Right now Gary Michael Hilton is charged with kidnapping in the disappearance of Meredith Emerson.
But GBI Director Vernon Keenan says they are comparing notes on the case of a North Carolina couple that disappeared last October. John and Irene Clayton were hiking a trail in the Mt. Pisgah National Forest when they disappeared. Mrs. Clayton's body was found about three weeks later. Her husband is still missing.
Authorities in Forsyth county also want to talk to Hilton about the murder of a Cumming hair dresser in 2004. Patrice Tamber-Endres' body was found behind a Dawson County church in December 2004 several months after she disappeared.
As the search continues in Union County for Meredith Emerson, authorities are scaling back the search on Blood Mountain where she was last seen New Year's Day but are expanding it into five north Georgia counties based on unspecified evidence they say they have. They did reveal over the weekend that bloodied clothing believed belonging to Emerson was found in Cumming in a Dumpster at a convenience store near where her dog was found on Friday.
In addition to Hall County firefighters, personnel from Dawson County Emergency Services are also participating in the search.
Authorities have told the family that in all likelihood, Emerson is dead.
(Georgia News Network and the Associated Press contributed to this story.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/1/205514