meredith's parents. her father, dave emerson. h their hearts and memories for anything they can remember and do to help us find meredith. after i met the emersons, i knew that i had to tell them everything. i couldn't hold back any information from these two people. they were terrified. why did you take it personally? this case was a little bit different because not only me, but the other investigators recognized the fact early on that we have to embrace this family and tell them everything, even though what we were telling them was not good news. dennis murphy (voiceover): hilton, meredith, her lab, ella, the tip line kept ringing with leads, good and bad. then four days in, a friday afternoon, a shopper called to say that she'd found a black lab mix wandering around a supermarket parking lot. the surprise to see any dog running loose in the parking lot and then to find out that it's the one that meredith-- was her dog was, you know, a pretty big surprise and shock. dennis murphy (voiceover): she took the dog to an animal clinic

hilton is being charged with one count of murder of meredith emerson. he has been taken into custody and brought to our detention centers, where he is being housed. dennis murphy (voiceover): coming up, police learn what happened to meredith in grim detail. dennis murphy (voiceover): and were there more victims? he would not talk about anybody to us other than meredith. dennis murphy (voiceover): when "mystery on blood mountain" continues. >>> a new phase-in israel's ground offensive in gaza. the israeli military has plans to pull back some troops and shift to more localized operations. we'll go through that development and the escalating tensions in the red sea. >>> also ahead, a look at the very long to-do list for congress in 2024 with several crucial items that were not addressed late last year. >>> plus, the supreme court has a tight time line to rule on the most consequential case involving the presidency since the year 2000 decision that sent george w. bush to the white house. >>> good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this tuesday, januar