1, 2008, and was seen with an older man on a trail near the Byron Herbert Reece parking lot. Hilton abducted her from the trail area.

  5. January 4, 2008
    Arrest at a gas station, DeKalb County (Arrest, approximate area)

    A witness at a Chevron station called DeKalb County police to say the man they were looking for was cleaning out his van. Police stopped Hilton before he could bleach it; blood in the van matched Emerson's DNA.

  6. January 31, 2008
    Dawson County Superior Court, Dawsonville (Court / trial, approximate area)

    Hilton pleaded guilty to Emerson's murder and was sentenced to life in prison, with parole possible after 30 years.

  7. February 3, 2008
    Nantahala National Forest, Macon County (John Bryant) (Recovery site, approximate area)

    Hilton admitted shooting John Bryant in Nantahala National Forest in Macon County. His remains were found there on February 3, 2008. Marker shows the region, not the spot.

  8. February 2, 2011
    Leon County court, Tallahassee (Court / trial, approximate area)

    A Leon County jury convicted Hilton of murdering Cheryl Dunlap and unanimously recommended death; the judge imposed the death sentence on April 21, 2011.

  9. April 2011
    Union Correctional Institution, Raiford (death row) (Prison)

    Hilton has been on Florida's death row since April 2011 and is held at Union Correctional Institution.

  10. March 27, 2012
    U.S. District Court, Asheville (Court / trial, approximate area)

    Hilton pleaded guilty to murdering John and Irene Bryant, with robbery, kidnapping and firearms counts, under an agreement for life without parole.

Watch, listen, read

Read

  • Trails of Death: The True Story of National Forest Serial Killer Gary Hilton (2011, Fred Rosen)

Active at the same time, nearby

A coincidence of time and place, not a connection. All overlaps

Sources

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.