The Killing of John and Irene Bryant of Hendersonville, N.C

BY BRIAN K. FINNICUM, EDITOR Friday, December 21, 2007 1:42 PM

A photo from the security camera at People’s Bank in Ducktown shows the hooded figure of the person who used John and Irene Bryant’s ATM card.

Officials believe establishing this person’s identity is key to solving Irene’s murder and John’s disappearance.

The son of a North Carolina couple whose bank ATM card was used to withdraw money at a Ducktown bank visited the Copper Basin area last week to try to draw out information that might help solve the crime against his parents.

“Why Ducktown?” wondered Bob Bryant Thursday. “Was it on the way to somewhere, or was it somebody from here?”

Bryant’s parents, John and Irene Bryant of Hendersonville, N.C., disappeared after going on a day hike in the Pisgah National Forest on Oct. 21 near the Cradle of Forestry and Pink Beds in Transylvania County near Brevard, N.C.

Later that day, a 911 call was attempted from the couple’s cell phone, but the call was dropped by the tower because of a weak signal and never reached the 911 dispatch office.Bryant said his parents were in the habit of taking hikes of two or three hours a few times a week, and would often go on short trips at the drop of a hat, but “when we hadn’t heard from them for a week, we got concerned.”

Bryant said when he also confirmed with his mother’s sister that she hadn’t heard from them either, even though Irene was in the habit of talking to her sister several times a week, and neighbors told him newspapers were piling up at their house, he flew from his home in Austin, Texas, to Hendersonville, and broke into his parents house.

He said everything appeared normal, but their packs were gone and he assumed they had gone hiking.Bryant then notified authorities that his parents were missing, and the sheriff’s department started an investigation, he said. That was when the dropped cell phone call was discovered, and that gave them a location in the Pisgah Forest where to start their search.

The next day, two weeks after their presumed disappearance, the couple’s truck was found parked at a trailhead, Bryant said. Almost as soon as the car was located, aircraft were overhead searching, and a large search party fanned out along the trail and vicinity, presumably looking for lost hikers, he said.

But, after a few days, it was realized that they were no longer looking for lost hikers, and the search was scaled back to mostly law enforcement, who began a thorough grid search, Bryant said. Soon, Irene’s body was found. She had been bludgeoned to death.

At the same time, officials learned that someone had used the couple’s bank card to withdraw $300 from the People’s Bank ATM on Five Points Drive in Ducktown the day after the couple went missing.

Since then, Bryant said he has been searching on his own in the Pisgah Forest, walking roads and bridges. “I’ve walked a lot,” he said, including seven miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Last week, he came to Ducktown. He said he came for a couple of reasons - to see the place and ATM that was used and to talk to local law enforcement officials about his parents; and to talk to the news media to plead with anyone who might have seen anything to come forward.

Bank security cameras show a figure walked up to the ATM on Oct. 22 at 7:35 p.m., wearing a yellow parka with the hood up. A distinctive band of what appears to be gray duct tape rings the waist of the parka. Cars can be seen passing on the street in the background.Bryant said he doesn’t know for sure, but the parka “certainly looked like something Dad would have. It certainly looks like it could be.”

John Bryant remains missing. Also missing is his backpack, a blue pack with an Appalachian Trail “End To End” patch on it. Bob Bryant said his dad had hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in sections.

“I just don’t understand how this would have turned into a murder,” Bryant said. His mother Irene was 84 and his father John was just a week shy of his 80th birthday. He said they wouldn’t have posed a physical threat and would have just handed over their wallets if someone had demanded them. He said neither would have offered any resistance unless the other had been physically assaulted.

Despite an intensive investigation not only by the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Department, but also the U.S. Forest Service and Park Service, the FBI, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Polk County Sheriff’s Department, Bryant said no further clues about his father’s whereabouts have been found.

He said the presumption is that his father was taken against his will, and the presumption is that he is no longer alive.“They need a lead,” Bryant said. He said he came here hoping that someone might have seen the person in the yellow parka, or have heard something about the case.

“Please come forward,” he pleaded.A $10,000 reward has been offered for the right information, Bryant said. Anyone with any information can call the Polk County Sheriff’s Department at 423-496-3301.

http://www.thenewsobserver.com/articles/2007/12/25/news/news02.txt

A short, preliminary timeline :

Oct 21, 4 pm: An unsuccessful call to 911 from Irene Bryant’s cell phone. The signal is lost and the call never reaches an emergency call center. The provider is unable to lock onto a position using GPS. Authorities suspect Irene Bryant was killed that day.

Oct 22, 7:35 pm: Bryants’ bank card used to withdraw $300 from an ATM at a Ducktown, Tenn., bank. Suspect is on surveillance tape, but not a good shot.

Nov 2 or 3: Bob Bryant reports to the Henderson County Sheriff‘s Office that his parents are missing after not being able to reach them by phone or e-mail for two weeks, and hearing from neighbors that newspapers were piling up outside the Bryants’ home.

Nov 6: Search for John and Irene Bryant begins.
Nov 6, 1:45 pm: Bob Bryant, after traveling from home in Texas, finds his parents’ Ford Escape on the side of Yellow Gap Road in Transylvania County.

Nov 8: Law enforcement begins search of couple’s financial records for recent activity.

Nov. 9: Authorities determine couple’s bank card used.
Nov. 9: Sixty-five people join another 40 already searching for the couple. Searchers find body, which is sent for autopsy and identification.

Nov 12: Search for couple suspended.

Nov 13: Police go public with information on the bank card use, releasing photo from bank video. Medical examiner identifies body as that of Irene Bryant.

Meredith Emerson--'Person of Interest', Missing Hiker's Dog Found

January 4, 2008

DECATUR, Ga. -- The man police were lookig to question in the case of a missing Gwinnett County hiker was found Friday.

Gary Michael Hilton, 60, was found at a Chevron gas station on Ashford-Dunwoody Road in DeKalb County.

Police also located Emerson's dog, "Emma", a 1-year-old black Labrador retriever, at a Kroger parking lot at the intersection of Georgia highways 306 and 400 in Forsyth County, roughly 60 miles from the search site.

Police want to learn what Hilton knows about the disappearance of Meredith Emerson, 24, who was last seen Tuesday hiking on Blood Mountain in Union County.

Friends said Emerson went hiking with "Emma" on Tuesday. Her 1995 Chevrolet Cavalier was found abandoned Wednesday at the base of Blood Mountain.
Emerson, 24, is formerly of Longmont, Colo., and recently became a resident of Buford, Ga., in suburban Atlanta.

Her roommate, Julia Karrenbauer of Buford, said as many as 100 friends and family members have come to the park to aid in the search. Emerson's father, Dave Emerson of Longmont, Colo., headed to the mountain trails Friday with investigators and rescue workers to help look for his daughter.

"They're frightened, scared and we're all very hopeful," Karrenbauer said of Emerson's parents. "We're all trying to stay really positive here. It's been a really long three days."

Karrenbauer said Emerson is an experienced hiker with a blue belt in martial arts.
The search for Emerson will resume Saturday.

4th Night Falls on Search For Hiker

Reported by: Jon Shirek
Reported by: Julie Wolfe
1/4/2008

A fourth, frigid night has fallen on the north Georgia mountains with no sign of the missing hiker from Gwinnett County, Meredith Emerson, or of the "person of interest" who the GBI said was seen on the trail with the 24-year-old University of Georgia graduate. On Friday, the search expanded.

Search and rescue teams expanded their search area, far beyond Blood Mountain, where Emerson and her dog were last seen Tuesday afternoon hiking, and talking on the trail with what authorities described as a "person of interest," a man they said was Gary Michael Hilton, 60, of DeKalb County.

.

The search now encompasses 400 square miles of rugged, north Georgia terrain. Fifteen teams of search and rescue experts rappelled into ravines and caves all day Friday -- places that the volunteer searchers can not reach -- while helicopters with infrared sensors continued to scan from above for body heat below, for some sign of Emerson and her dog Ella.

"These are the guys that know these woods, and they know what they're looking for," said Emerson's roommate, Julia Karrenbauer. "It does comfort us, the fact that the best of the best are up there today, working for her."The best of the best includes the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Rapid Response Team and their canines that Major Carl Sims commands. They spent the entire night in a grid search of Blood Mountain and beyond."

"As you can imagine, time is of the essence, to get as much as we can get done as quick as we can get done, especially with the temperatures as brutal as they were up there," said Sims.

Search and rescue teams spent a frigid Thursday night on Blood Mountain scouring trails, ravines, and caves for any sign of a missing University of Georgia graduate. "We have nothing right now," Union County investigator Kimberly Verdone admitted Friday on the third day of the search for Meredith Emerson.

Emerson, an avid hiker, was last seen on New Year's Day, talking to a weathered and toothless man who has been identified as Hilton. He is being sought for questioning by authorities."All we have is that they were seen on the trail together. He was the last person that was with her along with her dog," Verdone said at a Friday morning news conference. "DeKalb County is looking for this subject."

As many as 60 searchers from area police and sheriff's departments, some with K-9 units, worked through the night as temperatures dipped to 9 degrees. By daybreak Friday, 15 search teams made up of law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel were working to cover an area of nearly 254,000 acres. A Georgia State Patrol helicopter with infrared took to the air for another day.Volunteers picked up armloads of fliers to post throughout north Georgia and western North Carolina.

Volunteers who wanted to help were asked to call Union County authorities first to be placed on a list. They were not being allowed on the trails, but were asked to post fliers in the area instead. Her friends have started a Web site where they post updates, http://www.helpfindmeredith.com/ Emerson left a note for her roommate to indicate she went hiking on Tuesday. When she failed to return home, friends reported her missing and, on Wednesday, found her car in a parking lot near a Blood Mountain trail.

"I'm still in shock every now and then. I get a free moment and I think about it and I expect to wake up and go , 'This isn't happening,'" roommate Julia Karrenbaum said.

While the fate of Emerson is not known, her godmother, speaking again Friday, said her parents remain hopeful. She also pleaded for Hilton to come forward and talk to authorities."I hope that if he realized that this would be helpful, that his heart would be softened and turned to coming forward with information for Meredith, for those of us that love her. We need him to come forward," said Peggy Bailey."Please, please if you could and I speak to him and anyone who can contact him, if you’ve been hesitant, please don’t be hesitant...have the courage to come forward. We need you and Dave and Susan [Emerson's parents] need you.

"Emerson's parents are grateful that so many strangers have joined family and friends to find her."Susan and Dave have said that, more than anything else, has been hugely comforting to them and supportive. And it's what keeps it together for them," said Meredith Emerson's godmother, Peggy Bailey. "That means that people are caring and they know that Meredith will be found, with that kind of support -- and that's huge."

Hilton was identified as a person of interest after someone wrote down the license tag of his white van. Investigator Verdone did not know what prompted that person to become suspicious enough to take notes on his van."That is something that we’re checking into," she said. "It’s not that he is a suspect...we just want to know when was the last time he saw her." A GBI official added later Friday, "We have confirmed that he was there."

GBI agents said they now have evidence -- proof -- that the person of interest, Hilton, is definitely the man hikers saw with a dog, talking with Emerson as she hiked the trail with her dog Tuesday. Investigators said they believe it was a chance encounter, and that Emerson did not know Hilton.

Authorities said Hilton had a large, reddish-colored dog with him that answered to the name of "Dandy." Hilton owns two vehicles, both registered in DeKalb County: a white 1996 Chevrolet Astro Van with plate number 76APZ, and a white 2001 Chevrolet Astro Van with license plate number AFQ1310.Hilton was wearing a large yellow backpack. For now, officials said they are holding out hope that Emerson is on the mountain, holed up in a cave where she is staying warm with her dog.

"We are still in search and rescue mode. We are holding that she’s out there and that she’s hidden somewhere where she’s staying warm and that Ella is with her.

"Verdone said the search includes the help of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Natural Resources, the Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office, the Union County Sheriff's Office, the Union County Fire Department, the Union County Emergency Management Agency, along with scours of volunteers and a K-9 search team from North Carolina, and the GSP helicopter.

The search will continue through Friday night, with canines who do their work well in the dark. Anyone with information on Hilton is asked to call the Union County Sheriff's Office at 706-439-6038.

http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=109029

Meredith Emerson--Person of Interest Named in Hiker Case

Reported By: Julie Wolfe
Reported by: Jon Shirek
Reported by: Duffie Dixon
Last Modified: 1/4/2008 6:58:25 PM

Officials have named a person of interest in the search for missing hiker Meredith Emerson, and are searching for Gary Michael Hilton, 60.

According to investigators, Hilton owns two vehicles, both registered in DeKalb County: a white 1996 Chevrolet Astro Van with plate number 76APZ, and a white 2001 Chevrolet Astro Van with license plate number AFQ1310.

Officials said they want to know what Hilton said to Emerson when he met her on the Appalachian Trail.

Hilton was described as a silver-haired white man weighing about 160 pounds. He stands about 5 feet, 10 inches tall with bad or no teeth.

Hilton was seen several times talking with Meredith Emerson, who went hiking with her black Labrador on New Year's Day. Emerson was reported missing on Wednesday.

"This man was seen with her on multiple occasions during that day," said Union County investigator Kimberly Verdone.Authorities said Hilton had a large, reddish-colored dog with him that answered to the name of "Dandy."

Emerson and the man's dogs ran up the mountains near Dahlonega together, and the two were seen following their dogs Tuesday, witnesses told authorities.

The man in question was spotted again Wednesday morning.

The witnesses said he also had with him a large, yellow backpack that looked like it had enough gear for days. Verdone said witnesses described the man as, "Weathered and no teeth and looked as if he had been hiking for quite from time."

Anyone with information on Hilton is asked to call the Union County Sheriff's Office at 706-439-6038. Six people, including Meredith's boyfriend, searched a specific area of the trail with dogs on Thursday evening.

Authorities believe Hilton was the man, who on Freeman Trail on Blood Mountain, was talking to Meredith Emerson the day she and her dog Ella disappeared.

"Mr. Hilton is an individual who is believed to have had contact with Ms. Emerson along the hiking trails in Vogel State Park. Mr. Hilton also has the dog we've identified as a red large dog, with the name of Dandy," said Kimberly Verdone of the Union County Sheriff's Office.

That almost matches up exactly to what another hiker on that same day told folks at a store at the trailhead.

He found what family members now think is key evidence."Before he go to the parking lot, he saw there was a pile of items. The glasses, the baton, two water bottles, a dog leash and the dog treats.

And at that point, he felt really uneasy about the situation. He recalled the girl hiking with the dog on the leash; recalled the gentleman with the baton and the holster," said store employee Jennifer Moorse.

"Meredith's middle name is Hope. And that's exactly what the Lord gives us for her, so we're talking about Meredith in the present tense, and we will find her, and she will safely come home to us," said family spokesperson -- and Meredith's godmother -- Peggy Bailey.

With the possibility of foul play, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation joined in the search for Emerson and the man Thursday. Add to that, a team of eight from Gwinnett County search-and-rescue, one fire search-and-rescue team, and a Georgia State Patrol helicopter using an infrared device are taking part in the search.

"At this time we are assembling teams with experience and non-experience," Verdone said at a late morning news conference.

Emerson's father is also reported to be taking part in the search. Thursday afternoon, authorities said the search would be suspended at dusk Thursday evening and resume again Friday morning if Emerson is not found.

Emerson was believed to be hiking the Freeman Trail, which measures six miles in length.

Earlier Thursday, investigator Verdone said five or six people had come forward with information about Emerson.

One of them, a former police officer, told a shop owner that after passing Emerson and her dog, he spotted a suspicious man who was carrying a police baton. "He seemed a bit uneasy but he wasn't completely in an emergency state," said Jennifer Moorse.

The ex-cop said that on the way back from his hike, he became more concerned when he found the baton along with some of Emerson's belongings near the trail." At that point, he felt really uneasy about the situation," said Moorse. The ex-cop returned to the scene to help investigators pinpoint the area where he saw Emerson, as well as the suspicious man.

'Pure Tough' Whether she met with foul play or foul weather, Emerson was prepared for both, friends said. She was an experienced hiker and accomplished martial arts student described by her self-defense instructor as "120 pounds of pure tough."

"I've seen her take down men twice her size," said Ken Blumreich. After reporting her missing, hundreds of friends and relatives traveled to Blood Mountain in Union County where they found her snow-covered car in a trail parking lot. Authorities have confirmed that a water bottle and leash found on the mountain and turned into a local shop owner belong to Emerson.

A short time after her car was found, three teams started what would be six-mile search in the woods in Union County where Emerson took her dog on a hike. They ended the ground search at 6:30 p.m. as sub-zero degree temperatures moved into the region.

Volunteer searchers gathered by the dozens to help but were initially asked to stay clear of the mountain so that their body heat was not mistaken for Emerson's. "We are doing every effort to find Meredith," Verdone said, adding that members of the Appalachian Trail Club have been contacted for any information about caves or other areas where Emerson could have survived the night.

Family spokesperson Peggy Bailey, Emerson's godmother, said Emerson's parents flew in from Colorado Wednesday night. "Her parents, as you can imagine, are devastated and frightened but they are strong people, as is Meredith," said Bailey. "She is smart, level-headed.

"Emerson, a University of Georgia graduate, just started a new job and was excited about taking on a leadership role there, Bailey said. She was also skilled at hiking.

"Meredith Emerson could do anything. She is feisty. She is strong. She is tiny and petite, 120 pounds, [but] she can run those mountains. She’s a strong person. If anyone can survive this she can."

http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=108980

Web site for Savio draws skepticism from family

January 4, 2008
By JOE HOSEY Herald News

A fundraising Web site was set up in missing mom Stacy Peterson's name. Then, her husband, Drew Peterson, started one. Now, relatives of Peterson's deceased third wife have created a site to raise money for battered women.

But Kathleen Savio's sister is skeptical of the site and the relatives she says launched it.
"I'm not touching this money. I have nothing to do with it," said the sister, Anna Doman.

Doman said her brother, Henry M. Savio, also was unaware of plans to raise money through kathleenkittysavio.com. Doman thinks her sister, Susie Doman, and her father's son from his third marriage, Nicholas Savio, are behind the Web site.

Nicholas Savio was not well acquainted with Kathleen Savio or her two sons, Kris and Tom, she said. "The first time he saw Kitty's children was at her funeral," Anna Doman said.

The Web site solicits donations, saying, "We would be so thankful, she is crying for help. We would also like to start a fund for battered women in Kathleen Savio's name."

The donations are to be sent to an address in Indiana, care of Nicholas Harold Savio. The site does not specify how the money will assist battered women.

Attempts to contact the administrators through the e-mail addresses provided on the site were unsuccessful.

'Stacy store'

Besides asking for money, the Savio site also solicits information about the woman's death and directs readers to call state police.

Drew Peterson's short-lived Web site, defenddrew.com, asked donors to contribute to his legal defense fund. The site was online for less than a day before its hosting company shut it down because of the massive traffic it generated.

The site set up for Stacy Peterson, findstacypeterson.com, is trying to raise funds to cover the costs of searches for the missing woman. Any money left over will go to the four children - including Savio's sons - she left behind, said Pam Bosco, the spokeswoman for Stacy's family.
But even Bosco, who started to set up the trust with the help of a lawyer, is distancing herself from the Stacy Peterson Web site.

"I know the site was started with good intentions. I believe now it has good intentions. It just needs to be controlled," Bosco said.

"It has a life of its own right now," she said. "There's a 'Stacy store' (on the forum). I have no idea who's doing this."

The proprietor of the "Stacy store" is selling bracelets to raise money, Bosco said.

Not enough info

The state's attorney general's office oversees the Charitable Trust Act. Individuals or organizations soliciting funds for charitable purposes are required to register with the state.

"The attorney general's office doesn't have enough information at this time to know if these individuals or groups are soliciting on behalf of a charitable purpose to know whether or not they should register with our office," said Robyn Ziegler, a spokeswoman for the attorney general.

Sun-Times News Group

Neighbors testify to grand jury

January 4, 2008
By JOE HOSEY The Herald News

Drew Peterson's next-door neighbors, past and present, appeared before a grand jury Thursday to give testimony about his missing fourth wife and his dead third one.

Thomas Pontarelli, who lived next to Peterson and third wife Kathleen Savio on Pheasant Chase Drive, was the first to testify. He was followed by Sharon Bychowski, who lives next to Peterson at his current home on Pheasant Chase Court, mere blocks from his former residence.

Bychowski said witnesses were present for both the cases of Savio, who was the victim of a March 2004 bathtub drowning, and Stacy Peterson, Drew Peterson's fourth wife who has been missing for more than two months.

Bychowski, who was close to Stacy Peterson and has helped keep the missing mother's case in the national spotlight, said she spent about an hour in the grand jury room and is scheduled to return Jan. 24. She declined to discuss her testimony.

Another witness, Bruce Zidarich, said he was sent home before taking the stand because the session was running too long. Zidarich, a friend of Stacy and her sister, Cassandra Cales, said the volunteer efforts to find Stacy have stalled somewhat.

Pontarelli's wife reportedly was one of the first to find Savio's body, which was doubled over in a waterless bathtub.
Sun-Times News Group

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/725966,6_1_NA04_PETERSON_S2.article

Peterson's True Colors Slowing Shining Through

The Bolingbrook Sun
man says PETERSON broke his thumb
FEDERAL LAWSUIT
December 19, 2007
By JOE HOSEY Staff Writer

BOLINGBROOK -- Peterson says he wasn't even working when Timothy Brownlee's thumb was broken. Brownlee, 35, a barber working in Joliet, filed suit against Peterson and two other unidentified Bolingbrook cops, accusing them of excessive force, assault and battery, failure to intervene, false arrest, conspiracy, malicious prosecution and committing a hate crime.

The way Brownlee tells it, this tale of handbreak started innocently enough with a Memorial Day cookout he held at his home. "My next-door neighbor, he's really not a big fan of kids," Brownlee said, recalling how he cautioned children at his get-together to stay away from the neighbor while he went to the store to get cigarettes. By the time Brownlee returned, the police were at his house. An officer checked his identification and the police left after ordering everyone to "get along," Brownlee said.

But a half hour later, the police returned, Brownlee said, and accused him of misrepresenting his identity. They then took him into custody. "I had on my pajamas, some shower shoes and a tank top," Brownlee said of his attire when he was taken into custody.

On the way to the police station, Brownlee said the officer called him a nigger and told him he didn't belong in Bolingbrook. "He said when we get to the police station, he's going to kick my Ass," Brownlee said.

Alarmed, Brownlee tried to use his cell phone to call one of his two brothers who work as officers with the Chicago Police Department. The call went straight to voice mail, he said, but the cop driving the car heard him and said, "I think this guy's recording me."

Brownlee said he was hauled out of the squad car by the handcuffs. He was then taken to the station. There, he said, police took away his pajama pants and shower shoes, leaving him with nothing on but a tank top. He says police later returned his pajama pants but ordered him to walk barefoot out of his cell.

When he hesitated they set to beating him. "They drug me out," he said. "They were hollering, 'Stop resisting.' I said, 'I'm not resisting.' That's when Sgt. Peterson grabbed my thumb."

Prochut claims otherwise. "It was not Drew Peterson, and we have videotape evidence to back this up," the commander said. Deny, deny, deny..

The lawsuit says Brownlee was charged with obstructing justice and disorderly conduct and that the charges later were dropped.

Peterson's attorney, Joel Brodsky, said it was unlikely he would handle the civil matter for the embattled former police sergeant. But he did find the allegations consistent with others lodged against his client. "It's just another example of another debunked Elvis sighting," Brodsky said.

What reason did they really have to arrest this guy? This is harassment, plain and simple.

He's comparing himself to Elvis?