Family, Friends Remember Emerson One Year Later

Family and friends are remembering Meredith Emerson, who was killed one year ago after being kidnapped while hiking along the Appalachian Trail in North Georgia.

Emerson went missing one year ago today, and her body was discovered one week later in Dawson Forest. Emerson's de-capitated body was located off a dirt road that runs through Dawson Forest. Her killer, Gary Hilton, 61, was arrested and is behind bars for life.

According to Hilton, he drove around with Emerson in his white van attempting to use her ATM card. Hilton then kept Emerson alive in the forest for two days before brutally killing her. A suspect early on, Hilton informed authorities where Emerson's body would be found in exchange for escaping the death penalty.

While he escaped the death penalty in Georgia, Hilton is facing the death penalty in Florida where he is charged with the murder of 46-year-old Cheryl Dunlap. Her body was discovered in the Apalachicola National Forest southwest of Tallahassee two weeks before Emerson died.

Hilton is also a suspect in the murders of two elderly North Carolina hikers who went missing while hiking in Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina in October 2008.

Since Emerson's death, a hiking group called "Right-to-Hike" began a scholarship in her name at the University of Georgia. The group also offers GPS tracking devices for hikers.