miami — A nationwide search is underway for a man wanted in connection with a murder that occurred last week in Tennessee.
The Monroe County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Office said Saturday night that 45-year-old Nicholas Wayne Hamlett was wanted on a charge of first-degree murder. Authorities told CBS News Miami he had ties to Montana, Tennessee, Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky and Florida.
Hamlett is 5’7″ tall, weighs 170 lbs, and is considered armed and dangerous. Authorities say Hamlett’s location is currently unknown and if you see him, do not approach him and call 911 immediately.
Shortly before 11:35 p.m., Oct. 18, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Polk County, Tennessee, about a distressed hiker claiming to be a man named “Brandon Andrade,” according to a Saturday night press release. The man reportedly told rescuers he was “running away from a bear and fell off a cliff, sustaining injuries and falling partially into the water.” Authorities were able to ping his location in the Charles Hall Bridge area on the Cherahola Skyway in Tellico Plains, at least 80 miles northwest of Chattanooga.
When emergency personnel and search and rescue personnel from multiple agencies arrived, they found Andrade’s body with his identification attached and brought the body to the Knox County Regional Forensic Center.
Monroe County sheriff’s detectives reviewed the scene and learned the dead man was not Andrade and that the identification had been “stolen and used multiple times,” the news release said. They also learned that Hamlett was using Andrade’s identification and that he had been deported from Alabama for a parole violation. It was then determined that Hamlet had used a fake name when calling Knox County dispatch after the distress call. However, he is believed to have left his home in Tennessee before he could be identified.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, along with the FBI and various other Tennessee law enforcement agencies, have been working diligently to locate Hamlet and obtain more information about the deceased. The dead man was identified only as John Doe. Special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are currently working to make a sketch of John Doe available to the public.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation and additional information will be released at a later date.
