MIAMI — A nationwide manhunt is underway for a man wanted for a murder out of Tennessee that happened last week.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee on Saturday night has asked for the public’s help in finding 45-year-old Nicholas Wayne Hamlett, who they said it wanted for first-degree murder. Authorities told CBS News Miami that he has ties to Montana, Tennessee, Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky and Florida.
Hamlett is said to be 5’7″ and 170 lbs and is considered to be armed and dangerous. Authorities said Hamlett’s location is currently unknown and if you see him, do not approach him and call 911 immediately.
Just before 11:35 p.m. on Oct. 18, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office received a transferred call from Polk County, Tennessee, about a distressed hiker who claimed to be a man named “Brandon Andrade,” the Saturday night press release stated. The man allegedly told dispatchers that he had “fallen off a cliff while running from a bear,” and that he was injured and partially in the water. Authorities were able to ping his location in the area of the Charles Hall Bridge on the Cherahola Skyway in Tellico Plains, at least 80 miles northwest of Chattanooga.
When emergency personnel and search and rescue crews from various agencies arrived, they found a dead man with Andrade’s ID on him and brought the body to the Knox County Regional Forensic Center.
Monroe County Sheriff’s detectives reviewed the scene and learned that the dead man was not Andrade and that the ID “had been stolen and used on multiple occasions,” the press release said. Additionally, they learned that Hamlett had been using Andrade’s ID and that he was wanted out of Alabama on a parole violation. It was then determined that Hamlett had used a fake name when calling Knox County dispatch after the distress call. However, he was believed to have fled his Tennessee home before his identity was verified.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, along the FBI and various other Tennessee law enforcement agencies, has been working diligently to find Hamlett and get more information on the deceased. The dead man has only been identified as a John Doe. Special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are currently working on sketches of John Doe to be released to the public.
The circumstances surrounding the incident is still under investigation and further information will be released at a later time, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.