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Nancy Grace

Cops Name Person of Interest in Missing Hiker Case

Aired January 03, 2008 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, GUEST HOST: Tonight, a 24-year-old woman with her black Labrador retriever at her side hikes into the mountains of north Georgia only to vanish into thin air. Meredith Emerson is described as very athletic and an experienced hiker, but she hasn`t been seen or heard from since hiking the Freeman (ph) trail on New Year`s day.
Breaking developments tonight. Police reveal that before Emerson vanished, there were sightings by fellow hikers of the young woman with a weathered-looking man. According to CNN affiliates, police are looking to talk to Gary Michael Hilton. Also tonight, we learn police find Emerson`s abandoned car and other items, including her dog`s leash, along that trail. Now search and rescue teams battling freezing temperatures on those snow- covered mountains for any sign of 24-year-old Meredith Emerson and her dog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities are staying posted here near the car of 24-year-old Meredith Emerson. She went hiking here at Blood Mountain on Tuesday. Her roommate says the 24-year-old UGA (ph) grad left their Gwinnett County home for a hiking trip with her black Lab Tuesday morning. She became concerned when Meredith had not returned home Wednesday morning. She and some friends began looking for her in some of her favorite hiking spots. Local and state authorities began searching, but the high winds made it impossible for air searches to continue. The woman`s water bottle and the dog`s leash were found on the ground. What`s alarming, reports that a man carrying an asp (ph) baton was seen following the 24-year-old out of the woods.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, in for Nancy Grace. Tonight, the search for a missing female hiker in the north Georgia mountains, and a person of interest. What happened to 24-year-old Meredith Emerson?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two days of brutally cold temperatures have Georgia authorities worried about a hiker who went missing on Tuesday, New Year`s day. Twenty-four-year-old Meredith Emerson was last seen hiking near the Appalachian Trail with her black Lab.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thought this was a young woman maybe lost in the woods, you know, gone for a hike and gotten lost. But the more we found out about Meredith Emerson -- she knew those trails. She was very athletic, walking with her dog, her little black Labrador, Ella. Now we find out there is a person of interest. The police say a man described as 60 years old, about 160 pounds, very weathered-looking, no teeth or perhaps having teeth or no teeth. Sort of sounds like everyone`s primal nightmare.

Witnesses saw her talking to him with -- he had a dog, as well. The two -- pair were talking, and then they both headed up the mountain. Now, a couple of witnesses both saw this. Of course, her family is very freaked out by this whole thing, and they have flown in from Colorado. They say that she can take care of herself, but they are very concerned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, in tonight for Nancy Grace. A desperate search in the frigid mountains of north Georgia as the family and friends of Meredith Emerson become increasingly frantic over her disappearance more than 48 hours ago. Developments are fast and furious, with police hunting for a person of interest believed to be driving a white van.

For more on all these late-breaking developments, let`s go straight out to CNN correspondent Rusty Dornin. Rusty, what is the very latest?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jane, it`s been so puzzling since we first heard about this person of interest. Apparently, there were five or six witnesses, some of whom are still remaining anonymous. They have not come forward to give their names to police. But they do describe seeing Meredith Emerson talking to an older man they all said was about 60 years old, very weatherbeaten, carrying a large backpack, apparently had no teeth. Now, this man apparently was seen driving also a white minivan described as a 2000-2001 minivan. Apparently, now police have put this together and do believe that this person of interest is Gary Michael Hilton.

Now, we have not spoken directly to the sheriff`s department about this, but our affiliates are reporting this. This man is 61 years old. According to court documents, he has a very -- he has a minor criminal record for marijuana possession and theft. But they are desperately wanting to talk to him to see what did they talk about on the trail there.

Now, the people that saw them chatting did say that there didn`t seem to be anything wrong. They seemed -- they were just -- seemed to be chatting. He had a large red dog, some kind of retriever. She had her black Labrador, Ella. And the two of them seemed to be playing as the pair chatted on the trial. And as we said before, some witnesses describe -- the pair started to head up the mountain and the dogs ran up the hill, and that was the last time anyone saw her -- Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, before we go on, Rusty, let me stress this man is not considered a suspect at this time. He is a person of interest, which means police want to talk to him. It is very possible -- we don`t know what happened on that mountain -- that he had a nice chat with Meredith Emerson and she went on his way and he is not in any way involved.

However, police do want to talk to him. And they do believe that he is in a 2000 to 2001 white Chevy Astro van with De Kalb County, Georgia, license plate -- let me say this, this is so important, people. If you see this license plate, call police immediately -- De Kalb County, Georgia, license plate A as in apple, F as in Frank, Q as in quantity, 1310.

Now, getting back to Rusty, there are some very odd aspects to this case, involving a sheath, a water bottle, a leash, and possibly a baton and sunglasses. Tell us about all those items.

DORNIN: Well, the interesting thing is, these items were all found by one of the witnesses and taken to a mountain store nearby and handed to that person. So the police don`t know exactly where they were found, other than the description by that witness. Now, this police baton, they don`t know who that belonged to. They do not know whether that belonged to this Gary Hilton or not. Witnesses did say they did see him -- Hilton wearing some kind of sheath. They didn`t say what was in that sheath, but he had some kind of sheath strapped to his leg. So right now, the police still are being very cautious about trying to associate this police baton with this person of interest.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And let`s just get his description down pat because they do have a lot of details -- apparently, a backpack, a yellow jacket. Tell us everything you know about this man that the police want to talk to as a person of interest.

DORNIN: He`s about 5-foot-10. All the witnesses describe him as weighing about 160 pounds, silver gray hair. All of the witnesses said he either had teeth or was -- or had no teeth or was missing quite a few teeth. They all seem to be unanimous in that. And he was carrying, as we say, a very large older-looking backpack. Some of them described him as a man that looked like he`d been hiking for days in the mountains.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst and author of "Deal Breakers," you have heard this description. Again, this man is not considered a suspect. We don`t want to malign him. But hearing all this, what do you make of this person?

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Well, it`s interesting. I was thinking -- again, I don`t know about Gary. I don`t know him personally. But when you think about rape-abduction or rape-abduction-homicide, usually the perpetrator -- 80 to 85 percent of the perpetrators are unemployed single. Over 50 percent of them are unemployed, single. Over 50 percent of them are white. Often, they drive minivans or sedan-type cars. If it`s a part of a sadistic rape scenario, often it`s very rehearsed, fantasized- about crime before it takes place.

And the eyewitnesses said that she was hiking into the mountains with him. This was a six-mile trail. And she may have looked comfortable with him, but remember she`s only 24 years old. She was probably as creeped out by him as some of the other eyewitnesses who had testified to what the guy looked like and what his demeanor was like.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, this has got to be so awful for the family right now, incomprehensible. We are very, very honored to have with us on the phone Julia Karrenbauer, who is Meredith Emerson`s roommate and friend. Again, this has to be so tough for you and the Emerson family. Thank you for joining us. We are hoping here at the NANCY GRACE show that somehow, the information we provide tonight will help, and our hopes and thoughts are with you and the Emerson family.

You`re Meredith`s roommate. When did you first discover something was wrong, something was amiss?

JULIA KARRENBAUER, MISSING HIKER`S ROOMMATE AND FRIEND: Correct. I didn`t think anything of it when she said that she was going hiking with the dog, something she did normally. She went to bed that night. I noticed in the morning that the dog was not there. Usually, she leaves for work before I do and she puts the dog in my room, and then I kind of take care of it, take it out, put it in its crate before I go to work.

When the dog wasn`t there, I was a little concerned. Didn`t want to make too big of a deal of it until I got to work. A friend notified me that she had not actually gone to work that day, in which case I definitely knew something was wrong because that is definitely not like Meredith.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, she`s 5-4 and about 120 pounds, but apparently extremely strong, and apparently has a blue belt in martial arts? Tell us about that.

KARRENBAUER: That she does, yes. She started it about two years ago, maybe a little over two years ago. She loves going up and working on her different belts. She comes home and shows me all the boards that she broke and how she threw a 250-pound man over her shoulder, you know, and things like that. It was a big interest of hers. And she`s really strong, very fit, runs all the time and hikes all the time. So we are confident in her physical and mental abilities.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And that`s certainly good news. Let me ask you about her parents. Apparently, they`ve flown in from Colorado and they are obviously frantic and desperate and helping in this search.

KARRENBAUER: Correct. Absolutely. She got her hiking -- the love of hiking from her parents. As well, they`re strong head on their shoulders. She got all of that from her family. Her father, you know, put on his gear and everything and headed up the mountain to look along with these rescuers, side by side, for Meredith.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Thank you so much for sharing all of that.

Let`s put our detective caps on. And for that, let`s go to Pat Brown, criminal profiler and author of "Killing for Sport." As we hear all of this, let`s try to just use deductive reasoning. Either she got lost or something untoward happened to her. Those are two main possibilities. But given that all of this is happening on a mountain, how possible is it for somebody -- and we`re speaking hypothetically -- somebody, anybody to take a person against their will down a mountain?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, Jane, I think, first of all, unfortunately, I don`t think it sounds too good, like she just got lost. It does sound like this is probably something untoward happened out there on the mountain.

One thing about serial killers and hiking trails is they tend to like to hang around the trailheads and watch the women come and go. They usually tend to be lazy. They don`t usually like to go more than a mile just to go in and find somebody who`s alone. So I`m looking at this one man who`s a suspect, and he`s...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, he`s not a suspect, he`s a person of interest.

BROWN: The person of interest. Yes. Let`s go back to (INAUDIBLE) person of interest. And he`s a good person of interest because, of course, he was seen with her. And one thing that happens to women, even if they`ve taken that karate and they think they`re strong and all that, it gets their guard down. It`s almost dangerous that they think this way -- gets their guard down because if you`re walking along and chatting with somebody, and all you do is look away for a second, they hit you over the top of the head with, for example, a police baton. You`re down and out and you do not have any chance to fight back.

Now, one more thing. What concerns me, too, is another person of interest, in my opinion, is the man who turned in this police baton, supposedly, and some other items because let`s face it, you know, this man may be a person of interest, the man with a backpack, but everybody who saw them is a person of interest, as well. They were also out on that trail.

Here`s a man who finds this stuff. Why is he turning -- he`s supposed to be a former police officer. Why does he turn these in to a store instead of calling the police if he suspects some suspicious activity? He could have been the person of interest we should be looking at.

So the police are going to have to keep an open mind as to who might have been the last person around Meredith on that trail.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And of course, we are speaking hypothetically. We want to remind everybody right now...

BROWN: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... there are no suspects, only this one person of interest that police are looking to interview and find out what happened on the mountain. And that former officer may well be a good Samaritan and a hero in all this...

BROWN: Absolutely.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... who brought all that material and is actually going to perhaps help authorities break this case.

BROWN: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The phone lines are lighting up. Let`s go to Jasmine in Mississippi. Your question, ma`am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My dog, Baby (ph), would fight to the death before he`d let somebody harm me. Have they checked any hospitals or clinics to see if anybody has any dog bites or injuries?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, that`s an excellent question. Rusty Dornin, CNN correspondent, she was with a lab, and the person of interest also has a dog and their dogs were playing. What do we know about the role that dogs have played in all this?

DORNIN: Well, actually, speaking to Julia, her roommate, the dog, Ella, is described as an obedience dog. It`s a black Lab. They`re known to be very friendly. And apparently, Meredith was very fond of having her -- the dog be very obedient. There was a lot of obedience training. But the dog was not trained as any kind of protection or any kind of attack dog or anything like that. So obviously, this is a big piece of the puzzle. If, indeed, someone did try to do something to her, what did happen to the dog, as well?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you know, getting back to Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, I know I have three rescue pound puppies myself, and that`s why I know everybody in my neighborhood and I talk to strangers all the time. When you`re with dogs, sometimes your guard is down because everybody`s gushing over your dogs, and it sort of breaks the ice with strangers. Can that be dangerous sometimes?

MARSHALL: Oh, yes. I mean, when you`re hiking a trail, you`re a dog lover, you see another person with a dog, you feel like you`re part of the family, a member of a club. It`s very similar to women who go on dating sites, like maybe Eharmony or something, and they assume because the man wants the same thing they do or has similar interests that he`s a member of the club and can be trusted. But that is not always the case.

Pat Brown brought up a really interesting point about serial killers hanging around at trailheads. What we also know from Department of Justice research is when it comes to abduction-homicide, the body is usually disposed of within a quarter mile of the crime. I`m not suggesting she was killed, but if this was a crime, you know, that quarter-mile area would be a very, very important place to search.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And we`re going to get to the attorneys in just a moment. But you raise an important point. Rusty Dornin, what about this search and helicopters using infrared technology?

DORNIN: They did -- were able to get a helicopter up today, Jane. Yesterday, the winds were just too powerful. And they did have one that was outfitted with infrared equipment. They also took in the search dogs. They had about 30 people searching today. Many of her co-workers went up, as well as friends and family. As you heard, her father also joined. He is an experienced hiker from Colorado. He also joined in those search and rescue teams. But they just were not able to find any signs at all today. And they did quit right as the sun set. The temperatures are getting down into the teens overnight up in the north Georgia mountains.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, are they going to pick up the search tomorrow morning?

DORNIN: Yes. The search will begin once again tomorrow morning, once again, although they did cover much of the trail that she is believed to have hiked, which is about a six-mile trail, the Appalachian Trail, but they are going to be covering any forks off there, trying to hit any places they may have missed. And of course, they are still searching for this white minivan to talk to this gentleman, this person of interesting, to find out, perhaps, if he was not involved in any way, where did he see her go. Which direction did she go in the last time he saw her?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So much more on this case. We`ll get to it in just a moment.

To tonight`s "Case Alert," the desperate search for a missing 13-year- old Colorado girl, Elizabeth Vannoy, last seen leaving her Boulder home on Friday, concern for the young girl`s whereabouts with freezing temperatures in that area, as well, Vannoy 5-5, 100 pounds, blue eyes, brown hair with red tint. If you have any information, please call Boulder police at 303- 441-3333.

And on a much lighter note, be sure to check out Nancy`s baby blog because very, very, very soon, video of Nancy and the twins will make its debut. Plus, you can check out all the latest messages from Nancy herself. That`s at CNN.com/nancygrace. And remember, Nancy returns to Headline News January 7, 8:00 PM sharp Eastern. Be sure to mark your calendars for Nancy`s return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meredith Emerson can do anything. She is feisty. She is strong. She`s tiny and petite, 120 pounds, but let me tell you, I have every hope that if anybody could -- she can run those mountains. She`s a strong person. If anybody can survive this, she can. She`s got her dog. They`re -- that`s my hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, in for Nancy Grace. How could a young hiker and her beloved dog simply vanish? Does her disappearance have anything at all to do with this weathered, possibly toothless silver-haired man seen talking to Meredith Emerson, a man whose dog, Dandy, played with Meredith`s dog, a person of interest now identified by our Atlanta affiliate as Gary Michael Hilton -- once again, not a suspect, a person of interest.

Let`s go to the lawyers, Pamela Davis, former federal prosecutor, and Randy Zelin, defense attorney, starting with you, Pamela. You`ve heard a lot of this evidence. What would you do with this investigation?

PAMELA DAVIS, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, I`d do what they`re doing, which is immediately look for this Gary Hilton and see what light he can possibly shed on this. But I`d also will want to talk to -- as somebody earlier already addressed, I`d want to speak to this person who delivered all of these items to this local shop. I don`t understand why that person would have brought things to a store and not immediately to a police station. That doesn`t make any sense to me. So I`d want to speak to this ex-police officer, too.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Randy Zelin, defense attorney, what do you think?

RANDY ZELIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Too good to be true, bringing all these things?

ZELIN: First of all, it`s not too good to be true because from a human standpoint, you have a girl that`s missing. And I`m a father. And we start with that. But having said all of that, I think what we just heard is very profound. We`re so interested in focusing in on -- we keep calling him toothless, weathered. I can only imagine if he had perfect teeth, he was dressed head to toe in Eddie Bauer, if we would be making such a big deal. But the fact that you have an ex-police officer who may have seriously compromised evidence in a case because this stuff went in the hands of other people -- it could seriously damage any evidentiary value that this stuff has. So let`s stop focusing on this guy. Everybody who was on the mountain is a person of interest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, in for Nancy Grace. The clock is ticking in an increasingly frantic search for a beautiful, popular, athletic young woman named Meredith Emerson who went hiking with her black Lab on New Year`s day before they both mysteriously vanished.

Let`s go straight back out to Rusty Dornin, CNN correspondent, to clarify two issues, the baton and this ex-officer who returned some items to a shop.

DORNIN: From what we understand, the former police officer found these items, and what he found was a leash, and -- apparently -- and not the baton. We`re not sure that this former police officer found the baton, but did find that water bottle. Now, he apparently took it to the shop. Now, as you would find something often at the end of a hiking trail that look like they`re lost items. Apparently, he took them to the store and left them with the store owner. It wasn`t until later that when he saw on the news that this woman was missing, he did call police back and did do an extensive interview with them then.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And what about this baton? It`s sort of like urban legend, at this point, or was there actually a baton?

DORNIN: Well, no. From what Kim Fredone (ph) of the Union City Police Department told me was that they -- this baton was turned in, but no one really knows how it relates because they don`t know who the person was that actually found that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But Rusty...

DORNIN: It`s very unclear. They`re trying to sort it all out now.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Didn`t a witness say they saw this person of interest with a baton?

DORNIN: Now, I have some conflicting views on that. I`ve heard -- the police just say a sheath, he was wearing a sheath, but he wasn`t -- they don`t say he was wearing a baton. But you are hearing that some witnesses say it was a baton. So it`s very unclear.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have actually gotten more information on this white male that`s of interest. He is actually -- from what we gather, he`s a 60-year-old white male. He is 5`10. He is 160 pounds. He has silver- gray hair. And he is possibly in a 2000, 2001, that style of a minivan, white in color, actually was seen in the area yesterday morning. And the dog is actually a reddish in color large furry dog. We can`t tell if it`s actually an Irish Setter or a Lab. And the dog answers to the name of Dandy, not Danny. It`s Dandy or Dandi

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, in for Nancy Grace. Where is Meredith Emerson and why did the 24-year-old university of Georgia graduate disappear while hiking in the mountains of north Georgia on New Year`s Day with her beloved dog, a Black Lab named Ella? Now police search for a person of interest. His name is Gary Michael Hilton. Again, we have with us tonight, Julia Karrenbauer, who is Meredith Emerson`s roommate and a close friend.

You have been very involved in this ordeal. Can you describe, in general terms, the terrain in which your friend disappeared?

KARRENBAUER: We think it`s a terrain which she`s very familiar with. At the minimum, she`s been hiking it for the past three years. So we think it was kind of rather simple day hike and nothing more than that. Where some of the officials have gone has been more treacherous, especially with the weather and the snow and things like that. But on her original day hike plan, my guess is, you know, the snow wasn`t going to be a factor. She did know that it was going to be windy.

She did tell a friend that if she was going to go up, she was concerned a little bit about the wind. But other than that it`s a trail she`s run up. She`s hiked up, something that she`s very familiar with.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We have described Meredith physically as extremely strong, agile; what about emotionally? Is she the type of person that would interact with a stranger? Certainly, I have done it a million times. I have, as I mentioned, three dogs and I often talk to people about dogs. When they play with each other, that is an encouragement to talk to somebody about dogs.

KARRENBAUER: Absolutely, it`s a common link to talk about dogs, especially when you`re in areas with other dogs. I also have a dog. We take our dogs together to the dog park. But friendly his, hellos, maybe a little bit of what kind is your dog and that. She`s very aware of situations in which you`re uncomfortable. Her and I, when we go out and things like that, you know, kind of react in a similar situation, try to kind of appease people and move on, not to cause any panic and things like that, which is probably why some witnesses saw her talking to the gentleman.

Short probably discussions, hi, how are you, let`s talk about your dog a little bit and then move on, and things like that. But she has a great mind about her and would definitely realize, you know, if something was out of sorts.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, well, it`s good to know. And we have been talking about the possibility of foul play; let`s remember that there`s a very good possibility that she got lost -- there was snow fall -- and that she is alive and surviving somewhere. Let`s go to Dr. Marty Makary, physician and professor of public health at Johns Hopkins, as well as Greg Davenport, who`s a wilderness expert, who has written several books on survival.

First of all, let`s start with the doctor, snow in the area, her car was covered in snow. Temperatures with the wind chill dipping down near zero. What does that do to the human body?

DR. MARTY MAKARY, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Well, the great concern here, Jane, from a medical standpoint is when your body temperature goes down 10 or 15 degrees from its normal temperature of 95 degrees or so, the body shuts down. The biological and chemical processes shut down. That includes the brain. And at some point you become suddenly disoriented and you have this incredible anxiety because you can`t distinguish north from south. And it`s a terrible feeling.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And Greg Davenport, wilderness expert, what advice do you give to people in situations where they are lost in the cold?

GREG DAVENPORT, WILDERNESS EXPERT: The first thing is, they need to stop and stay put. I mean, it`s obvious, search and rescue is going to start in your last known location, so the more you move, the further you get out of that search pattern.

The second thing is to meet their needs. And for her, it`s very important that she understands, personal protection is the key. She has to take care of her clothing, avoid getting wet. If she gets wet, she`s going to lose heat 26 times faster than she would if she was dry. She needs to find some type of shelter. That might be a tree well, or something that protects her from the wind and the moisture.

She also needs to stay hydrated and she needs to signal for help. And the third thing, and the most important thing for her, is she needs to keep the faith, the faith that search and rescue is looking for her. And she might get some more additional faith from her dog. Her dog is definitely going to be a key in helping her have that will to survive.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely. So many calls coming in. Anna from Indiana, your question?

CALLER: Did she have a cell phone with her, and are they going to use search and rescue dogs?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Excellent question, both of them. I believe we do have Norman Cooper, editor of the "North Georgia News" on the phone. What can you tell us about those two aspects, sir?

NORMAN COOPER, "NORTH GEORGIA NEWS": First of all, no one has said anything about a cell phone. No one has said whether she had one on her person or not. This afternoon the Union County Sheriff`s Office did get some canine units at the bottom of the mountain and coming north. All of the ground searches started north and went down hill. Now, they are downhill and going north. They obviously called it off tonight because of the weather and the darkness. And they`ll start again at about 6:00 in the morning.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, well, let`s take that question to Julia Karrenbauer, Meredith`s roommate and very good friend, did she take her cell phone with her, and for that matter, her identification?

KARRENBAUER: I can`t really answer a confirmed yes or no, but nobody has been able to locate a cell phone or anything like her I.D. It wasn`t in the car and things like that. So we can`t really confirm if it was on her person or not.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Have you called that cell phone number?

KARRENBAUER: Of course, absolutely. And every now and then, still, just for a hope that, you know, it won`t go straight to voice mail. But it has gone straight to voice mail.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It goes straight to voice mail. That`s interesting, Pat Brown, criminal profiler, and author of "Killing for Sport," we have heard so much about the pings and how authorities follow the pings. If it is going straight to voice mail, would that indicate that it`s off? And if it`s off, can they follow the pings?

BROWN: Well, if it`s off, that`s going to be a major problem. And if somebody did do something to her on that mountain, they could have simply turned it off and tossed it. The other problem is, is she simply out of cell phone range? There`s simply nothing on that mountain that`s going to signal. That`s going to be a problem.

That`s the first thing they`re going to find out. Is there any way for a signal to be reached on that mountain. That would be number one in the investigation.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, Caller Diana from New Hampshire. Your question?

CALLER: My question is that we have an awful lot of information about this person of interest. But I haven`t heard anything yet about where does he live? He has a dog, so where does he take the dog to the vet? We could get an address on him. She could be very well in his possession at this time?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All excellent questions; and I can tell you that he`s not a suspect. He is a person of interest. Once again, his name is Gary Michael Hilton. And according to published reports, he`s a resident of Dekalb County (ph), which is a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. Norman Cooper, editor of "North Georgia News," what else do we know about him? This picture we`re looking at shows him with a beard and it looks to me, correct me if I`m wrong, like he might be wearing glasses.

COOPER: What the Union County Sheriff`s Office did, several people gave them some clues and they got the tag number, and they ran the tag number and that`s when they found out the vehicle was in Dekalb County, and the photo that you`re probably looking at, which is the one we have on our website, is actually his driver`s license photo.

And I`ll confirm what you said, I talked to the investigator not less than 30 minutes ago, she said he is a person of interest. He is not a suspect at this time. But he is definitely someone they want to locate and talk to.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think it`s very, very important that we keep telling everybody, the car that they believe that this person of interest is driving is a Chevy Astro Van with Dekalb County plates, AFQ-1310. And, remember, Meredith Emerson has been missing more than 48 hours, so this vehicle -- and I`m not saying that she`s in it -- but the vehicle that they`re looking for could be outside Georgia at this point, could have driven much farther.

So everyone be on alert. And when we come back, we`re going to talk more about the search for that vehicle.

On a much, much lighter note tonight, we have some very exciting news for you; coming soon, video of Nancy and the twins will make its much- anticipated debut on the Baby Blog. Plus, check out the messages from Nancy herself. That`s at CNN.com/NancyGrace. And remember, Nancy returns to Headline News, January 7th, 8:00 p.m. sharp Eastern. Be sure to mark your calendars and join us for Nancy`s return.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Witnesses are saying there was a police baton as well, or some kind of baton. But the Sheriff`s Department is not saying anything about that at this point. Those things were actually found by a former police officer. He took those things into a store and that`s when he told the store person, I saw this guy on the trail, and he didn`t look right and that sort of thing. He left and then saw on the news that this woman was missing, and he came back to police and gave another description of this man.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, in for Nancy Grace. Developments coming in at lightning speed in the case of missing hiker Meredith Emerson. She vanished while hiking the trails of the North Georgia Mountains with her beloved dog Ella on New Year`s Day. The big question, did she get lost or did something terrible happen to her? Authorities searching for a person of interest, identified by our Atlanta affiliate as Gary Michael Hilton, a white male about 60 years old, believed to be driving a 2000 or 2001 white Chevy Astro Van with Georgia plates.

And Norman Cooper, editor at North Georgia News, have they issued an Amber Alert or something equivalent for this vehicle now that they have all this information?

COOPER: They have an alert out. And it`s interesting that while you were on break, I got a call from one of the people at the Sheriff`s Office. They have decided to go to a 24-hour around the clock search. And the deputy told me that they are now taking six dog teams into the woods tonight. So they are going to be searching throughout the night for this individual.

And so they have -- they have alerted the GBI. The Gbi came and got Meredith`s car. And so, yes, all of the notices that they need to get out to al the law enforcement, county wide, state wide and nationwide, it is my understanding they have done that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s bring the lawyers back, Pamela Davis, former federal prosecutor, and Randy Zelin, defense attorney; let`s talk about the dog factor. You just heard dogs are being called in to search. Randy, let`s start with you, I would think that would be an excellent idea, given that, I would think that dogs could track the scent, especially of other dogs. And there`s two other dogs involved in this case, her dog and the person of interest`s dog named Dandy.

ZELIN: I think it`s a wonderful point and I`m actually heartened to hear us talking about ways to find this woman, as opposed to speculating who may have done her in. So, yes, the dogs are a great way. Let`s find this girl. Let`s remain hopeful that she`s found.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Pamela Davis, former federal prosecutor, we also have to consider the possibility of dog tracks. There was snow. There were two dogs there, so you would think that, given that she disappeared -- they arrived after midnight, I believe. They found the car covered with snow that she had left there, that there would be dog tracks. It wouldn`t be trampled on.

DAVIS: I would imagine so, but I doubt that we`re getting everything that the police have. I doubt that they`re disseminating every piece of information because during the course of an investigation some things are obviously kept closer to the vest. But it seems impossible that, given the circumstances, given the fact that there`s snow on the ground while these dogs were running on the trail, that in and of itself isn`t a great lead, just to find out where this woman might be.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Not only that, but assuming that they are looking for this white van, this man has a dog -- this apparently is confirmed, a large reddish dog, either a setter or some sort of a mix. And that dog has to stop and pea, for lack of a better word. I travel with my dogs. I have to get gas. I have to take my dogs out and let them do their business. Wouldn`t there possibly be videotapes, Pat Brown, criminal profiler, of something like that happening? And should police check all the videotape of all the mini-marts and the gas stations in the area.

BROWN: They can certainly start working that way. But that`s a lot of territory to cover. My guess is what`s going to happen is Hilton may just not know anybody`s looking for him. It`s going to get out tonight. And when it gets out to him, he`s probably going to call the police and say, hey, I`m the guy you`re looking for. Guilty or not guilty of any wrong-doing, he simply knows everybody is looking for him, so he`s going to talk to the police and let them know what he saw on the mountain, and give his statement.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have to get back to this, because it seems like every single story that we cover here on the Nancy Grace could be solved more quickly if we only have video cameras out there. If you think about it, if you had video cameras at every mile marker on every freeway, it would be much faster to catch these missing vehicles. What do you think, Pat Brown?

BROWN: I love video taping. I think these cameras are absolutely wonderful. But you have people out there saying we cannot have big brother watching everything we do. I am thinking this, if you`re outside of your house, you`re in the public eye, you shouldn`t be doing anything you shouldn`t be doing anyway. So I don`t have any problem with these cameras. But we`re going to run up against the civil rights people.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wait a second, because I`m one of those people. I certainly don`t want anybody looking at my Internet. I don`t want anybody listening to my phone calls. I don`t want anybody wire tapping me. But I don`t care if I`m driving on the freeway, if there`s a camera on the road. They`re all over the city, New York City.

BROWN: Massive safety factor for people. And it`s absolutely wonderful in catching the events of many crimes that couldn`t have been proving any other way, and saves a lot of lives. I`m all for it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, Erica, Illinois, quick question.

CALLER: I guess I have a question about the police officer that found the evidence. It`s just rare and I`m wondering how is there a baton found and a leash found? And is there any information on him? I want to know more about him, and what`s going on in his mind and why he left the stuff there in the store.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, Norman Cooper, editor, "North Georgia News," it`s a very good question, but one of the reasons why people sometimes opt not to be good samaritans, because immediately they become the focus of suspicion by some people. What do we know about this ex- officer, who may be a good samaritan?

COOPER: Don`t know a lot, but let me clarify a couple things. When you`re talking about the city of North Georgia, the area where her car was found, you have to go about eight or nine miles north juts to get to the first store. It`s a little country store. You go south and you`ve got a lot of rural area. It`s very windy. If you had cameras in every city that he could reach, there`s any number of ways he can go.

It is not unusual for hikers to find things along the trail, pick it up. The store they`re talking about is the only place where the Appalachian Trail goes under a roof. It`s called Wallaseea Wi (ph) Inn and it`s a very popular place. When people find things along the way, the hikers will not just leave litter. Obviously -- I have done a lot of hiking in my time. And if I see a dog leash or a couple of bottles, I`ll pick it up and throw it in my backpack and take it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`ll be right what with you, sir.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: What happened to Meredith Emerson? As we try to ponder the possibilities, let`s not forget that missing hiker stories are very, very common. Let`s go back to Greg Davenport. Let`s assume for a second that she`s alive, that she`s somewhere up there. Reportedly there are caves. How do you survive at night in the cold?

DAVENPORT: Surviving the cold is all about not losing that body heat. So the first line of personal protection is going to be her clothing. And I understand she went into his elements prepared. So hopefully she has a loose and layered system. She has a hat on. She has appropriate boots on. She has gloves. That`s going to protect her quite a bit.

The second thing is to get out of those elements. You don`t want to be losing that body heat through all the different means that happen. If she had a cave, that would be great. There are issues with that, but that would be great. Other options are tree wells, anything that protects her from wind and moisture. So hopefully she`s doing that because that`s the key for those first 72 hours of staying alive.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think you make a very important point. A lot of times, when people get lost, they have a tendency to wander and wander, hoping they can find civilization, as it were. And sometimes they tire themselves out and end up collapsing because of that.

DAVENPORT: There are so many stories about that. Search and rescue look for days and they find this kids five miles away from where he started, or they look for days and they find this person ten miles away, or they never find them. A lot of times, that just because the person freaks out and gets out of that search pattern.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let us hope, hope, hope and pray that she`s alive, and she`s in a cave, and we will find her.

Tonight, let`s stop to remember Army Specialist Michael Brown, just 20, from Williamsburg, Kansas. On a second tour of duty, he was an aviation operations specialist. Awarded the Bronze Star, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and the Iraqi Campaign Medal. He`s remembered for his larger than life personality and his wonderful sense of humor.

He leaves behind grieving mom Donna, step dad Steve, sister Edna, brother Christopher, and girlfriend Megan. Michael Brown, an American hero.

We want to thank all of our guests for their insights and thanks to you at home for tracking this very important case with us. Remember to visit Nancy`s Baby Blog at CNN.com/NancyGrace. We hope to see you tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Until then have a terrific and a very safe evening.

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