"Who needs a gun in a National Park?" Meredith Emerson did.
By Jeff Riley
A letter to the editor published by the Columbus Dispatch on Dec 19, 2008 by Dave Roden begins with this headline:
“No one should need gun in national park”
Tell that to Meredith Emerson...the 24 year-old woman whose body was found decapitated days after going missing on New Year’s Day 2008.
You might ask yourself just where this heinous crime occurred:
Blood Mountain Georgia
Blood Mountain is the highest peak on the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail and the sixth-tallest mountain in Georgia, with an elevation of 4,458 feet (1,359 m).[1][2] It is located in Union County and is within the boundaries of the Chattahoochee National Forest and the Blood Mountain Wilderness. (Wikipedia)
But wait this can’t be...National Parks are a refuge from crime. Nothing ever bad happens in our parks, right?
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Gary Michael Hilton acknowledged that the petite woman nearly overpowered him when he first accosted her. As they struggled near the Appalachian Trail, Meredith Emerson disarmed her attacker of a knife and baton.
Hilton eventually subdued Emerson, kidnapped her and later killed her. She did not make it easy for him, according to interviews Hilton gave to investigators that were obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Speaking to Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Clay Bridges only days after killing the young woman, Hilton said: "I think it was you probably, or one of the GBIs, said 'That little 120-pound-girl about probably came close to whipping your ass.”
Her life in danger, Emerson fought back using her strength, her wits and a large measure of courage and determination. In the four days after she disappeared on a Blood Mountain hiking trail in Union County, investigators said, Emerson never gave up.
Seems like she did everything she could to save her life, fighting her attacker at every chance. Yet a 61 year-old man with rotten teeth managed to overpower and beat her into submission. It’s not like the victim was frail, she was an accomplished martial artist who, as her judo instructor commented:
At 5 feet 4 inches and 120 pounds, she "trained with us like she lived every day — hard and with everything she had."
Yet Hilton targeted her because in his own words:
Because she was a woman. Easy prey, he figured.
Lest you think that this wouldn’t have happened due to the diligent efforts of Park Rangers like Mr. Roden or other law enforcement officials, Hilton acknowledges:
On at least three other occasions before he killed Emerson, Hilton crossed paths or was in the vicinity of law-enforcement officials.” On the day he killed Emerson they drove to the spot where he would kill her. On the way, they passed a law-enforcement officer. "I waved at him," Hilton said. "It was that close."
Just an isolated incident, right? Again from the Journal-Constitution:
In the two months since that encounter, he's been charged in the bludgeoning death and subsequent decapitation of Emerson, and has been identified as a suspect in several similar killings.
Leon County, Fla., authorities say they will charge Hilton in the slaying of Cheryl Hodges Dunlap, 46, of Crawfordville, Fla. She went missing Dec. 1 and was found dead in Apalachicola National Forest on Dec. 15.
Also, North Carolina officials have named Hilton as a suspect in the slaying in October of an elderly couple.
Avid hikers John, 79, and Irene Bryant, 84, were last seen alive on Oct. 20 in the Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina. Her body was found bludgeoned three weeks later while John Bryant remains missing and is believed dead.
In each case, officials have placed Hilton in the vicinity. Further, each of the victims' ATM cards were used, and the bodies were recovered in state or national forests.
So, who needs a gun in a National Park? Meredith Emerson, Cheryl Dunlap, John and Irene Bryant did. Thanks to all who left comments, wrote letters and called lobbying the Interior Department on behalf of lawful self-protection, law-abiding citizens can now lawfully carry a concealed handgun for self-defense in National Parks. It’s too late for Hilton’s victims, but future attackers will no longer have the protection of a stupid, baseless, politically correct law to disarm their potential victims.
For the time being, the blissful ninnies like Dave Roden, can wail and gnash their teeth in frustration spouting useless platitudes such as “If you feel the need to carry a concealed weapon in a national park, perhaps it would be better to borrow a video about the park from the library and watch it in the comfort of your own home”, but they will not have the veto power over the right to choose to protect themselves from predators like Gary Hilton.
Jeff Riley is Buckeye Firearms Association Southwest Ohio volunteer.
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