Hiker Meredith Emerson fought to stay alive

Metro Atlanta

Photos: Hiker Meredith Emerson fought to stay alive

When her life was in danger, Meredith Emerson fought back using her strength, her wits and a large measure of courage and determination. Though her attacker, Gary Michael Hilton, eventually subdued and murdered her, Emerson did not make it easy for him, according to interviews that Hilton gave to investigators that were obtained by The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

When her life was in danger, Meredith Emerson fought back using her strength, her wits and a large measure of courage and determination. Though her attacker, Gary Michael Hilton, eventually subdued and murdered her, Emerson did not make it easy for him, according to interviews that Hilton gave to investigators that were obtained by The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Hilton forced Meredith Emerson to camp three nights in the cold, then eventually killed her. His description: "It was like an out of body experience. It was surreal... You look back on it and you say 'that wasn't even real.' "You might say it was an altered state... "It was hard," Hilton continued, reframing a brutal murder into a twisted fantasy. "You gotta remember we had spent several good days together."

Hilton told investigators he abducted Emerson because she was a woman. Yet, he wasn't prepared for the fight the 5'4, martial arts expert put up. "I had to hand fight her," Hilton said. "She wouldn't stop, she wouldn't stop fighting," he said. "And yelling at the same time.... So I needed to both control her and silence her."

"That's one thing that broke my heart in this case," Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Clay Bridges said. "She was doing everything she was supposed to do to stay alive, and we didn't get there in time."

As volunteers hiked to search for Emerson, Hilton set up camp in Dawson Forest, where the pair hiked for several hours. He insisted she was free but he also said he told her he would shoot her and anyone around if she tried to get away.

Meredith Emerson was described as "feisty" by her roommate and close friend. Her Judo teacher said at 5-feet, 4-inches, 120 pounds, she "trained with us like she lived every day --hard and with everything she had." If she appeared to be going along with her abductor, as Hilton described, GBI Director Vernon Keenan said, it was only to survive.

Hilton knew he was a wanted man, telling investigators he had followed the AJC's coverage of Emerson's abduction. On the day she died, Jan 4, he was pictured on the newspaper's front page alongside a story in which police named him a "person of interest" in the Buford hiker's disappearance. Though a police bulletin had been issued for Hilton's van with DeKalb County license plate, by then he had switched that tag for a stolen North Carolina tag.

That day, Hilton said that he told Emerson "she was going home.... I said 'I'm giving you all your stuff back.' I had all her stuff bagged up together. I made a point of showing her." They drove to the spot where he would kill her. On the way, they passed a law enforcement officer. "I waved at him," Hilton said. "It was that close."

Hilton was worried about another piece of evidence that might link him to the slaying --Emerson's dog. She had told him the Lab-mix carried a microchip identifying it as her pet. "If I wanted to ensure that no one would associate the dog with her, I would've have killed the dog," Hilton said. "But there's no way I could do that."

"[Emerson] struggled to live," Keenan said. "She's very much a hero."

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When her life was in danger, Meredith Emerson fought back using her strength, her wits and a large measure of courage and determination. Though her attacker, Gary Michael Hilton, eventually subdued and murdered her, Emerson did not make it easy for him, according to interviews that Hilton gave to investigators that were obtained by The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

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