Blairsville, GA - A young hiker whose body was found in northern Georgia was probably alive for three days before she died from blunt force trauma to the head, authorities said Tuesday.
She was last seen hiking with her dog on Blood Mountain in Georgia on New Year's Day. Meredith Emerson, 24, was decapitated after her death, an autopsy also found.
That's the same day suspect Gary Michael Hilton, 61, allegedly made a phone call from a pay phone at a convenience store in Cumming, Georgia, where Emerson's black leather wallet containing her identification cards was discovered in a trash bin.
The bin is next to a grocery store parking lot where Ella, Emerson's Labrador mix, was found wandering Friday, according to a criminal warrant. Hilton led investigators to her body Monday in exchange for prosecutors' agreeing to drop consideration of the death penalty against him, according to Union County District Attorney Stan Gunter. When asked whether Hilton, 61, had taken investigators to the location or merely described it, Cagle said, "Both."
Hilton will be charged with one count of malice murder and is set to appear Wednesday in court in Dawson County, Darragh said.
The medical examiner has informed Emerson's family about the details of her death.
State and federal authorities said they are also trying to determine whether Hilton may have been involved in at least three other killings in two neighboring states.
As they grieved, Emerson's family members also expressed some relief that her body was discovered.
"We are glad she's found. This brings some sort of closure for us," Peggy Bailey, Emerson's godmother and spokeswoman for the family, said, according to CNN affiliate WXIA.
Also Monday, federal, Georgia and North Carolina investigators met in nearby Cleveland, Georgia, to compare notes on the Emerson case and a similar case from a few months ago in North Carolina, according to FBI Special Agent Greg Jones.
In the North Carolina case, an elderly couple -- John and Irene Bryant -- disappeared after going for a hike in Mount Pisgah National Forest. Irene Bryant's body was found near the couple's car. John Bryant's body has not been found, but Keenan referred to the case Monday night as a "double homicide."
Investigators have a bank video of a man wearing a yellow jacket -- believed to have belonged to John Bryant -- while using the Bryants' ATM card.
Witnesses who saw Hilton on the trail with Emerson on the day she disappeared said he was wearing a yellow jacket.
Hilton is also the primary suspect in the death of Cheryl Dunlap, 46, whose body was found December 16 in Apalachicola National Forest, southwest of Tallahassee, Florida.
Investigators know Hilton was in the area at the time Dunlap disappeared -- 15 days earlier -- because he encountered a forestry agent who wrote down his vehicle's tag number and ran it through a police database, authorities said. No wants or warrants were found.
Officials: Hiker was alive for days; suspect now faces murder charge
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