NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A fugitive accused of killing a man in Tennessee and trying to pass off the body as someone else’s by calling 911, identifying himself as that person and saying he had fallen off a cliff while being chased by a bear, has been captured in South Carolina, authorities said.
Nicholas Wayne Hamlett, 45, was recognized by an employee at a hospital in Columbia, South Carolina, the city’s police department said Sunday in a Facebook post. Authorities confirmed his identity with a fingerprint scanner, and he was in the temporary custody of the U.S. Marshals Service while awaiting extradition to Tennessee.
Authorities in Monroe County, Tennessee, and elsewhere had been looking for Hamlett since last month.
“After observing Hamlett at a local hospital, a good citizen alerted the authorities and brought this manhunt to a peaceful end,” 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 claiming to have fallen off a cliff while running from a bear. Using the name Brandon Andrade, Hamlett claimed he was injured and partially in the water, authorities added.