Searching for Meredith Emerson

Metro Atlanta

Searching for Meredith Emerson

More than 100 searchers --authorities, family members, friends and strangers-- assembled at Vogel State Park to search for 24-year-old Buford resident Meredith Emerson who has been missing since New Year's Day after she went hiking with her dog Ella.

By Saturday, Emerson still had not been found. Missing hiker flyers and posters adorned the doors of the usually tranquil visitor center porch at Vogel State Park.

Angie Bogen (hat), 30, of Lawrenceville, Michael Merritt, 24, of Buford, friends of the missing hiker, await search team assignments.

Small teams of volunteer civilian searchers pass the guarded checkpoints to the command center at Vogel State Park. They were going in to be assigned to larger parties designated by authorities.

As Hilton was being questioned there was still no sign of Emerson. Her family and friends remained hopeful. "She's athletic, very athletic, " said her roommate, Julia Karrenbauer. "She runs all the time, walks all the time, hikes all the time. If faced with a situation, I'd be confident in her abilities."

A sign post road closed (except for offiicial investigation vehicles only) the road leads into the area where missing hiker Meredith Emerson's car was found.

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.

Members of the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Rapid Response Team do their part to help.

Meredith Emerson went hiking about 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 1 on the six-mile-long trail with her dog, police said. Before Gary Michael Hilton was connected to the case, several people told investigators they saw her with a gray- or silver-haired man, who wore a backpack and a yellow jacket with black elbow patches and stripes, Verdone said. Police say Hilton is about 5 foot 10 and 160 pounds.

A helicopter returns to the visitors' center at Vogel State Park.

A helicopter near Vogel State Park in Union County.

An aerial view of Vogel State Park where the search for Emerson seemed endless.

Georgia Highway 19/129 and the Mountain Crossings store on the Appalachian Trail was another aerial view for searchers on Friday.

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

Volunteers who knew the 20,000-acre park and its mountains best and could give medical attention were sent out first in "hasty teams, " said 1st Lt. Brad Niebrand of the Union County Fire Department.

Among the searchers: Doug Bailey (right), his wife Peggy and son Stephen, all from Athens. The Baileys are Emerson's godparents. "She's responsible and bright," said Peggy Bailey. "Her parents are tremendously worried."

More than two dozen Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office deputies combed the icy ground of Blood Mountain through Thursday night with tracking dogs, but have yet to come up with Emerson's trail.

She runs all the time, walks all the time, hikes all the time," said Emerson's roommate Julia Karrenbauer. "If faced with a situation, I'd be confident in her abilities."

Blairsville, Thursday, Jan. 3: Dog trainer Pat Mitchell of Flowery Branch, who helped Meredith train Ella, came to the search area in North Georgia.

About 100 volunteers converged at Vogel State Park on Thursday, ready to look for the 2005 Georgia graduate who majored in French and grew up in Longmont, Colo.

Helicopters searched the new 401-square mile area in the North Georgia mountains from above, volunteers from below.

GBI special agent in charge John Cagle issued a press statement about the continuing search for Emerson as well as Gary Michael Hilton, a 61-year-old man officials believe is the last person seen with Emerson.

"We are receiving information and we have talked to a lot of people," Cagle, the GBI special agent in charge of the case, said at a news conference on Friday. "We have confirmed that [Hilton] was there."

Major Carl Sims of Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department briefs his Rapid Response Team at Vogel State Park Friday. Tom Jewell (left) is with the team.

Members of the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Rapid Response Team aid in the search Friday on Blood Mountain at Vogel State Park.

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By Saturday, Emerson still had not been found. Missing hiker flyers and posters adorned the doors of the usually tranquil visitor center porch at Vogel State Park.

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