The chilling words a serial killer told police before his last victim was found decapitated have been revealed.
Former army veteran Gary Hilton, 75, who would camp in forests and prey on helpless ramblers, admitted to murdering and dismembering at least four hikers between 2007 and 2008.
He even revealed to police the location of his last victim in a chilling admission after confessing: "The head will be missing."
Meredith Emerson, 24, from Georgia, in the US, was out walking on her dog on January 1, 2008 when she suddenly went missing as a huge search was conducted for the graduate.
Police received information an older man was seen camping near Georgia's Blood Mountain, which is where Ms Emerson was last seen, with a red dog.
One member of the public, a former employer of Hilton, told cops the description of the man which matched him.
Following a police appeal three days later the serial killer was arrested at a corner shop after the worker recognised him from news bulletins.
Real Life Nightmare host Paul Holes said Hilton was trying to hide from police but, as his face was plastered along in newspapers and television, it was impossible to ignore him.
He said: "Law enforcement rolls up and it's Gary Hilton literally trying to clean his van of evidence because he's seeing his photograph in the newspapers."
As the killer was trying to unload evidence of the killings from his van in a nearby rubbish bin investigators found personal items belonging to Ms Emerson such as her university ID, driver's licence, wallet and blood stained clothing.
Armed with evidence investigators began asking Hilton about the student's disappearance but he was reluctant to spare any information.
However, agreed to disclose the body's location in return for avoiding the death penalty.
Hilton confessed his murder and told police he made Ms Emerson camp with him for days as he forced her to stay until she gave him her bank account details - which she refused.
The student tried to leave the camp but she tripped and injured herself as Hilton forced her to stay with him.
During a violent altercation the former Army veteran repeatedly hit Ms Emerson in the middle of the forest.
The killer was sentenced to life in prison but it wasn't the only charges he would face behind bars.
Police began searching Hilton's past and found a pattern of murders in the wilderness in Florida, North Carolina and Georgia.
Hikers and dog walkers told investigators they remembered seeing Hilton in the forest and police later discovered campsites which belonged to him.
Cheryl Dunlap, 46, was one of those hikers which disappeared on December 1, 2007 in Florida's Apalachicola National Forest.
The nurse's body was found by hikers two weeks later in the forest as investigators found remains belonging to her.
Leon County Sheriff Mike Wood told Real Life Nightmare: "We would go to each and every one of those sites.
"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."
Hilton was also a suspect in the deaths of John Bryant, 80, and wife Irene, 84, on October 21, 2007.
The couple were hiking in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest when they were approached by the killer.
Just a few weeks later Irene was found dead from a head injury and John was found with a fatal gunshot wound months later.
There are expected multiple other killings are linked to serial killer Hilton as dozens of unsolved murders could have his finger tips on.
