KNOXVILLE, Tenn. − A manhunt was underway Monday for a slaying suspect who police say used a bogus identity when he made a bizarre 911 call claiming he fell off a cliff while running from a bear near the scenic Cherohala Skyway in rural southeast Tennessee.
The call came in on Oct. 18 from near Tellico Plains, Tennessee, about 50 miles southwest of Knoxville in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. The caller identified himself as Brandon Andrade and said he hit his head and could not move his legs. Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones said first responders descending on the scene found a man’s body and Andrade’s ID.
Detectives determined the victim was not Andrade and had been murdered, Jones said. Ten days later the identity of the victim remains a mystery.
Sheriff’s detectives discovered the ID had been stolen and used several times by Nicholas Hamlett, 45, who was wanted by police in Alabama for a parole violation. Jones said Hamlett used another false name when speaking with detectives after the 911 call. By the time his real identity had been verified, Hamlett had fled the area, Jones said.