A man accused of murder was later 911 call regarding fake bear attack Authorities found and arrested a dead man in the Tennessee mountains in October, police said Sunday. NBC News reported.

The arrest of 45-year-old Nicholas Wayne Hamlett in Columbia, South Carolina, ends a manhunt that began after a call to 911 dispatchers in Monroe County late Oct. 18.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said it was notified Sunday that Hamlett, who was wanted for first-degree murder, had been located and arrested in South Carolina.

“Sharing Hamlett’s wanted poster has led to our most valuable resource, the public, acting as our eyes and ears,” Monroe County Sheriff Tommy J. Jones II said in a statement.

Authorities said the case began when a man claiming to be Brandon Andrade called 911 and claimed he was injured when he fell off a cliff after being chased by a bear.

This call was made from the Charles Hall Bridge area on the Cherahola Skyway in Tellico Plains, Tennessee, a small mountain town with a population of about 800 people.

The sheriff’s office said a body was found with the identification of Brandon Kristopher Andrade on it, but it was not him and Andrade’s identification had been stolen and used multiple times.

The man was also not killed by a bear, authorities said.

“When detectives located the body, the injuries sustained by the decedent were not consistent with a bear attack or a fall,” Jones said at a news conference in October. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head.

“It was very easy to add,” Jones said.

A first-degree murder warrant was issued for Hamlett after investigators determined that Hamlett, who was wanted on a parole violation out of Alabama, had used a stolen ID before the body was found.

The dead man was later identified as 34-year-old Steven Douglas Lloyd, who authorities said had befriended Hamlett over the summer. NBC affiliate WBIR of Knoxville reported.

Hamlett was arrested in South Carolina after a hospital employee recognized him and alerted authorities, the Columbia Police Department said. Police said his fingerprints confirmed his identity.

Columbia police said Hamlett was in custody Sunday and arrangements were being made for him to be extradited to Tennessee.

It was unclear whether Hamlett had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. His case did not appear to be available online Monday in Monroe County court records.

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