Chilling words National Forest serial killer Gary Hilton told cops before last victim Meredith Emers

A SERIAL killer who preyed on helpless hikers in national forests gave cops a horrifying message when he was finally caught after murdering at least four.

Gary Hilton, a survivalist who murdered and dismembered his victims, revealed the location of his final victim to police in 2008 and said: "The head will be missing."

A 24-year-old Georgia graduate named Meredith Emerson disappeared while hiking with her dog on January 1, 2008, sparking a massive search.

Reports began to flood in about a suspicious older man who was seen hiking with a red dog near Georgia's Blood Mountain - where Emerson was last seen.

A former employer of Hilton called officials and said the description exactly matched the older man, causing police to further investigate him.

Just three days later, Hilton was arrested at a convenience store after the attendant recognized him from news reports.

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Emerson attempted to break away and escape the madman but tripped and fell, igniting a physical struggle for her life.

Sadly, the Army veteran and skilled survivalist overpowered the young woman and bludgeoned her to death in the middle of the Georgia wilderness.

Hilton was sentenced to life in prison for Emerson's brutal killing, but he would rack up multiple other charges while behind bars.

As news of Hilton's horrific crime spread like wildfire, investigators learned that this was just the latest in a string of heartless murders.

Like most serial killers, Hilton operated in environments where he had the most control.

This included wilderness in Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina.

Residents began reporting past sightings of Hilton in national forests as his image became more ubiquitous, causing investigators to discover multiple campsites belonging to the convicted killer.

One of the sightings was in Florida's Apalachicola National Forest, where nurse and Sunday school teacher Cheryl Dunlap, 46, disappeared on December 1, 2007.

Her torso was discovered by hunters around two weeks later - investigators tracking Hilton's movements later found more remains at what is believed to be one of his campsites, seven miles from where the first discovery was made.

"We would go to each and every one of those sites," said former Leon County Sheriff Mike Wood in the season premiere of Real Life Nightmare.

"We had a tip from a gentleman that he had run into an older man in the woods, and fit Gary Hilton's description to a T.

"So, we go to that campsite and we found what had been covered up with straw and hidden fairly well was a small burn pit, and it had ashes and debris.

"Ultimately, they turned out to be identified as bone fragments from fingers and a skull."

The serial killer was also linked to the deaths of John Bryant, 80, and his wife Irene, 84, who were hiking in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest when they were stopped by Hilton on October 21, 2007.

On November 9, Irene was discovered dead from head trauma while John was found months later with a fatal gunshot wound.

While these are the only confirmed slayings that have been linked to Hilton, there have been plenty of unsolved murders that could be related to the National Forest Killer.

"My big question is, what other cases are out there that they just haven't been able to pin on him?" said Holes.