A Tennessee parolee killed a hiker and tried to pass it off as a bear attack by staging a phony 911 call and using a stolen ID, cops said.
Nicholas Wayne Hamlet allegedly called 911 earlier this month pretending to be Brandon Andrade — telling the operator he was gravely wounded after a bear chased him off a cliff while hiking in Hamilton County, sheriffs told local media.
When rescuers arrived, they found a bloody corpse at the bottom of a cliff with the Andrade’s ID.
But an autopsy revealed that the body was not Andrade and officials have no idea who the dead man actually is, law enforcement told WSB-TV Atlanta.
Hamlett is believed to have stolen Andrade’s identity to escape parole then faked his death for an unknown reason. He’s now wanted for the murder of the hiker, officials said.
Hamlett used a different fake name when deputies questioned him about the 911 call and then skipped town before they determined his real name, according to WSB-TV.
Hamlett had been previously arrested after luring a man into the woods in Alabama.
Hamlett is still at large, but he isn’t out of the woods yet: Police consider him armed and dangerous and are looking out for anyone using the “Brandon Andrade” name.
