Nicholas Wayne Hamlett, 45, was arrested on Nov. 10 after authorities located him at a South Carolina hospital. He is accused of staging the death of a hiker, Steven Douglas Lloyd, 34, as a bear attack. Hamlett had initially fled the scene following the alleged attack, using a stolen identity and a fake name.
The events leading to Hamlett’s arrest began on the night of Oct. 18, when the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office received an urgent call from Polk County dispatch regarding a hiker named “Brandon Andrade.” The caller, later identified as Hamlett using a fake name, claimed he had fallen off a cliff while fleeing from a bear and was injured, partially submerged in water.
Based on the distress call, authorities pinpointed the hiker’s location near the Charles Hall Bridge on the Cherohala Skyway in Tellico Plains, TN, roughly 80 miles northwest of Chattanooga. When emergency crews arrived at the scene, they discovered the body of a man who appeared to have died from a bear attack. A backpack containing an ID identifying the victim as “Brandon Andrade” was found nearby.
Upon further investigation, authorities discovered that the ID belonged to a different person and that it had been stolen and used multiple times. The deceased hiker was later identified as Lloyd, not “Brandon Andrade.”
Hamlett, who was wanted in Alabama for a parole violation, had been using Andrade’s stolen identity. Authorities also learned that Hamlett had made the fake distress call and fled the scene before his true identity could be confirmed.
Detectives believe Hamlett had met Lloyd before the incident, befriended him and lured him into a remote wooded area where he allegedly killed Lloyd to steal his identity. During interviews with Lloyd’s family, investigators learned that Lloyd had been a foster child who struggled with trust issues due to his diagnosis of reactive attachment disorder, which made it difficult for him to form stable relationships.
Hamlett, who has known ties to several states including Tennessee, Alabama, Montana, Alaska, Kentucky, North Carolina and Florida, was considered armed and dangerous as authorities launched a manhunt.
Hamlett now faces multiple charges, including the murder of Steven Lloyd, identity theft and other related offenses.
