Suspect wanted for murder of hiker staged as a bear attack captured in South Carolina
Nicholas Wayne Hamlett , 45, sparked a manhunt last month after he made a 911 call claiming to be a hiker fleeing a bear attack
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A man wanted for murder in Tennessee after making a fake 911 call claiming to be a hiker who had fallen off a cliff while fleeing a bear attack was captured in South Carolina on Sunday.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office of Tennessee announced that Nicholas Wayne Hamlett, 45, was taken into custody after he was recognized at a local hospital. His identity was confirmed through his fingerprints.
Hamlett sparked a nationwide manhunt after he allegedly made a 911 call on October 18 claiming to be a hiker by the name of “Brian Andrade” who had “fallen off a cliff while running from a bear,” and that he was injured.
When first responders got to the area of Tennessee’s Charles Hall Bridge on the Cherahola Skyway in Tellico Plains, they discovered the body of a deceased man along with identification belonging to Brandon Andrade.
But an investigation revealed that he was not Andrade and that the ID had been “stolen and used on multiple occasions,” according to the sheriff’s office.
The dead man has now been identified as 34-year-old Steven Douglas Lloyd of Knoxville, who investigators say Hamlett met and lured into the woods in order to kill him and steal his identity.
After the October incident, Hamlett, who is reportedly known for using several different aliases, was spotted in the Columbia area in South Carolina.
However, investigators were not able to pinpoint his location until he was recognized at the hospital over the weekend.
Hamlett is facing first-degree murder charges out of Tennessee and a parole violation out of Alabama, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.