It was bitter cold in early January 2008. But despite the frigid temperature, it seemed like the entire world had come out to search Blood Mountain in North Georgia. They were looking for Meredith Emerson, who had disappeared on a New Year's Day hike with her dog Ella.

It soon became clear that something terrible had happened to the 24-year-old University of Georgia graduate. That something was serial killer Gary Michael Hilton, who had encountered Emerson on the trail and overpowered her.

Ten years later, some of those closest to the case say they remain haunted by it.

“I think about Meredith every day. Every single day,” said John Cagle, the GBI agent who led the search for Emerson and her abductor.

Learn more about the Emerson case and how it continues to resonate at MyAJC.com

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Lindsey Justice-Smith gives a victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing for Eric Delma Head on Thursday, in the Bibb County Superior Court in Macon, Georgia. Justice-Smith was one of the seven people on a pontoon boat at Lake Tobesofkee that was struck by a cigarette boat driven by Head. The July 2021 crash killed William Michael Childs. (Courtesy of Katie Tucker /The Telegraph)

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Gov. Brian Kemp. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

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