BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. — Law enforcement officials announced Sunday that they have expanded the search for former Longmont resident Meredith Emerson to a five-county area extending from metro Atlanta to the northern Georgia mountains.
Authorities hold out little hope that Emerson is still alive.
Officials for the first time acknowledged there could be a connection between the Emerson case and the disappearance and presumed slayings in October of John and Irene Bryant, an elderly couple from North Carolina.
That connection could be Gary Michael Hilton, a 61-year- old man police say was the last person seen with the 24-year- old Emerson before she vanished New Year’s Day while hiking in northern Georgia.
Hilton was taken into custody Friday in DeKalb County and charged Saturday with kidnapping with bodily injury. His first court appearance is scheduled for this afternoon in Blairsville, in Union County.
