Man wanted for murder after 911 call about bear chase leads to discovery of dead body

A Tennessee man is wanted on suspicion of murder after a 911 call about a bear chase led to the discovery of a dead body.

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office on Friday said he is looking for 45-year-old Nicholas Wayne Hamlet in connection with a mysterious call. On Oct. 18, a man called 911 from the Tellico Plains area and said he was in trouble, named Brandon Andrade. The caller said he had fallen off a cliff while running away from a bear.

Emergency services responded to the scene and found a dead body identified as Andrade’s, but further investigation revealed that the deceased was actually someone else.

Andrade’s ID was “stolen and used multiple times,” authorities said. They added that Hamlet used Andrade’s ID and gave “a fictitious name while speaking with law enforcement in Knox County, Tennessee, after being called by a distressed tourist.”

The sheriff’s office said Hamlett is currently wanted in another state for a parole violation. In 2012, Hamlett pleaded guilty to aggravated assault after he held a Prattville, Ala., man at gunpoint, tried to hit him with a baseball bat and tried to bury him alive. This is reported by AL.com. Hamlett, who used the name Joshua Jones during the incident, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the newspaper reported.

It is not clear how Hamlet can be related to the dead man in Tennessee. The body has not been identified and authorities are calling it John Doe.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Several law enforcement agencies are now seeking information about the dead man, as well as Hamlett’s whereabouts. Authorities consider Hamlett to be armed and dangerous, and they are urging the public to call 911 if they see him.

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