This is where the common citizen,
just going to the national forest,
they can meet their demise quickly.
There's people out there in the forest that don't do well
in society.
He was on the trail hunting people.
This person knew he was doing.
I think he's just what you call "like the devil."
Cheryl: great.
Man: looks like you could use a little help there.
Captions by vitac... www.Vitac.Com.
Captions paid for by discovery communications
narrator: north Carolina's pisgah national forest,
a dense acreage of mile-high peaks, beautiful waterfalls,
and backwoods trails.
It's just a few miles outside asheville, north Carolina,
but it can feel a world away.
Young: it's a vast area, extremely remote, some of it.
It's over a half a million acres just in the pisgah.
It's either uphill or downhill. There's no in between.
It's a pretty big forest,
so you're not really gonna run into people.
It's a pretty remote place. I mean, you can lose yourself.
We have recorded incidents of numerous deaths...
People falling to their deaths off steep rocks.
Especially around the waterfalls, they may fall,
break a leg.
Then they're stuck.
It's very treacherous.
Narrator: so when John and Irene Bryant,
both regular national forest hikers,
go missing, their son, Bob, asks investigators for help.
I was in my office, and they called me and said
that a gentleman wanted to talk to us about his parents,
who were missing.
He had called and couldn't get them on his cellphone.
After three or four different tries,
he thought something was wrong.
He was just desperate. Everybody was desperate.
They're not answering their phones.
My sister's been trying to call, I've been trying to call.
We're getting no response at all.
In seeing his demeanor and his face and hearing
his tone of voice, it was obvious there was a concern.
My parents love to hike.
Um, they don't camp much overnight anymore,
but, you know, they get out every chance they get.
He believed there was a possibility they may be
in the pisgah national forest,
near the asheville area somewhere.
If you got off of the road and didn't know your way back,
you could get lost.
That's the most recent picture I have of him.
It's about a year old.
Young: in one of the photographs that he had provided,
his dad was wearing a yellow parka.
And he said, more than likely,
it's either in the vehicle or he's wearing it.
He always wears that yellow jacket
when they hike in the cold.
Well, we'll start looking for him right away.
We'll be in touch if we find anything.
Narrator: detective young gets the pictures of the bryants.
Out to law enforcement in the area and begins a search.
Investigators get their first clue when they run a check on
the bryants' cellphone records, but it's grim news.
We discovered that, on the 21st of October, 2007,
the bryants cellphone had been used in an attempt to call 911.
Narrator: as expected, the call came from somewhere.
In the pisgah national forest.
It just wasn't strong enough signal
to get through the system to the 911 dispatcher.
So we knew that there was a 911 call from the bryants' phone.
We still didn't know if it was medical or criminal in nature.
Narrator: young starts the search close to the cell tower.
That registered the bryants' 911 call,
and at a nearby trailhead, he finds their car.
Young: the vehicle was parked at the entrance to a small trail...
Kind of a benign trail, not very steep,
an area that's frequented by a lot of visitors.
It looked to me like they had parked, locked it, and left...
Just somebody parked and went hiking.
That was the impression I got.
We did an immediate search of the area.
We just thought medical emergency.
They had found Irene Bryant's body
in a little heavily wooded area.
Narrator: the forest can be dangerous...
But one look, and investigators know this is no accident.
Irene Bryant was beaten to death.
The investigation shifted once we found Ms. Bryant,
obviously to criminal.
Any sign of the husband?
No.
Something's really amiss here.
Where is he? Why is he not nearby?
I was starting to ask a lot of questions.
"Who's involved, and how could they have
perpetrated this crime?"
Narrator: investigators now have a murder.
And a missing-persons case on their hands.
While detectives put the pieces together,
the bryants' family and friends hear the devastating news.
Bob Bryant, it was kind of like he probably knew something
had happened to his parents.
He just didn't know what.
They were happy, outgoing, outdoors people that were doing
what you hope that everyone can do when you're retired,
is be out in the woods and healthy and feeling good.
All you can say about them... They're just good people.
Narrator: but now a hike in the bryants' own backyard.
Has gone terribly wrong.
Police launch an all-out search
for Irene's missing husband, John.
She was found, and he was not, and I'm like, "did he do this?"
Portman: you need to be able to account.
For both of these people.
You wonder, "did he fall? Was it an accident?"
Did he hit his head, and is he wandering around somewhere?"
Finding someone like that in the forest is not an easy task.
We then started focusing on every single person
that we could identify in the national forest,
in that area.
"What did you see? What time did you see that?"
He would've been alone most likely, wearing a yellow jacket.
"Anything unusual... Suspects or suspect?
Did you see Mr. Bryant?"
We've been mostly in the backcountry,
but I don't think we've seen this guy on any of the trails.
Officer: looking for the man in this photo.
He was last seen around this area.
No. I ain't seen him.
I'll keep an eye out for him, though.
Okay. good luck.
Major: well, it's horrible.
You wanted to do something, and it is so frustrating.
You're waiting to see the paper and the computer the next day
to see if they had found anything.
We were still hopeful we could find Mr. Bryant alive,
and so we were just... We were hungry for information
and trying to seek that information.
Narrator: then a call from the bryants' bank.
Gives detectives another lead.
Irene's debit card was used at an atm almost three hours away
from where her body was discovered.
The atm card had been used in Ducktown, Tennessee.
Ducktown's surrounded by nantahala national forest,
so I immediately knew, "we've got something going on here."
That's got to be him.
We could be looking at Irene's killer.
They had the card.
You see them punch in the code.
And the second attempt, he got the code correct.
They kind of kept their face obscured.
They turned and walked away at an angle.
Narrator: the investigator can't see his face,
but there is something he does recognize.
It appeared to be the coat of John Bryant.
Immediately, cold chills kind of went down my spine.
Narrator: investigators in north Carolina.
Have a baffling double mystery to solve.
Irene Bryant has been brutally murdered,
and her husband, John, is missing.
We had a window. We were not sure if Mr. Bryant
was alive or dead, but we were confident that a 911 call
was made, that the start of the process was in this window.
The coat certainly raises red flags.
That's certainly suspicious.
It's hard to believe that a spouse would do that
to somebody, especially at that age.
Now, again, it didn't rule it out.
It wasn't something i was pursuing,
but I didn't close that door.
Narrator: instead of shutting down Irene's bank account,
they use it as a lure.
All right, let us know the second you get
another hit on his card. Of course.
Maybe he'll try to hit the atm again, you know, whatever.
So we kept the account open.
Narrator: law enforcement steps up its search for John Bryant.
They contact the FBI and get Bryant's picture out nationwide.
Young: we were asking for the public, "please call us."
Please call us... anything.
If you were in the national forest that day, call us.
"It's important."
Narrator: and one of those calls leads investigators right back.
To the pisgah national forest.
A tipster says he saw an older man in the forest
acting strange.
Some young people, hikers, they run across this guy,
and he seems weird, and he's walking
with this collapsible police Baton, and they feel like
there's something not quite right about him.
The guy talking about how he can maybe kill somebody
with the Baton if he needs be.
During the autopsy, it was determined that
blunt-force trauma was the result of death of Ms. Bryant.
He said it was a long cylindrical item,
and when asked the question of the m.E.,
"could it have been an extendable Baton?"
"Yes" was the answer.
Portman: so it's kind of this strange woodsman guy.
People started wondering, you know, what might be out there.
There's people out there in the forest that
don't do well in society.
Young: they don't have a job, they're homeless.
They don't have a means of support.
Things were starting to come together.
Anytime somebody is living in the national forest,
there's a reason.
Jimmy?
Jimmy: around back, sir.
Looks like we just missed someone.
We did a lot of searches of those areas.
Never came up with anything.
Narrator: and after that first withdrawal,
there are no more hits on Irene's atm card.
The search for John Bryant and Irene's killer goes ice cold.
No sign of John. No sign of cameras.
No sign of wallets. No sign of a cellphone.
Narrator: but there is one theory that explains both.
What if the killer and missing hiker are the same person?
Major: and they were all wondering,
"what's happening?" 'Cause Jack was gone.
And I just said that they're never gonna find him.
There are so many question marks in those early days
after her body is found and a lot of real uncertainty.
Narrator: the U.S. forest service releases an a.P.B.
For John Bryant, as well as any information about
suspicious activity on the trails in the southeast.
A couple hunters were scouting an area to hunt.
During that time, they spooked some buzzards,
and that drew their attention to that area.
They discovered remains of what appeared to be a female.
Whoever took her out there knew his way around the forest.
Hunters see anyone out here?
No one at all.
Any other vehicles here when y'all got here?
Just what the hunters drove in.
- Thanks. - all right.
Dennis: when I got to the actual remains,
I observed the body of what appeared to be a white female.
Her head and her hands had been removed.
Baxter: the person who had committed this crime.
Delayed the identification by removing what are
normal means of identification of a body...
Hands, feet, and head.
Due to the condition of the body and how it was found
and how this person went to great depths to try and delay
identification, I immediately became afraid, aware,
that we were dealing with something a lot more serious
than just the normal "i killed this person."
Narrator: now that the national forest service has two murders.
And one disappearance on their hands, everyone is beginning
to fear the worst.
There was horror and fear.
You know, obviously, you wanted to know,
"is this some random thing?
Is there a person out there we should be afraid of?"
Dennis: it kind of had all the earmarks of someone that has.
Done this before and would probably do it again.
Portman: the condition of the body is so bad... you know,
the dismemberment, the being outside in the elements...
It is really a forensic challenge for law enforcement
to be able to determine how long the body's been out there.
That's stacking up against the fact that they don't
really have any idea what's happened here.
Narrator: fortunately, they found a clue not far.
From the crime scene that could identify the victim.
Portman: parked on the side of crawfordville highway,
sort of down from the entrance of the sinks,
is this car sitting there on the side.
And a law enforcement officer sees it and thinks
it's peculiar because, inside, some things have been disturbed.
Dispatch, I'm out with a disabled vehicle.
No driver around.
Has a Florida tag of kilo, delta, uniform, 4-9-9-7.
Car has a flat.
He notices that there's this slash in the side of the tire,
and that obviously is suspicious.
Go ahead.
Officer: that car is registered to Cheryl dunlap.
In crawfordville.
Cheryl dunlap?
Yes, sir.
10-4.
She had been reported to wakulla county sheriff's office
as a missing person.
Narrator: friends and family had been on edge ever since Cheryl,
a devoted mom and devout Christian, failed to show up
for Sunday school.
My son called me, and he told me that "Sherry" was missing.
I said, "missing from what?"
And he said, "well, she's missing. They can't find her."
There are some people that are super-dependable, you know,
keep to their schedule, and Sherry was one of those people.
Narrator: an autopsy confirms their worst fears.
The remains found in the woods near her car are Cheryl's.
Misso: I was basically in shock.
The thoughts that kept going through my mind were
what she must have experienced,
the pain she had to have gone through.
Tucker: she was real family-oriented.
She had two boys, and she just really loved her kids.
She focused a lot on them.
Thinking about who might have harmed her,
I had no clues and no thoughts.
We just thought this maybe have been
some random attack on Sherry.
Maybe someone needed money, maybe someone... a drug addict
or someone, you know, could have done something to her.
Not until we saw the information about the bryants,
then it kind of clicked that it had to be a serial killer
that was doing it.
Narrator: and the fact that Cheryl was killed.
In the woods isn't the only similarity to the bryants' case.
We received information that Ms. dunlap's atm card
was used at a bank here in Leon county.
Narrator: and the surveillance footage.
Is frightening to say the least.
Dennis: he had what appeared to be some sort of.
Home-fashioned mask on his face, and he was completely covered,
and you couldn't see his face to see who it was.
The commonality that you see is that you're in a wooded area.
He's also trying to get money, trying to use atms.
Narrator: first, Irene Bryant was murdered.
In a national forest in north Carolina.
And now, due south in apalachicola, Florida,
Cheryl dunlap has been brutally murdered in the woods.
But police have a lead, once again, from the victim's bank.
Portman: someone had her pin number.
And was pulling money out of this bank.
Narrator: piece by piece, the investigation.
Into Cheryl dunlap's murder
is beginning to mirror Irene Bryant's.
Baxter: you had a national forest, you had a subject using.
A deceased person's atm card, and, in that case,
they also attempted to disguise themselves
while using that atm card.
Narrator: for investigators,
the atm footage is a much-needed clue.
Finding someone like that in the forest, preying on people,
is not an easy task.
It's gonna be probably a loner.
It's almost like a needle in a haystack.
The video at that time was our best lead.
Narrator: it's impossible to identify the man.
Making the withdrawal, but there might be something else
on that tape that could point them in the right direction.
Other things that we were looking for when we looked at
the tape were any possible witnesses or any vehicles
leaving the area.
Hey, detective.
Check this out.
Let me call you back.
A tow truck.
It's circling close enough to the atm that you can see it.
The tow truck that was seen going through the parking lot
had also been seen driving through several times on video.
Yeah, and, look, it circles around
right about the time he tries to make a withdrawal
with Cheryl's card.
Meggs: so, the question was whether that was his ride.
And it was him leaving,
driving by the atm after making the withdrawal.
Portman: there was a great effort to try to connect the guy.
Who was getting out the money, who was wrapped in the bandages,
with this truck.
That's when law enforcement really, really started
to intensify their search.
Dennis: the decision was made to stake out the bank.
To see if the suspect shows up again, obviously,
to try to use Cheryl's card.
Is that him?
We observed what appeared to be the same tow truck
driving through the area.
The decision was made to make contact
with the individual in the tow truck.
What the hell?
Leon county sheriff. Put your hands up.
So, the question was whether that was his ride
and it was him leaving,
driving by the atm after making the withdrawal.
This is my bank. I used my atm card.
What about Saturday night?
We got you on video circling this parking lot.
The tow-truck driver did match the physical description
we had from the atm video footage.
I wasn't even working Saturday.
I never work on Saturdays.
Okay. then who was driving this truck on Saturday
if it wasn't you?
It was homer James.
He drives the weekend shifts.
Homer James?
You better have a good reason to be on my property.
He had a criminal history which included some violence.
What do you want?
We have a few questions for you, Mr. James.
He denied having any involvement in the case.
He was just working,
towing vehicles from surrounding businesses.
My girl was with me all night.
You can ask her.
He offered that he had someone with him that night
working with him.
Write down her name and number.
We followed up with that.
The female riding with him that night alibied him.
They were just there doing their rounds.
They did not see the suspect at the atm and really didn't
have any information to be able to provide.
Narrator: with James' partner backing up his story.
And no physical evidence linking him to the crime,
Leon county investigators have no grounds for arrest.
Dennis: in Cheryl's case,
we didn't have a very big suspect pool.
She had two sons.
She did have an ex-husband.
She wasn't currently involved
in any kind of romantic relationship.
We knew it couldn't be anybody who knew her.
We didn't think it was anybody in wakulla county,
although the whole county was in fear.
Baxter: he knew how to conceal himself from cameras.
He knew how to delay identification
of a deceased person.
He was familiar with the national forests.
This person knew what they were doing,
and this was not their first time doing it.
It was just skeletal remains. That was it.
Narrator: skeletal remains found in the same national forest.
Where John Bryant vanished months earlier.
Will Bryant's missing-persons case
now become a murder investigation?
Narrator: three months after the discovery.
Of Irene Bryant's remains and the unsettling disappearance
of her husband, John, investigators are called
to the nantahala national forest.
Portman: law enforcement found a pacemaker.
Those have serial numbers that belong to people.
Narrator: forest service investigator j.R. Young.
Gets the serial number from the coroner
and calls the manufacturer.
Young: I said, "I'm gonna give you a serial number",
and if you just tell me I'm on the right track."
Look, I'm gonna need the I.D. On a pacemaker.
I read it off, and there was a long pause,
and they confirmed that it was John's.
All right. Thank you.
It removed all doubt for me
the person that did this was not John Bryant.
Narrator: a family member calls the bryants' lifelong friend.
To break the terrible news that John has been murdered, too.
They had been going all over the world hiking by themselves,
and they basically got killed in their own backyard.
I just miss them so much.
The way it happened, it's...
You get emotional every time you think about it.
Dennis: they were all abducted from the forest,
and their atm cards were used,
and they were killed.
This obviously appeared to me to be a serial killer.
Come on, Ella!
Good girl.
Blood mountain is one of the most popular places to hike
in Georgia and the southeast.
People come from all over to hike that trail.
Easy, girl. Easy.
Come on.
This trail is very remote, at least 15 to 18 miles away
from any town, and cellphone service is extremely spotty
at best.
This is where the common citizen,
just going to the national forest,
can meet their demise quickly.
Meredith, would you like me to make you some coffee?
Cagle: Meredith Emerson, who was a recent graduate.
From the university of Georgia,
she lived in north Metro Atlanta.
A really outgoing, pet-loving, sweet person who's got lots of
friends and is really popular and likes to be outdoors
and hiking.
She was living with a roommate, Julia.
Meredith?
Cagle: new year's Eve, Meredith and some of her friends.
Went out for a new year's Eve party, came back that evening,
and then, early on January 1st, Meredith got up and left,
and she left a note that said, "gone hiking with Ella."
Hey, there.
Hey. sorry.
I didn't mean to scare you.
I just... I had to get off the trail for a second.
Call of nature.
It's a rather steep-approach trail that intersects
at the summit with the appalachian trail.
So it's used for day hikers
to just hike up to the summit and back down.
Meredith didn't show up for work,
and Ella was not there either,
so that really caused them concern.
Later that day, she was reported missing.
Reporter: a frantic search is underway for missing hiker,
24-year-old Meredith Emerson.
Emerson was last seen on blood mountain.
Lots of people got involved in the search.
They were handing out fliers...
You know, "have you seen this woman?"
This was scary for everybody, and to think that
something bad would've happened to somebody like Meredith,
who was the all-American child,
scared everybody, and it concerned everybody.
Narrator: police set up a tip line and get.
Meredith Emerson's picture out to media all over Georgia.
We began to receive tips almost immediately from people
who had seen Meredith on the trail new year's day,
and they began to give us a more detailed description
of the man they saw with her.
They described him as an older guy, maybe in his 60s.
They didn't express any real concern until
they heard the reports that she was missing.
He seemed to be following her up the trail.
It appeared to them that he was making an approach
of some sort on her.
One of the callers in to the tip line
described him wearing a police-type Baton.
Portman: this police Baton, it sends up red flags.
That something nefarious is up.
We even received a tip from some guys who had been
on the trail and remembered seeing a strange-looking guy.
And those guys had actually taken pictures of themselves,
and in the background of those photographs,
you can see a man in the woods.
Narrator: police get the picture of the strange man in the photo.
Out into the media, and calls come flooding in.
And one tipster says he knows exactly who police are after.
A former boss calls law enforcement and says,
"i know who you're looking for."
His name is Gary Hilton.
He works for me.
He was...
Unstable to put it mildly.
He gave us his identifying data, his date of birth...
He drives this particular kind of Van.
That was a big break that we were waiting for.
Narrator: and when police run the name Gary Hilton.
Through the national crime database, they get a hit.
Hilton had been interviewed months earlier,
and it was all caught on tape.
There's a videotape where he has gotten a citation.
And there's actually a dash-cam video
that's been taken of the forest officer kind of approaching him.
He's very... he's yuckin' it up with him.
He's being really loose, being very talkative, and, you know,
the guy ends up letting him go.
Woman: from what we've gathered, he's a 60-year-old white male.
He is 5'10".
He is 160 pounds.
He has silver-gray hair.
And that began the search for Gary Hilton.
We had helicopters taking part in the search.
We had several different police agencies, almost 19.
We had probably 20, 25 gbi agents out running
lead-type information about Hilton, as well as
Manning the tip line.
Narrator: and if they find Hilton, maybe they can find.
Meredith Emerson and bring her home safe.
We felt that we were just a step behind him.
Narrator: three days after Meredith is reported missing,
police get a new lead.
Not only do you got Meredith missing, you've got her dog,
Ella, missing, who's sort of her constant companion,
who hikes with her and whatnot.
Hey!
What are you doing out here?
Narrator: for three months, a serial killer has been.
Terrorizing the national forests of the southeast,
and now police have a suspect... 62-year-old Gary Michael Hilton.
Authorities have been chasing Hilton in hopes of saving
missing hiker Meredith Emerson and her dog, Ella.
Cagle: we receive a call from a lady who says,
"i think I found the dog that y'all are looking for,"
and said that she was 70 miles south of the abduction site.
Narrator: with renewed hope for Meredith, police refocus.
Their search in the area where Ella was found.
Officer: dispatch for 4-4-1.
Go ahead for 4-4-1.
Be advised that we have a possible location
for Gary Michael Hilton.
Got a call from a man that says, "i think I'm looking at the man
that y'all are looking for."
He gave a description of the Van,
and he gave a description of Gary Hilton.
Officer: 4-4-1, be advised subject is armed and dangerous.
10-4. 4-4-1 in route.
We felt like, "now we're getting close."
4-4-1 is on scene. No contact yet.
Cagle: when law enforcement got there,
it was obvious that he was cleaning out his Van.
He was trying to throw away things.
He was trying to clean up.
He was getting out of town.
Show me your hands!
Put your hands over your head!
Do it now!
Turn around and face me!
Where's Meredith?
Where's Meredith, Gary? I just want to help her.
I don't know what you're talking about.
One of the first questions we obviously asked was,
"does he have anybody with him?"
He did not.
We began to search in a dumpster
in the parking lot of that store.
Agent cagle, i-i got something.
We immediately saw bloody clothing.
Officer: there's more.
We saw Meredith's driver's license and wallet.
It also had blood on it.
At that time, we didn't feel
that this was gonna work out as we had hoped.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will...
Narrator: police arrest Hilton and process his Van,
testing everything he was trying to throw away
for evidence linking him to the other murders.
Dennis: there was evidence found in Hilton's vehicle.
That contained DNA from Ms. dunlap.
Forensics ends up showing us that Cheryl's blood's
all over the astro Van, just like Meredith's.
Cagle: on the back of a high-back seat in his Van,
we found what looked to us to be a blood pattern and hair.
That was analyzed and later determined
to be the blood of John Bryant.
Gary, we know you killed them. We have the evidence.
Narrator: confronted with all the evidence of a murder spree.
In three separate national forests, Hilton confesses.
What we don't know is why.
Why not just Rob them?
I didn't want any witnesses.
Portman: Gary Michael Hilton had no care or did not value.
Human life at all.
One of the things that was really chilling about this
was his sort of cavalier disregard for human life
and these horrific crimes that he was committing.
Young: we think that Mr. Hilton befriended the bryants.
To the point that he got them in a position of disadvantage,
and then he took advantage of them.
We just believe that, unfortunately,
they were at the wrong place with the wrong person
and he decided that,
"this is the ones that I'm going to kill."
Meggs: I don't believe Cheryl dunlap.
Was killed immediately.
Now, once he discovered that the pin number
she had given him was correct and he was able to
withdraw money, I don't believe he had much worries
in keeping her alive after that, but I believe he did
keep her alive long enough
to ensure that he could get the money out of her.
Narrator: and there's still one more piece of the puzzle,
one more thing investigators don't know.
I said, "i want to know where she is."
I want to know where Meredith is."
Well, I can tell you where she is.
He gave us very specific directions where she was,
60 miles south of blood mountain.
Meredith: come on, Ella!
Narrator: Hilton also tells investigators.
Exactly what happened.
Cagle: he said he was on the trail new year's Eve,
hunting people, but everybody was with a group.
When he saw Meredith, she was alone,
and that's when he made his move.
Narrator: police believe Hilton beat Meredith to death.
With the same Baton he had used to kill
Irene Bryant and Cheryl dunlap.
Portman: well, he was a sociopath, that was clear...
A person utterly lacking in empathy.
Narrator: Hilton is charged with the murders.
Of John and Irene Bryant, Meredith Emerson,
and Cheryl dunlap.
He strikes a deal to avoid the death penalty in Georgia
and north Carolina,
but prosecutors in Florida refuse his offer.
After a three-week trial, Hilton is convicted
of Cheryl dunlap's murder and sent to death row.
I think he's just what you call "like the devil."
He's just evil.
I wish that he tried to put up a fight when they caught him
and they could've shot him and saved a lot of trouble.
What's the old saying?
Hanging's too good for him.
That's the way I look at it.