BRYSON CITY, N.C. -- The man charged in the beating death of a Georgia hiker is being looked at in the 2005 disappearance of a Florida woman who was hiking in western North Carolina.

Investigators said 26-year-old Rossana Miliani was last in Bryson City on December 7th, 2005.

A store clerk from Bryson City recently told a private investigator that Miliani came into her store with a white man in his 60s and appeared nervous when they bought a backpack. The clerk contacted private investigator Steve Siske after reading about Miliani on the second anniversary of her disappearance.

Siske said he noticed case similarities when 61-year-old Gary Michael Hilton was arrested for the murder of 24-year-old Meredith Emerson, whose body was found in a national forest in the north Georgia mountains.

A spokeswoman with the State Bureau of Investigation confirmed Monday that agents are "considering the possibility of a connection," but declined further comment.

Hilton Considered "Prime Suspect" In Fl. Woman's Murder

The Leon County, Florida, sheriff's office said the man charged with murder in the death of 24-year-old hiker Meredith Emerson can be considered a prime suspect in the death of Cheryl Hodges Dunlap.

Her body was found December 19 in the Apalachicola National Forest, southwest of Tallahassee. Sheriff's Major Mike Wood said today that authorities have confirmed that Gary Michael Hilton was in the area at the time of Dunlap's disappearance.

A state law enforcement source told WSB-TV that Dunlap also was decapitated, as was Emerson.

Hilton Named Suspect In NC Murder

Investigators in North Carolina named Gary Hilton a suspect in the abductions of two hikers, one who was found bludgeoned to death and one who is still missing.

The body of Irene Bryant, 84, was found about a month after she and her husband disappeared while hiking in the Pisgah National Forest near Asheville. She had been beaten to death. John Bryant, 80, remains missing.

"At this point, I do consider Hilton a suspect,” said Transylvania County Sheriff David Mahoney. “We are following up on all information regarding possible sightings of Hilton. We have not released any other information regarding Hilton at this point.”