How To Prevent Getting Attacked While Walking, Jogging, Running or Hiking

One of the most enjoyable things a person can do is exercise and many people choose to do it outdoors. Due to time restrictions in this hectic world, a jogger, runner, walker or hiker have a routine that they follow. Most of the time they follow the same path, go at the same time every day or every other day and usually do it alone.

The recent murder of Meredith Emerson, a hiker in Georgia, is yet another example of a victim that was enjoying the outdoors while hiking. Although, the media has not indicated if she did or did not carry any self-defense product. More often than not, most women and men usually do not. They are so focused on their exercise routine and perhaps drinking water that they overlook the possibility of an assault.

It is very important to make it a habit when preparing for your outdoor exercise routine to take with you some sort of self-defense product along with your keys.

Pepper spray is one of the most common self-defense products being used today. It is small, light and usually has a belt clip and/or a key chain. There is even Dog Repeller pepper spray for those all too common stray dogs. This is very convenient when you are on the go. While hiking, you might consider carrying Bear Repellent pepper spray in your backpack. While power walking, you might consider Pepper Spray Walking Weights. These 1 lb. weights actually have a replaceable pepper spray canister inside!

A Stun gun is also an option. They are small and light weight and some are no bigger than the palm of your hand. Some stun guns come disguised as a pager or cell phone so the attacker has no idea that you have protection. For hikers, there is also a real handy non-lethal product that is convenient to have if you are going to camp out during the night. The Stun Baton, which has a flash light and a personal alarm. It is a stun gun, alarm, and flashlight all in one unit. The would-be-attacker would think you are just carrying a flashlight!

Yet another option is at taser. There are several options to choose from here also. Some look like a gun but the latest Taser C2 looks more like an electric shaver than a non-lethal weapon.

So, don't just keep your body in shape, also keep yourself safe and protect yourself with non-lethal self-defense products.

WomenOnGuard.com was designed by two women who deeply believe in combatting violent crimes against women by empowerment and prevention. WomenOnGuard.com sells non-lethal, self-defense products such as Mace, pepper sprays, personal alarms and stun devices such as the Taser C2, stun guns and cell phone stun guns. Protect yourself or a loved one and visit http://www.WomenOnGuard.com and purchase a safety product. These products make great gifts that show you care.

Body of Missing Buford Hiker Found

By JEFFRY SCOTT, GEORGE CHIDI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/07/08

The body of Buford hiker Meredith Emerson, missing since New Year's Day in the North Georgia mountains, has been found by authorities, her family's spokeswoman confirmed Monday night.

"We did find out just now, not that it was unexpected," Peggy Bailey said.

She did not confirm exactly where the body was found but said, "I know it was a place where they have been looking."

As search parties continued with a sixth day of scouring the mountains for Emerson, the man suspected of killing her faced a judge but made no comment.

Although the father of the young hiker went before cameras Monday to ask the public to "search their hearts and memories" for anything that might lead to his daughter, attorneys said that even if searchers had never found her body, Gary Michael Hilton still could have been charged with her murder.

Read more... click on headline for complete article.

Search for Missing Hiker Extended to Metro Atlanta

Officials Note Suspect may be Lnked to Couple's Slaying in North Carolina

By CHRISTIAN BOONE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/06/08

Blairsville — Law enforcement officials announced Sunday they have expanded the search for Meredith Emerson to a five-county area extending from metro Atlanta to the North Georgia mountains.

Also on Sunday, officials for the first time acknowledged there could be a connection between the Emerson case and the disappearance and presumed slayings last October of John and Irene Bryant, an elderly couple from North Carolina.

That connection could be Gary Michael Hilton, a 61-year-old man police say was the last person seen with Emerson before she vanished New Year's Day while hiking on the Freeman Trail in Vogel State Park. Authorities hold out little hope Emerson is still alive.

Read more... click on headline for complete article

Man Charged with Kidnapping Missing Hiker

By TIM EBERLY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/05/08

The man who police say was the last person seen with a missing Buford woman was charged Saturday with kidnapping with bodily injury, and authorities said they do not believe the woman is still alive.

A Union County Superior Court judge signed an arrest warrant late Saturday afternoon against Gary Michael Hilton in connection with the disappearance of Meredith Emerson, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said.

Hilton is being transferred from the metro Atlanta area, where he was taken into custody by DeKalb County police Friday evening, back to Union County, Bankhead said.

Read more... click on headline for complete article

January is National Stalking Awareness Month

Stalking is not just a one-time occurrence; it is a crime that leaves its victim fearful 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Most stalkers know where their victim lives, so not even home is a place for their victim. Most victims spend their days and nights looking over their shoulder, changing jobs, relocating their homes, and even go to the extent of changing their appearance so the stalker can not recognize them. In many instances, victims usually know their stalkers and 81 percent of female victims are also physically assaulted by their stalker.
Many experts have concluded that there is a strong connection between stalking and violence toward women. Declaring January as National Stalking Awareness Month, helps raise awareness about this serious and potentially deadly crime.
According to the National Center for Victims of Crime and the Stalking Resource Center, approximately 1 million women and 400,000 men are victims of stalking in this country annually. 1 in 12 women and 1 in 45 men will be stalked at some point in their lives, as well as close to 13 percent of female college students. Today’s technology has made stalking easier. Stalkers can design websites to encourage others to monitor or harm their victim, install spyware on their victim’s computer or even plant global positioning systems (GPS) in their victim’s car to track their victim’s travels. Other technologies, including social networking websites, such as Facebook and MySpace, cell phones with surveillance devices meant for parents monitoring their children, and running shoes implanted with GPS devices, may provide additional opportunities for stalkers to harm their victims.

For victim assistance, call the National Crime Victim Helpline at 1-800-FYI-CALL. Visit www.ncvc.org/src for a map of activities planned around the country for National Stalking Awareness Month and for more information.

Search for missing hiker narrowed

By JEFFRY SCOTT
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/05/08

As the search continued for missing Buford hiker Meredith Emerson, officials have focused their hunt on a 5-square mile area of the North Georgia Mountains, authorities told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at 11:20 a.m. Saturday.

The area is near where Emerson's car was found after her New Year's Day disappearance, said Kimberly Verdone, a spokeswoman for the Union County Sheriff's Office. Verdone wouldn't disclose what led officials back to that area, which searchers have already scoured while covering 401 square miles the past three days.

A team of close to 100 volunteers planned to join professional searchers as noon neared Saturday. The volunteers had been anxiously awaiting marching orders since arriving at 8 a.m.

One of the volunteers, Angie Bogen, said at 11 a.m. that authorities told them there was a "new development" that held up the search. Bogen, 30, of Lawrenceville, said she was a friend of Emerson's.

Meanwhile, the "person of interest" connected to Emerson's disappearance is not cooperating with investigators, Forsyth County Sheriff Ted Paxton told the Journal-Constitution earlier Saturday.

Authorities said Gary Michael Hilton, 61, remained at "an undisclosed location" and is being questioned in the disappearance of Emerson, whose dog, Ella, turned up a day earlier at a Cumming-area grocery store.

Paxton said Saturday that investigators have surveillance tape showing that Hilton had been in the area where the dog was found, but added, "We don't have the luxury of him cooperating in the search for the woman."

Hilton, 61, was found Friday evening by DeKalb County police at a convenience store along Ashford-Dunwoody Road, authorities said. Hilton is believed to have been the last person to see Emerson, 24.

Investigators found "personal effects" of Emerson's in the area where Hilton was found, Paxton said Saturday.

Hilton was seen by other hikers at Vogel State Park as he and Emerson walked up Freeman Trail on Blood Mountain on New Year's Day.

The Union County Sheriff's Office and the GBI had been searching for Hilton since late Thursday to talk to him about Emerson.

DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said officers detained Hilton after receiving two calls about 7:40 p.m. Friday — both calls reported possible sightings of Hilton at the Chevron gas station in the 3500 block of Ashford-Dunwoody.

When officers arrived, they found Hilton and confirmed his identity, Parish said. They also found a dog in Hilton's white van, and it was taken to an animal shelter in DeKalb County.

Parish said DeKalb police had been helping in the efforts to find Hilton, whose last known address was in the Atlanta area.

A spokeswoman for the Emerson family, Peggy Bailey, said late Friday that the family is optimistic that Hilton will have information that will help the investigation, calling him the "missing link."

"We just feel certain that this is going to lead us to Meredith's whereabouts," she said. "If he doesn't know, he'll know someone who does."

The family was buoyed by news that Emerson's beloved Labrador mix, Ella, was found unharmed.

GBI spokesman John Bankhead said Emerson's dog was found about 3 p.m. Friday at a Kroger store in the Cumming area. Officials said a chip in the dog was used to confirm its identity.

Bailey said the family had been notified that Ella was safe, but they did not know where the dog was being kept Friday night.

"That's wonderful," she said of Ella's discovery. "The dog means everything to Meredith. When we find Meredith, that's the first thing she's going to ask: 'Where's Ella?' "

Meanwhile, the family will continue the search for Emerson. "I can't be happy until we know Meredith's OK," Bailey said.

By Friday the search was spread outside the borders of Vogel to include a 400-square-mile area of rugged terrain in Union and Lumpkin counties that crosses the Appalachian Trail.

Using dogs, helicopters and heat-sensing equipment, searchers planned to continue looking for Emerson or clues all weekend.

Emerson's friends found her 1995 Chevrolet Cavalier south of Vogel State Park at the head of the Freeman Trail, a common day-hiking trail that leads to the Appalachian Trail located below Blood Mountain.

Searchers have had to work in rugged, hilly terrain that rises from 3,000 to 4,500 feet above sea level and still has remnants of snow that fell Tuesday evening. Temperatures have ranged from the mid-20s to the mid-40s.

Friends and co-workers said Emerson left a note with her roommate that she was going to go hiking with her dog Tuesday.

They began searching the next day when she had not returned home and did not report for work at Process Container and Display in Winder.

They said she had been wearing warm clothes, including a fleece jacket and hiking pants.

Few of her friends, including those who had hiked the sections of the trail where her car was found, believed she could have lost her way on the well-marked trail where she often went running with a partner.

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.

Emerson's friends produced fliers and a Web site — helpfindmeredith.com.

— Staff writers Tim Eberly and George Chidi contributed to this article.

WomenOnGuard.com Is Helping Women Control Their Own Destiny With The Taser C2.

WomenOnGuard.com has been selling their non-lethal, self-defense products since October 2006. They are making sure that women get the best offer on the Taser C2. WomenOnGuard.com is offering free, the choice of 2 additional Cartridges or a Holster with every C2 with Integrated Laser Sight purchase. WomenOnGuard.com also takes their company’s goal very seriously and donates 25 pepper spray products each month to a non-profit women’s crisis center, which helps in the prevention and recovery of crimes committed against women.

Indian Beach, NC December 21, 2007. Susan Eaton, co-principal of WomenOnGuard.com, states that, “Many women are purchasing the Taser C2 for protection. It is easy to use and makes them feel more confident. As women, we need to care about each other and the ones we love. Women carrying the Taser C2 can help control their own destiny.”

Every month, the owners of the website http://WomenOnGuard.com donate 25 pepper spray products to an organization whose purpose is the prevention and assistance on violent crimes committed against women. Products are donated instead of funds so that help goes swiftly and directly to potential victims. The websites December recipient is the Sexual Assault Center of Northeast Georgia.

Another important message included on WomenOnGuard.com’s Blog is that drinking is more prevalent during this time of year and it is very important that everyone is aware of where their drinks are coming from; never leave your drinks unattended. There are more date-rape drugs on the street and sexual assaults during the holiday festivities.

Ms. Eaton goes on to say that, “there are many and various types and styles of non-lethal, self-defense products that women can carry. Carrying one of these products can aid in the prevention of a potential crime and result in one less victim. Just showing a would-be assailant that you are carrying pepper spray, a stun gun or a Taser C2 is a deterrent in itself”.

The website http://WomenOnGuard.com sells non-lethal, self-defense products such as Mace, pepper spray, stun guns, tasers, personal alarms, nanny cams and surveillance equipment for home or office. The newest non-lethal, self-defense product on the market is the Taser C2 Series, made especially for women. It has a small non-gun design; it is lightweight and easy to carry. It is a very popular product in high demand.

Defensive sprays and stun devices should only be purchased by those 18 years of age or older. The U.S. Government does not consider a Taser a firearm. They can legally be carried, concealed or open, without a permit required in more than 40 states. Pepper spray is legal in all 50 states, however some cities and states have restrictions on sizes and strengths. There are some states where stun devices are illegal. If you are not sure of the legality in your area, you should check with your local city or state attorney’s office. WomenOnGuard.com does have a “State Restrictions” category on its website however, accepts no responsibility for its accuracy or completeness.

WomenOnGuard.com
Susan Eaton, Co-Principal
252-727-2125
http://WomenOnGuard.com
info@womenonguard.com

Pepper Spray, Personal Alarm, Stun Gun and Taser; Which is Best for You?

When it comes to a self-defense product, some women have a difficult time deciding which one to purchase.
A lot has to due with how you plan to use the product and which is more convenient for you. If you are in a controlled environment or if you are outdoors, if you want something as small as a ring or if you don't mind carrying a product that is as large as perhaps a phone receiver. Of course, price is a factor too, but so is your life when confronted with danger! To make this decision easier for you, we have built a chart below that
compares 4 products.

Why all this Bad Publicity About Tasers and the Police?

I don't know why... nothing is totally safe. Do people want police to just use guns now? How much more useless deaths will that result in? Tasers are the latest technology humanity has now, so I believe we should just stop talking about the FREAK incidences that have killed a handful of people in the entire world as a result of being tased. Why doesn't the media make comparisons of how many people get killed also by police using batons on crowds and giving people concussions and even killing them. Has the media perhaps gotten a report of how many people have been killed by baseball bats? Let's get real here! A tiny amount of people killed by this product does not justify us stopping the use of tasers as do the deaths of patients in hospital operations stop doctors from operating.

First Dates can be Dangerous

It's exciting to go out with a guy for the first time on a date. Remember though that you don't know him well enough to trust him. I've heard of numerous times when dates go VERY bad. I'm talking about when things get out of hand and he wants to get physical but you don't. Sexual assault is unfortunately an event you need to be prepared for in case it happens. Carrying self defense products is one of the best ways to prevent getting raped. You might consider taking w/you some pepper spray or stun gun. Stun guns in particular come in all shapes and sizes. Some are so small that they fit in the palm of your hand. Others are disguised as cell phones or pagers. Pepper sprays come in many different ways too. Some pepper sprays look like rings that you just place on one of your fingers. Other pepper sprays look like a lipstick or perfume container that you can just take out and they think you are just going to touch up! You can carry any of these items in your purse or in the case of the pepper ring, you can wear it on you! There really is no excuse to not be protected and prevent from becoming a victim.