A nationwide manhunt is underway in Tennessee for a man wanted for murder

MIAMI — A nationwide manhunt is underway for a Tennessee man wanted in connection with last week’s murder.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee asked for the public’s help Saturday night in locating 45-year-old Nicholas Wayne Hamlet, who they say is wanted for first-degree murder. Authorities told CBS News Miami he has ties to Montana, Tennessee, Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky and Florida.

Hamlett is said to be 5’7″ tall and 170 pounds and is considered armed and dangerous. Authorities said Hamlett’s whereabouts are unknown at this time and if you see him, do not approach him and call 911 immediately.

Shortly before 11:35 p.m. on Oct. 18, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office received a transferred call from Polk County, Tennessee, about an indigent hiker claiming to be a man named “Brandon Andrade,” according to a Saturday evening news release. The man allegedly told dispatchers that he “fell off a cliff while running away from a bear,” was injured and partially in the water. Authorities were able to locate him 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 multiple agencies arrived, they found the man identified as Andrade dead and transported the body to the Knox County Regional Medical Examiner’s Center.

Monroe County sheriff’s detectives examined the scene and determined that the deceased was not Andrade and that the ID “had been stolen and used multiple times,” according to a press release. They also learned that Hamlett had been using Andrade’s ID and that he was wanted out of Alabama for a parole violation. Hamlett was then found to have used a false name when calling Knox County dispatch after the distress call. However, he was believed to have fled his home in Tennessee before his identity could be verified.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, along with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies in Tennessee, have been working diligently to locate Hamlet and obtain more information about the deceased. All that was established was that the dead man was John Doe. Special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are currently working on John Doe’s sketches to be released.

The incident remains under investigation and more information will be released at a later date, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.