Cases being looked at for links to Hilton

[KittyMom]

http://helpfindthemissing.org/forum/showthread.php?t=472

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2008/01/08/emerson_0109.html

investigators in LaGrange wondering whether Hilton may be involved in yet another killing, though officials are quick to dismiss any known connection. Still, there are "obvious coincidences," said Capt. Mike Nixon, chief investigator for the Troup County Sheriff's Department.

On Dec. 6, a passing motorist discovered the body of a woman -- still unidentified -- missing hands, feet and head. The mutilated body was in five black plastic garbage bags along Stitcher Road in LaGrange, which is west of Macon near the Alabama line.

Although an attempt was made to burn the bags, some evidence was recovered, including a Domino's Pizza coupon from Chamblee. The address on Hilton's arrest warrant for Emerson's kidnapping is on Clairmont Road in Chamblee. Nixon said investigators believe the woman was killed in metro Atlanta.

"We're looking into Hilton. We're looking into everything," he said.

[KittyMom]

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20080110/NEWS/801100348/0/FEATURES

Published Thursday, January 10, 2008
By John Harbin
Times-News Staff Writer

BREVARD -- Transylvania County authorities have gotten numerous calls that may support a link between the death of a Horse Shoe woman and a drifter accused of murder in Georgia.

Transylvania County Sheriff David Mahoney said Wednesday that investigators were seeking information from anyone who may have seen a white Chevrolet Astro van or the man authorities have charged in the North Georgia murder.

Mahoney said Wednesday evening that his department had received a tremendous number of calls from people who said they had seen a white van or seen a man matching the description of 61-year-old Gary Hilton, who is charged in the Georgia case and suspected in the killing of a hiker whose body was found Dec. 19 in Apalachicola National Forest in the Florida Panhandle.

The calls were the clearest sign yet that 84-year-old Irene Bryant and her missing husband may have been victims of a killer who is also suspected in slayings in isolated public forests in two other states. The Bryants went missing Oct. 20 after setting off on a hike in Pisgah National Forest.

Irene Bryant's body was found Nov. 9; her husband is still missing but is presumed to be a victim of the killer, too.

Mahoney said his office is now focusing on placing Hilton in the area of Pisgah National Forest at the time the Bryants went missing near the Pink Beds Picnic Area.

Mahoney said leads from Georgia authorities have made him optimistic about solving the Bryant case.

The murders of Irene Bryant in Transylvania County and the murder of Meredith Emerson in Georgia are similar in several aspects, he said.

"We are working diligently on all leads and trying to tie up some loose ends," Mahoney said.

Suspect

The body of Meredith Emerson, who had been missing since New Year's Day after going hiking near Dawnsonville, Ga., was found Monday after Hilton told authorities where to look.

Hilton had his first appearance in the Dawson County courtroom after being charged Tuesday afternoon with the murder of Meredith Emerson.

Hilton led authorities to Emerson's body Monday evening in exchange for an agreement that prosecutors not seek the death penalty against him, according to Union County's district attorney, Stan Gunter.

Authorities still are not releasing information on how Emerson met Hilton and what happened between the time she disappeared and when she was killed. Those details will come out in court proceedings, authorities said.

Meanwhile, the Leon County, Fla., Sheriff's Office said Hilton can be considered a prime suspect in the death of Cheryl Hodges Dunlap.

Her body was found Dec. 19 in the Apalachicola National Forest, southwest of Tallahassee. Authorities say a masked person suspected in Dunlap's death used her ATM card three times after her disappearance Dec. 1.

Leon County Sheriff's Maj. Mike Wood said Wednesday authorities have confirmed that Hilton "was in our community during the time of Cheryl Dunlap's disappearance. We have done that through citizens' accounts as well as one law enforcement contact that he had with a forestry officer here -- it was just a routine contact in the area of the national forest."

Based on similarities in the Georgia and Florida cases and Hilton's presence in the area, "I am able to tell you he is the focus of our investigation right now," Wood said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

[KittyMom]

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q311/KittyMom5/ctv/hilton.jpg

[Grande]

Patrice Endres

[Grande]

<Snip>

"Ormand Beach (Fla.) police confirmed they met with GBI officials on Thursday and are investigating Hilton for the gruesome killing of Michael Scot Louis, 27. His body was found decapitated and spread among three trash bags on Dec. 6 near Tomoka State Park in Ormond Beach. Sgt. Doug Diamond said Ormand Beach police are processing DNA evidence from the body to see if it matches Hilton, a Florida native."

http://www.ajc.com/cherokee/content/...0112_web3.html

[Grande]

26-year-old Rossana Miliani was last in Bryson City on December 7, 2005

[Roamer]

My goodness. How many people did Hilton kill? The list of victims and suspected victims just keeps growing.

[KittyMom]

26-year-old Rossana Miliani was last in Bryson City on December 7, 2005

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/2676/

On Tuesday, private investigator Steve Siske said North Carolina authorities are looking at Hilton in the case of 28-year-old Rossana Miliani, a mentally unstable Florida woman who went hiking in early December 2005 in the Bryson City, N.C. area. She has not been seen since.

Siske, who was hired by Miliani’s parents, said a tipster called him after a newspaper article about the case ran in mid-December to tell him about seeing Miliani with a white man in his late 50s or early 60s.

The woman, a clerk at a Bryson City store, said Miliani and the man came into the store, where he purchased a backpack, pants and a jacket.

"She didn’t talk," Siske said. "The clerk said she appeared to be somewhat nervous."

The man told the store clerk he was "a preacher that goes from campground to campground," Siske said.

The clerk has not yet been shown a photo lineup, Siske said. Officials with North Carolina’s State Bureau of Investigation were working on the case, he said.

Swain County, the alleged site of Miliani’s disappearance, is about a two hour drive from Transylvania County, Siske said.

[Pauli]

With the age that Hilton is I would almost be willing to bet they are going to find quite a few if they start checking in to old, unsolved cases from years past. I don't feel this is something he just started recently.

[KittyMom]

With the age that Hilton is I would almost be willing to bet they are going to find quite a few if they start checking in to old, unsolved cases from years past. I don't feel this is something he just started recently.

ITA...If he'd just talk, he could bring closure to lots of hurting families.

[Grande]

List Of Cases With Possible Gary Hilton Connection Continues To Grow
Submitted by Reneé LaSalle on January 15, 2008 - 9:47pm.

<Snip>

December 7, 2005 - Rossana Miliani disappears, she is seen with a man about 60 less than a week later.

October 20, 2007 - John and Irene Bryant disappear in Pisgah National Forest, a masked man uses the couple's credit card at a Ducktown ATM two days later.

November 9, 2007 - Irene Bryant's body is found, John Bryant remains missing.

December 6, 2007 - Twenty-seven year old man is found dead near Tomoka State Park in Florida, police say Hilton is a person of interest.

December 19, 2007 - The body of Cheryl Dunlap is found in Apalachicola National Forest, a masked man uses her ATM card three times after her killing.

January 7, 2008 - Hilton leads investigators to Meredith Emerson's body. She disappeared during a New Year's Day hike, authorities say Hilton tried to use her credit card.

http://www.wdef.com/news/list_of_cases_with_possible_gary_hilton_connection _continues_to_grow/01/2008

[Pandabear]

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2008/01/16/hilton_couple_0117.html?cxntnid=amn011708e

Authorities link hiker suspect to N.C. couple's disappearance

By MIKE WILLIAMS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/16/08

BREVARD, N.C. — Investigators have established a "positive link" between accused killer Gary Michael Hilton and the case of an elderly North Carolina couple who disappeared in a popular hiking spot in Pisgah National Forest in October, Transylvania County Sheriff David Mahoney said Wednesday.

"This investigation has resulted in the investigative team being able to establish a positive link between Gary Michael Hilton and Transylvania County and, more specifically, to the case involving John and Irene Bryant," Mahoney said at an afternoon press conference. "To maintain the integrity of our case, details of those links can not be released at this time period." <snipped>

[KittyMom]

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2008/01/17/van_0118.html

GBI hunting for second van owned by Hilton
Authorities set up hotline asking for public's help


Bankhead said the van was last seen by a hunter about a month ago, in an area of White County called Tray Mountain.

The van had been abandoned by Hilton at the end of Forest Service Road 790, which is also known as Hickory Nut Ridge Road, and had been there "for some time," Bankhead said.



Are they thinking that someone had it towed?:waitasec:

[Justice]

Georgia murder has similarities to Fort Smith killing


FORT SMITH - A murder in Georgia making headlines around the U. S. is also drawing the attention of Fort Smith Police.

Investigators are checking to see if 61-year-old Gary Michael Hilton, the man suspected of murdering 24-year-old Meredith Emerson in Georgia's northern woods, could be connected to the 1994 murder of Melissa Witt.

<snipped>

http://www.kfsm.com/Global/story.asp?S=7603348

[KittyMom]

Searching the database for GA I found this...

I have to wonder where Hilton was in 92?

[KittyMom]

Look at this description...why does this vehicle description sound familiar?

http://www.morgannick.com/morgans_story.html
Witnesses observed a man watching the youngster as she was playing with other children at the park. The witness also saw a red Ford pickup with a white camper parked nearby that disappeared at about the same time as Morgan. The camper is possibly damaged at the right rear, and was described as four or five inches too short for the truck, which has a short wheel base and paint dulled by age. The truck is believed to have Arkansas license plates.

Now look at the composite sketch.

[KittyMom]

http://www.ganet.org/gbi/homicides/frady.html

The second potential witness, left, was seen in the Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area. He is described as a white male, 45 to 55 years of age, clean shaven, 6' 0" to 6' 1" tall, slim build with white or gray hair. He was driving a 1980 to 1985 medium blue Toyota, 2 wheel drive, pick-up truck with a white camper shell over the bed of the vehicle.

[KittyMom]

http://gbi.georgia.gov/00/case_detail/0,2695,67862954_74030306_89986109,00.html

Holland was last seen at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, August 16, 1996, in Flagler Beach, Florida, while she was preparing to return to Atlanta. Her car, a Gold, 1987 BMW 325i, GA Tag - BKT664, was found August 24 abandoned on the northbound side of I-75 just south of Hwy 54 in Morrow, GA.

Cheryl Dunlap had a flat right?

[KittyMom]

http://www.mysuncoast.com/Global/story.asp?S=7737819&nav=menu577_2_1

Leon County investigators are mounting evidence against him for the death of Cheryl Dunlap, whose body was found December 19th in the Apalachicola National Forest.

Leon County detectives returned to Florida from North Georgia today. They were given access to more than 500 pieces of evidence taken from crime scenes in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

Sheriff Larry Campbell says the authorities want to pursue the death penalty.

[Grande]

Jan 18, 2008 11:07 pm US/Eastern
Nat'l Case May Be Linked To Missing Kendall Hiker
Police Look To Gary Hilton In Missing Kendall Hiker Case
Carey Codd

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ― For two years the family of Rossana Miliani kept vigil for the 26-year-old online. They posted missing posters and updates, hoping someone out there would know what became of her. Miliani went missing in the North Carolina Mountains in 2005, and almost three years later police are looking at Gary Hilton.

"I feel these two years of waiting have been a purgatory that doesn't end," said her sister Lorenna Miliani.

Time stopped for the Miliani family in December 2005. That's when phone calls from Rossana Miliani ceased.

"Hopefully she's still alive," said Miliani. "We still have that glimmer of hope because we can't lose that until we know for sure."

Her family says Miliani is a free spirit--a successful and trusting young woman from Kendall. She went to North Carolina to hike the Appalachian Trail. Investigators are now trying to learn if Miliani met Gary Hilton there, and possibly met her fate.

"We want to know the truth."

Lorenna Miliani says she and her family tried to convince local authorities to investigate.

"Nobody wanted to make a missing persons case because she wasn't a child. They said 'oh, she's probably around somewhere just probably wants to break contact with you."

But Lorenna knew that was impossible. She says Rossana is too close to her niece and too close to her mother and father. Then a year ago a store clerk in North Carolina said he remembered seeing a nervous Miliani with a man in his 60's who fits the description of Gary Hilton.

Hilton is now charged with murdering hiker Meredith Emerson. For years the Miliani family waited for an answer.

And now they're waiting again for authorities to determine if this accused killer played a role in this vibrant woman's disappearance.

"We have everything," said Miliani. "We know all about her life up until age 26, until she decided she was going to North Carolina to the mountains. There needs to be ending; it can't just be a mystery."

Authorities in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina are sharing information about Hilton to see if he's connected to several other murders. The Cherokee County Sheriff in North Carolina says he hopes his department will speak with Hilton sometime soon and see what he'll say about Miliani's disappearance.

http://cbs4.com/local/Missing.Hiker.South.2.633614.html

[Pauli]

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayPubLogo&imgId=636D643D2E47493A3B4C4F474F533A313230333B313B 747970653D6C6F676F&orgId=574
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

January 12, 2008 Saturday
First Replate Edition

Suspect eyed in string of slayings;
Well-known profiler fears that Gary Michael Hilton is 'way out there on the 'Silence of the Lambs' scale.''
RHONDA COOK, JEFFRY SCOTT; Staff

Five days after Gary Michael Hilton led investigators into the north Georgia woods to the body of a missing Buford hiker, law enforcement officers in two other states named the vagabond a suspect in three other unsolved deaths.

Hilton, who has been charged with murder and kidnapping in the death of Meredith Emerson, 24, of Buford, is being held in the Dawson County jail. But late Friday, more charges appear to be on the way. Hilton is being investigated in five cases --- two in Georgia, one in North Carolina and two in Florida. Victims in three of the cases were decapitated.

While some media have tried to apply the "serial killer" label to describe Hilton, investigators have not gone that far. They say he hasn't exhibited all the specific qualities of a serial killer. But retired FBI profiler Clint Van Zandt said it's possible Hilton is a serial killer.

"There is a strong chance this guy ... is responsible for multiple homicide," Van Zandt said. "He's 61 years old. He didn't just fall off the turnip truck. This guy may be strange and bizarre but that's [decapitation] pretty far out. Is there a chance he is a serial killer? I think there is a strong possibility he is. The question is how long has he been doing this and how many homicides is he responsible for?

"This guy is way out there on the 'Silence of the Lambs' scale," Van Zandt said, comparing Hilton to a central character in a movie about a killer who ate his victims.

Federal authorities define serial killers by an "emotional cooling off" period between three or more separate planned and premeditated events.

"Serial killers commit multiple murders over several weeks, but what distinguishes them is a hiatus or cooling-off period between murders," according to Crime Library.com, citing the FBI's Crime Classification Manual.

Florida officials said they have enough evidence to charge Hilton with a murder in that state, Leon County District Attorney William Meggs said on Friday.

Meggs said authorities are prepared to charge Hilton in the murder of 46-year-old Cheryl Hodges Dunlap, whose body was found in Apalachicola National Forest on Dec. 1. Like Emerson, she was decapitated.

In North Carolina, Transylvania County Sheriff David Mahoney said, "At this point, I'm willing to say he's a suspect" in the unsolved October disappearance of John and Irene Bryant in Pisgah National Forest. Irene Bryant's body has been found but her husband's has not.

And in Ormand Beach, Fla. --- on the opposite coast from Leon County --- police confirmed they met with GBI officials on Thursday and are investigating Hilton in the gruesome killing of Michael Scot Louis, 27. His decapitated body was found spread among three trash bags on Dec. 6 near Tomoka State Park. Sgt. Doug Diamond said Ormond Beach police are processing DNA evidence from the body to see if it matches Hilton, a Florida native.

The once seemingly isolated cases were tied together as investigators in Georgia collected evidence and information while looking into Emerson's death. She had gone hiking with her dog in north Georgia on New Year's Day, when she was last seen walking with Hilton up Freeman Trail on Blood Mountain.

For days, volunteers, state agents and local police searched the woods around Blairsville for Emerson. On Monday night, Hilton led investigators to her body in Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area, about five miles southwest of Dawsonville. The prosecutor in Union County agreed not to seek the death penalty against Hilton in return for his cooperation in finding the body.

Since Emerson's body was found, law enforcement agencies in Georgia and neighboring states have looked at open cases to see if there are any similarities.

Friday, authorities in Troup County and Athens said they had found little to tie Hilton to cases in their jurisdictions --- the discovery of an unidentified woman's mutilated torso Dec. 6 near LaGrange and the disappearance of Cayle Bywater, 29, last seen with her dog at Memorial Park in Athens on Dec. 29.

Maj. Mark Sizemore of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department said though Hilton had not been "100 percent eliminated" as a suspect in Bywater's disappearance, "we do not believe he was in the area at that time." Police on Friday were investigating a woman's body found in a lake near where Bywater was last seen, but they had made no identification.

Even so, Van Zandt, the retired FBI profiler, predicted other deaths will be linked to Hilton once investigators complete the arduous process of developing a map of the movements of a man who lived in his van with his dog and held no permanent job.

"It's a horror show," Van Zandt said. "This no-good [expletive] scares me.

"The Dawson County prosecutor has not made public his decision on whether to seek the death penalty on the murder charges against Hilton, but it is not clear if he would may be bound by the promise his counterpart in Union County made. Prosecutors might seek it against Hilton in other cases.

Forsyth County Sheriff Ted Paxton said his office is looking at Hilton in the death of Patrice Endres, whose remains were found in Dawson County 20 months after she disappeared from her beauty salon north of Cumming on April 15, 2004. Paxton said he was unwilling to call Hilton a suspect but "He's a person of interest.

"We want to look at him. We are certainly going to interview him. But there's no hurry for us." Paxton said, adding that he didn't want to slow investigations of the more recent killings.

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020422&docId=l:727408352&start=7

[Roamer]

I like Van Zandt. He's right, more often than not.

[KittyMom]

http://www.wspa.com/midatlantic/spa/news.apx.-content-articles-SPA-2008-01-18-0023.html

Friday, Jan 18, 2008 - 05:20 PM Updated: 05:45 PM
Could a Clemson student missing for nearly 10 years be connected to accused killer Gary Hilton?

Jason Knapp disappeared in April of 1998, his car was later found at Table Rock State Park. On Friday, Assistant Pickens County Sheriff Tim Morgan told the Atlanta Journal Constitution his investigators are talking to detectives in Georgia to see if Hilton might have been anywhere near Pickens County in 1998.

Knapp's mother told the paper an investigator in Pickens County emailed her last week. She said she had not been paying attention to the Hilton case until she heard about that.

Hilton is charged with killing a hiker in Georgia and is the prime suspect in the murders of Irene and John Bryant in Transylvania County North Carolina.

[Grande]

Clemson, SC
Jason Knapp missing 4/12/1998 hiking
http://www.ajc.com/obits/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2008/01/18/hilton_0119.html

Orlando, FL
Jennifer Keese missing 1/24/2006

Dawson, GA
Levi Frady
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/15009776/detail.html

Charleston, SC
Brandy Hanna missing 4/12/2005

Gaffney, SC
Tina Crouch missing 4/3/1991

Greer, SC
Sharon Medlin missing 5/2/1998

Beech
Lisa Shuttleworth missing 9/4/2003

Gaffney, SC
Verlisha Littlejohn missing 11/27/2007 found dismembered

Forest Acres, SC
Paula Merchant missing 1/3/1999

Cherokee, NC
Rossana Millani missing 12/7/2005 hiker

Asheville, NC
Zebb Quinn missing 1/2/2000

Charlotte, NC
John Sansone missing 1/17/2004

Charlotte, NC
Kyle Fleischmann missing 11/12/2007

Lexington, NC
William Mark Alley missing 2/2/2000

Dawsonville, GA
Patrice Endres missing 4/15/2004

Cumming, GA
Levi Frady murdered 10/22/1997

North Way
Justin Gaines missing 11/7/2007

Ocilla, GA
Tara Grinstead Missing 10/27/2005

Gainesville, GA
Jacqueline Elaine Nix missing 9/20/1999

DeKalb
Unidentifed body 5/15/2007 dismembered
Unidentifed body
5/15/2007
dismembered

Franklin, GA
Unidentified body 5/15/2007 dismembered
Unidentified body
5/15/2007
dismembered

Richmond
Becky Annette Minish missing 3/17/1987 car found with flat tire
Becky Annette Minish

Atlanta, GA
Melissa Dawn Wolfenbarger missing 4/29/1999 severed head found

Ormond Beach, FL
Michael Scott Louis found 12/6/2007 dismembered

Panama City, FL
Pamela June Ray Missing 8/12/1992

Bahia Honda State Park
Unidentifed female found 2/15/1991

Flagler Beach, FL
Sherri Vanessa Holland missing 8/16/1996 car found with nail in tire

Gainesville, FL
Tiffany Sessions missing 2/9/1989

Collier
Unidentified female found 6/13/1982 dismembered

Hudson, FL
Diane Louise Augat missing 4/101998 finger & cloths found

Collier
Unidentified female found 4/3/1990 Blow to the head

Big Coppitt Key
Unidentified female found 2/15/1991 strangled near campgrounds

Belleair Beach, FL
Unidentified female found 4/25/1972 decapitated

Pinellas Park, FL
Ocala, FL
Christine Wiles missing 4/21/2007 car found in Ocala Nat Forest

Apalachicola National Forest
Cheryl Dunlap missing 12/1/2007 found 12/19/2007 dismembered

Tallahassee, FL
Ali Gilmore missing 2/3/2006 no clues just vanished

Old Town, FL
Judith Osteen missing 12/15/2007 kidnapped from home by white male Hilton was in area at this time

National Forest Rd
John & Irene Bryant missing 10/21/2007 Irene’s body found 11/9/2007 cause of death blow to head John’s body has not been founf
John & Irene Bryant
missing 10/21/2007
Irene’s body found 11/9/2007
cause of death blow to head

Vogel State Park
Meredith Emerson missing 12/31/2007 murdered by Gary Hilton 1/3/2008

Boaz, AL
Christy Lynn Garrard Boaz, AL Missing 8/14/1998 last seen vicinity of Roden Ave. and U.S. Hwy 431

Sherry Ann Milton Ensley, AL missing 8/14/2005 car found abandoned next day

Mobile, AL
Lisa Ann Pierce Mobile, AL missing 11/6/2000

Sylacauga, AL
Donna Rae Riggsby Sylacauga, AL missing 6/28/2003 went to convienence shop never returned

Donna Rae Riggsby
Sylacauga, AL
missing 6/28/2003
went to convienence shop never returned

Haleyville, AL
Randall Harold Whitfield Haleyville, AL missing 12/8/2001 deliver car to Russellville & disappeared

Montgomery, AL
Judie A. Wilding Montgomery, AL missing 4/1/2000 vehicle located behind her pet store w/belongings Similar to the Patrice Endres disappearence

Shorter, AL
Mont Highley IV Shorter, AL missing 11/28/03 abandoned vehicle was located approximately 2 miles from the cabin on County Rd. 30 in Macon County, AL. his remains located 2 month later

Lagrange, GA
Winchester, TN
Frankie Shea Ledbetter Winchester, TN abducted 12/24/2004 12/28/2004 Frankie’s remains were located by hunters in Estill Springs, TN in a wooded area just off of Paynes Church Rd., one mile south of S…

Huntingdon, TN
Janie Sue Lindsey Huntingdon, TN missing 10/10/2004 Car was later located on October 13, 2004 near the intersection of Grooms Rd. and Bobbitt Rd. in Carroll County, TN.

Knoxville, TN
Pamela Knight Knoxville, TN 10/27/2005 Her vehicle, described as a green 1994 Jeep Cherokee, was later located abandoned on December 29, 2005 in a beach area in Florida.

Birchwood, TN
John Doe 0062 Birchwood, TN found 8/29/2006 est date of death 6/15/2006 Victim’s remains were found by hunters in a wooded area. The body had black plastic bags over the torso and legs.

Jane Doe 0063
Chattanooga, TN
found 3/29/1999 est date of death 01/01/1999
Skeletal remains were located by workers clearing vegetation along the southbound side of I-24 between north and sourth Rossville Blvd. exits. The remains were located in an unnamed tributary of the Chattanooga Creek, approximately 200 yards west of the Cannon Ave. overpass. Manner of death is homicide

Madison, TN
Misty Anne Sullivan Madison, TN missing 2/4/2003 The next day, her vehicle was located abandoned at Shelby Park located east of 20th St. between Lillian St. and Davidson St. in Nashville, TN.

Jennifer Ann Low
Memphis, TN
missing 11/1/2003
Jennifer was last seen at a motel in the vicinity of the 5800 block of Shelby Oaks in Memphis, TN. She checked out of the motel by dropping her room key in a box, however, no one saw that it was actually her that left. Her suitcase, sleeping bag, coat, boots, and stereo were left in the room. Her rental car was located in the parking lot of the motel.

Smyrna NC
Steve Wade Boyer
Missing 12/23/1984
Body found 1/8/1985
Smyrna police believe a decapitated body, found in Transylvania County, N.C. two weeks ago, is that of a Smyrna man who was reported missing in December.

List courtesy of Reddog

[KittyMom]

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2008/04/30/hilton_0501.html

Gary Michael Hilton claims he had nothing to do with disappearance of Clemson student

By CHRISTIAN BOONE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 04/30/08

Alleged serial killer Gary Michael Hilton claims he had nothing to do with the disappearance of a Clemson University student, and South Carolina authorities said Wednesday they are inclined to believe him.

"We think that he most probably was not involved," said Pickens County, S.C., Assistant Sheriff Tim Morgan, who interviewed Hilton on April 17 at the Georgia state penitentiary in Jackson, where Hilton is serving a life sentence for the murder of hiker Meredith Emerson.

The erstwhile drifter and grifter is also charged in the decapitation of Crawfordville, Fla. nurse Cheryl Dunlap, and is the prime suspect in the slaying of an elderly North Carolina couple, John and Irene Bryant.

Jason Knapp, then a 20-year-old sophomore, was last seen on Easter Sunday, 1998. He is thought to have disappeared somewhere in Table Rock State Park in Pickens, about 45 minutes from where the Bryants were abducted.

"There were similarities in all the cases, and we'd be derelict in our duties if we didn't talk to him," Morgan said.

Even Hilton acknowledged the apparent coincidences in Knapp's case and the four murders in which he's been either convicted, charged or implicated.

"He kind of laughed and then he said, 'That sounds just like my modus operandi,'" Morgan said.

But Knapp's credit cards were never used; Hilton had withdrawn money, or attempted to, from each of his alleged victims. Pickens County investigators say they believe Hilton was in the metro Atlanta area on Easter 1998.

Morgan said Hilton was garrulous and animated during their 90-minute conversation. The next day, Hilton faxed a two-page missive to the Pickens County Sheriff's Office, reiterating that he never met Jason Knapp and suggested the man fell to his death while hiking.

"Let me assure you again that all you would have to do is offer me no death penalty and I would be glad to clear everything up, but it wasn't me," Hilton wrote. "I hope that as a result of this letter and our interview that you will have some good thoughts of me and understand that I'm not all bad."

[KittyMom]

http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/ajc/hilton.pdf

This is a motion that Hilton hand wrote fighting his extradiction to FL. I certainly hope he's not as smart as the document sounds.

[Faith]

Killer Hilton Loses Extradition Fight

POSTED: 9:48 am EDT May 2, 2008

BUTTS COUNTY, Ga. -- Confessed killer Gary Michael Hilton lost his fight Friday to avoid extradition to Florida in another case.

Hilton is serving a life sentence for murder in the death of Georgia hiker Meredith Emerson.

A Butts County judge denied his bid to avoid extradition to Florida where he is charged with the murder and kidnapping of nurse Cheryl Hodges Dunlap. Her body was found decapitated in a national forest in Florida.

He has no attorney and represented himself at the hearing.

Authorities say he also is a suspect in the deaths of a North Carolina couple, John and Irene Bryant.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/16131820/detail.html?treets=atl&tml=atl_break&ts=T&tmi=atl_break_1_09000405022008

[nanabillie]

As for Sherry Medlin from Greer, she was in her house in the bed, her husband said, when he left to get breakfast and gone when he got back. That is not really Hilton's MO.

http://www.helpfindthemissing.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7421&highlight=Sharon+Medlin
This statement he went to get breakfast and to a flea market.
(Her son called LE four days later after finding out, I believe)
Didn't mean to get OT

[sarahhod]

Ali Gilmore's disappearance has taken a toll on family after 3 years


By Nic Corbett • DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER • February 2, 2009

Three years of not knowing what happened to Ali Gilmore has been devastating for her family.“It really took a toll on (my mother),” said Gilmore’s sister, Tracy Smith. “It aged her. She was so mobile before, and now she’s not as mobile. ... You never experience something like that, the not knowing where she is, not knowing what happened. Some days, you say, ‘Well, I know she’s dead,’ and other days you say, ‘Well, they don’t have a body, so you know.’ It’s the hope.”
Gilmore disappeared without a trace in the early-morning hours of Feb. 3, 2006. She was 30 years old and four months pregnant at the time.
She was last seen about 11 p.m. the day prior leaving her part-time job at Publix on Apalachee Parkway. Tallahassee police say she received a call at 12:47 a.m. but never revealed who it was from.

Her car was left in the driveway of her Loraine Court home. Her purse was found inside the car with a set of work keys but not her house or car keys. Police say they found no evidence of foul play. There was no sign of forced entry into the house, which was locked except for one side window.

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20090202/BREAKINGNEWS/90201020

[KittyMom]

My brother is in LE in North GA. He spent last weekend in the area where Meredith was abducted from searching for a woman on horseback that was lost. He was telling me that the area, although a park, would be the type of place an abduction could easily happen as the trails have spots that visibility is poor. I thought it was pretty interesting. He worked with some LE that worked Meredith's case.

[sarahhod]

Serial killer experts target Hilton case

By Christian Boone (cboone@ajc.com), Rhonda Cook (%20rcook@ajc.com)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/02/08


Guilty of one murder, charged with another and linked to two more slayings, Gary Michael Hilton (http://g.ajc.com/r/DY/) appears poised for infamy.
While he doesn't yet qualify as a "serial killer," the Atlanta-born transient captured the attention of FBI profilers within a week of his arrest in the decapitation of Buford hiker Meredith Emerson (http://g.ajc.com/r/DY/). They traveled from their headquarters in Quantico, Va., to observe Hilton during questioning and again when he pleaded guilty Jan. 31 to the murder of Emerson, whom he abducted from Blood Mountain in North Georgia on New Year's Day.
If the evidence against Hilton —- he was charged Thursday in the decapitation of Crawfordville, Fla., nurse Cheryl Dunlap —- leads to more convictions, their research has only just begun.
In anonymity, Hilton, 61, existed on the margins, drifting through a series of failed relationships, odd jobs and shiftless scams. The Army veteran never adapted to civilian life, often retreating to his van in the woods.
No longer anonymous, Hilton remains an enigma. His advanced age breaks the profiler mold, as serial murderers typically begin killing between 25 and 35 years of age, experts agree.
"This guy didn't just fall off the turnip truck and start doing this," retired FBI profiler Clint Van Zandt said.
Criminologist Eric Hickey, director of forensic studies at Alliant International University in Fresno, Calif., said he expects Hilton's predatory behavior began well before October 2007, when the erstwhile subcontractor is alleged to have abducted and killed avid hikers John and Irene Bryant. Transylvania (N.C.) County Sheriff David Mahoney said there is "no question" Hilton was responsible for the elderly couple's deaths.
"It's almost unprecedented to see someone go from zero to what he did," Hickey said. "I'd suspect he could be linked to several other crimes."
Officials in Pickens County, S.C., are waiting until North Carolina completes its investigation of Hilton before pursuing him as a possible suspect in the abduction of Clemson University student Jason Knapp, last seen on Easter 10 years ago. Investigators said Knapp's fingerprints were on a ticket admitting him to Table Rock State Park.
Noel Talley, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Justice, confirmed Hilton is a suspect in Rossana Miliani's disappearance but declined to offer more details. Miliani was last seen Dec. 7, 2005, near Bryson City, N.C. Some said she was with a white man in his 60s, and the young woman appeared nervous.
Beyond his age, Hilton fits many of the characteristics shared by serial killers. Renowned criminologist Steven Egger's criteria include no relationship to the victim and a minimum of two killings, though some experts say three killings are a better indicator.
The slayings typically occur at different locales —- Hilton is linked to crimes in three states so far —- though the victims often share characteristics such as gender or age. The motivation is not financial, Egger said, though Hilton told the GBI that's why he killed Emerson.
"Money was a secondary issue," Hickey said. "This was about power. When you consider his comfort in the woods, that is where he felt most powerful, and that's why he killed them where he did."
Why he killed is the greater mystery.
At about the same time the Bryants were killed, Hilton's life was changing dramatically. In September, his longtime employer, John Tabor, succumbed to Hilton's demands for $2,500.
Hilton's behavior had become increasingly erratic, Tabor said, and he paid him off in hopes of severing their already fractured relationship.
"This is systemic behavior with most of these guys," Hickey said. "He feels like the world is against him. There's issues of rejection, abandonment. Killing becomes his focus."
But Hilton got sloppy, especially in disposing of clues linking him to Emerson's death. He was arrested at a Chamblee gas station and convenience store near a busy intersection after being spotted dumping loads of sleeping bags, backpacks, bedrolls and blankets into a Dumpster.
"Narcissism is not uncommon for such anti-social personality disorders," said Joe Davis, a veteran profiler and forensic psychologist based out of San Diego. "He likes the attention he's getting."
While all four of the bodies Hilton could be connected with were left in dense forests, they were still somewhat conspicuous.
Hilton led authorities to Emerson's body on the condition they not seek the death penalty. Hunters in Florida and North Carolina, respectively, discovered Dunlap's and Bryant's corpses mere yards from unpaved hunting trails.
"I suspect he wanted them to be found," Hickey said. "He wants to be heard. He wants to frighten people. He wants to show his power.
"To him, it's really about having a voice."
—————
Gary Michael Hilton (http://g.ajc.com/r/DY/) may be among the oldest suspected serial killers, but he's not the oldest. Missouri grandparents Ray and Faye Copeland were in their 70s when they killed five transient farmhands in the late 1980s, burying the bodies in shallow graves around their property. The victims' clothing was used to fashion a handmade quilt discovered by police. The couple was sentenced to death, though each died before their execution dates.
—————
THE STORY SO FAR
> Previously: Gary Michael Hilton (http://g.ajc.com/r/DY/) pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison Jan. 31 for murdering Meredith Emerson (http://g.ajc.com/r/DY/), a Buford woman he met hiking in the Georgia mountains. Hilton is being assessed for a permanent prison assignment.
> The latest: Leon County, Fla., prosecutors charged Hilton with killing Cheryl Dunlap, a 46-year-old nurse and Sunday schoolteacher, in December in Florida.
> What's next: Local, state and federal law enforcement officers are investigating him in connection with the killings of hikers Irene Bryant, 84, and John Bryant, 79, of North Carolina. They disappeared in October.


http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/03/02/profiler03021.html

[Faith]

Family of missing woman pins hopes on sketch

June 20, 2009 07:08 PM

Bryson City — A private investigator looking for a woman who disappeared in Swain County four years ago has released an image of the man last seen with her.

Asheville-based investigator Steve Siske made the sketch public with the hopes of generating leads in the case.

Rossana Miliani was last seen Dec. 7, 2005, in Bryson City. The 26-year-old with bipolar disorder had told her family she was going hiking.

The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into whether her disappearance has ties to Gary Michael Hilton, who pleaded guilty to killing a Georgia hiker and is suspected in other slayings.

The missing woman's father said he believes the sketch could be Hilton.
“The picture kind of resembles him in a better time,” said Anibal Miliani, whose family has spent the last four years looking for clues in Rossana's disappearance.

Hilton, a drifter who frequented state and national forest areas in the Southeast, is a suspect the murder of Western North Carolina hikers two years after Miliani disappeared.

Investigators in Transylvania County believe he killed Jack and Irene Bryant in October 2007.

Irene Bryant's body was found covered with leaves in the Pink Beds area of Pisgah National Forest, and her husband's skeletal remains were found months later off a U.S. Forest Service road in Macon County.

Someone used their ATM card in Ducktown, Tenn., after they disappeared.
Hilton pleaded guilty in January 2008 to bludgeoning hiker Meredith Emerson to death after he kidnapped her from a state park on New Year's Day that year. He had planned to get her bank card pass code and steal money from her accounts.

He is also a suspect in the slayings of two hikers in Florida.
Very little was know about the Miliani case until a store clerk called Siske after reading about it on the second anniversary of her disappearance.

Pick up Sunday's print edition of the Citizen-Times or check back here tomorrow for the full story.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090620/NEWS01/90620036

[annalyzer]

My brother rd had a run-in with Hilton in 1985. :eek:

http://www.justiceforchandra.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3501&highlight=hilton

[Faith]

My brother rd had a run-in with Hilton in 1985. :eek:

http://www.justiceforchandra.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3501&highlight=hilton

Oh My!!

[Faith]

Sketch may aid search of woman missing for 4 years

June 21, 2009 12:15 AM

http://cmsimg.citizen-times.com//apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=B0&Date=20090621&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=906210338&Ref=AR&MaxW=180&Border=0

BRYSON CITY — A private investigator looking for a woman who disappeared in Swain County four years ago has released an image of the man last seen with her.

Asheville-based investigator Steve Siske made the sketch public with the hopes of generating leads in the case.

Rossana Miliani was last seen Dec. 7, 2005, in Bryson City. The 26-year-old with bipolar disorder had told her family she was going hiking.

The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into whether her disappearance has ties to Gary Michael Hilton, who pleaded guilty to killing a Georgia hiker and is suspected in other slayings.

The missing woman's father said he believes the sketch could be Hilton.

More
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090621/NEWS01/906210338