A fugitive from Tennessee is caught in South Carolina, accused of killing a man and lying about a bear hunt

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A fugitive accused of killing a man in Tennessee and trying to pass off the body as someone else by calling 911, identifying himself as that person and saying he fell off a cliff while being chased by a bear was captured in South Carolina, authorities reported.

In a social media post Sunday, Columbia police said Nicholas Wayne Hamlett, 45, was recognized by a staff member at a hospital in the South Carolina city. Authorities confirmed his identity with a fingerprint scanner and he is in the temporary custody of the U.S. Marshals Service while he awaits extradition to Tennessee.

Authorities in Monroe County, Tennessee and elsewhere had been searching for Hamlett since last month.

“After observing Hamlett at a local hospital, a good citizen alerted authorities and ensured the manhunt ended peacefully,” Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones said in a social media post.

The sheriff’s office said last month that Hamlett called 911 on Oct. 18 and claimed he had fallen off a cliff while fleeing a bear. Using the name Brandon Andrade, Hamlett claimed he was injured and partially submerged, authorities added.

When emergency responders searched the area near a highway overpass in Tellico Plains where the call had come from, they found the body of a man with Andrade’s identification card on it.

However, authorities determined that the man was not Andrade, whose ID had been stolen and used multiple times. The person who used Andrade’s stolen ID was Hamlett, who was wanted in Alabama for a probation violation, the sheriff’s office said. Andrade was safe and sound, authorities confirmed.

Forensic experts also determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, which is not consistent with a high fall or a bear attack, Jones said.

Hamlett likely fled his home in Tennessee before police could verify his true identity, authorities said. That sparked a manhunt for Hamlett, who was considered armed and dangerous. The U.S. Marshals Service had offered a reward of up to $5,000 for help finding him.

On October 31, law enforcement officers searched Chapin, South Carolina with helicopters and police dogs after receiving information that Hamlett was in the area and urged residents to lock their doors on Halloween night. The next day he was spotted near a high school in the city.

On November 4, the Tennessee Sheriff’s Office identified the dead man as 34-year-old Steven Douglas Lloyd of Knoxville. It was said that Hamlett befriended Lloyd and then lured him into the forest to kill him and assume his identity.

According to the sheriff’s office, Lloyd’s family said he was diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder and was leaving home and living on the streets, but remained in contact with his family.

“Steven loved the outdoors and was very helpful to others,” Jones wrote in a Nov. 4 social media post. “The family was shocked to learn that their beloved son’s life had been taken by someone Steven trusted.”