Meredith Emerson Case is a Hiker's Worst Nightmare
January 8, 2008 | 5:49 pmUp until now, I’ve really tried to avoid posting about the horrific Meredith Emerson murder case. National and local media outlets are doing a pretty good job of reporting on every little detail in the case. But after reading about the results of her autopsy, I felt inclined to say something, if for nothing else but to start a discussion where others could express their concern/horror/sadness.
I guess I consider myself as a pretty avid day hiker. I was brought up walking the trails around New England and have spent a good many weekends hiking the trails in the North Georgia Mountains since moving here in 2001. Many of these trails helped me cope with the chaos of the city before I was really conditioned to the normal rush of urban life. So, like many thousands of hikers nationwide, this story really bothers me deep down.
Additionally, I’ve been to Vogel State Park, the scene of this horrific murder, and walked the trails with both my wife and dog. Its a beautiful, tranquil state park with great trails and amenities that will now eternally be the setting for a horrific murder and every hiker’s worst nightmare.
This adds to my general unease.
Ultimately, its fruitless to rail against the actions of the guilty suspect in this case, Gary Michael Hilton, as everything that was done to Emerson is beyond sane comprehension and explanation. All I can say is that I am continually shocked by the horrors that human beings are capable of. Movies give us the false sense that all of the deranged living is only played out on the screen, but to have it come even this close to my life (which admittedly isn’t that close), I feel an indescribable chill and fleeting lack of faith in humanity.
I know that people like Gary Michael Hilton are the exception to the rule, but random acts of violence are the ones that really make you feel helpless in an unpredictable world. Domestic violence is much more prevalent than stories like Meredith’s, but most people can feel safe that these sorts of front page stories will never happen to them. They at least have some control over the circumstances that escalate in those cases. Not so with this story. All you have to be is a hiker that’s ever been alone in the woods and you feel vulnerable. For a while it will be hard not to look over your shoulder while hiking as this story runs its course.
What can we do but be aware? But not paranoid. Feel sorrow, but not give up hope?
Easier said than done, I know.
All the support in the world should be given to the Emerson family. It goes without saying that no one deserves this.
I know how you feel. I first walked up Blood Mountain when I was 2 and been a regular hiker since. The AT community in particular is kind of shaken up. At whiteblaze.net there’s talk of organizing a group memorial hike.
Thanks for your comments and the link Mark.
For readers, here’s the latest comment on the case posted on http://www.whiteblaze.net
“As you probably already know, Meridith Emerson was found on the 7th of January. Currently there are a lot of ideas being floated about how to properly memorialize her. For now nothing has been set, but we (the WB community, not WB the site owners) are working through ideas and trying to find something fitting.
We, the WhiteBlaze community, are all deeply saddened by her passing and are all having trouble finding the right words and actions to express how her passing has touched us. Nothing seems to sum up the totality of how Meridith’s life has affected our thoughts.
For her family, we hope that you can find peace.”
Is this Gary Hinton’s
first victim?
Are their others?
Was he a rejected cop?
Where did he get the baton?
Can anyone buy one of those?
where was he working at ?
All of the casher’s should ask more question and check for another I.D?
We can choose how we live. Meridith LIVED and enjoyed life. She reveled in LIFE! I read her story and it is me. I choose life, I will die, but I will live doing it. Join with me in praying that her friends and family can focus more on all the years they had her, than the day she died. She lived well.
It’s unsettling, to say the least, to know we share the same breathing space with cold, calculating, killers like Gary Hilton. I too, often hike with my dog in the local mountains here. Although I’d never go alone, I’ve always felt comfortable hiking with my dog. I guess that is how Meredith felt too. I was chilled to the bone when I heard about her disappearance and my certainty grew with each passing day that things weren’t going to end well. It is as you say, ‘a hiker’s worst nightmare’. I was devastated when I heard her body was found, though was glad to hear that Ella had been spared. I can only think this must be because Hilton is some kind of dog lover, or perhaps has some compassion for animals, which I cannot begin to comprehend – how could he feel compassion for Ella but not Meredith? I will never understand this.
I will not stop hiking the mountain trails with my dog, but I can’t say Meredith and Ella will ever be far from my mind. The world can be a dangerous place, but it is the nature of the world we live in. We can only go on, continuing to do what we have to, and doing what we want to.
My prayers go out to Meredith, her family, her boyfriend, and her friends. She will always be with you.
Carol, thanks for your kind words. The dog question is an interesting one. I read recently that Hilton originally locked Ella in Meredith’s car after he kidnapped her, but it made Meredith so distraught that he let her out. I’m not sure why he would sympathize with her in this one instance, except as you point out, he definitely had a soft spot for dogs.
I think the reason some disastrously disturbed people remain compassionate to dogs or other animals has to do with an animal’s uncomplicated needs and motivations. They are predictable and loyal…and an unstable person can appreciate that stability.
Also, regardless of his compassion for his dog, we can’t be sure that Hilton never unleashed his wrath on it, in moments of utter insanity. The man was obviously out of control and his compassion for anyone might have hinged on things we will never understand.
The suffering, fear, terror that Meredith Emerson felt before she was brutally murdered is something I think of often. Women must become aware of the culture we live in and live as if we are in a war zone. The amping up of degrading images of women in film, videos, and general language( i.e. pimped, b-word, females reffering to themselves as dud.) serves as a warning. I believe Meredith was an intelligent and special woman, even having a blue belt in self defense, but this didn’t save her or the other women that appear in the news as the next victim. Before it was Meredith, it was Kelsey Smith, Dru Shodin, Channon Christian, more&more . Used by the media for ratings, as exploited by them as the men that killed. Every woman fears rape & murder, to believe otherwise is to live in a dream world. Now what do we really do about the status of women? I don’t pray for Meredith, that is a cop out. I wish that Hilton had been held responsible by a society that values women instead of supported by a society that embraces the exploitation of women and profits from our exploitation. As for Merediths dog Ella, rest assured Hilton is not a dog “lover”. He is an opportuntist that used a dog (his) to win the confidence of his next female victim Meredith. Ella locked in a car would have drawn attention to her status earlier, so releasing Ella was purely selfish. One final comment, I wish with every fiber of my being that I could have stopped Merediths suffering and terror and rescued her from the hands of a woman hater like Gary Hilton. She deserved nothing less.
Meredith Hope Emerson is a Hero, Kindred Spirit, and Fighter. She still is….
Meredith Hope Emerson, loving, caring, an important part of nature, She and her dog Ella, loved the mountains and outdoors. Where the rhodendrum grow , the hemlock stand tall, and the Eagle soars, Just sitting marvelling at the appalacians; so majestic with splendor, She and Ella, playing, hiking, and bonding with love, The forest, inhabitants; birds, and deer meander, The meadows in Bucktown, will take your breath, and wild azaleas bloom, The sun rising high, the forest comes alive, the honey bees and Butterflys. Black bears just lumbering along, the birds singing mother nature’s favorite song. Hikers come from all over to hike the AT, some hiking it short, some hiking it long, She and Ella thought of this as a paradise, for whatever it’s worth, When they were one, with the earth, my only request is, and I pray, That they meet again on that endless Rainbow Bridge, entering Heaven , Someday. In nature she’ll be missed, by family, friends, and loved ones. As our somber nation prays, she was my neighbor for just Four Days……
Glenn Adams