Officials tie man to deaths of couple in North Carolina

(CNN) - Authorities have established a positive link between the man charged in the kidnapping and murder of a Georgia hiker and the slaying of a couple from North Carolina, a Transylvania County, N.C., official said Wednesday.

Sheriff David Mahoney told CNN last week that Gary Michael Hilton, 61, was a suspect in the slaying of Irene Bryant and the presumed death of her husband, John, in October.

"This investigation has resulted in the investigative team being able to establish a positive link between Gary Michael Hilton of Transylvania County and specifically to the case involving John and Irene Bryant," Mahoney said at a brief news conference.