Search for man wanted for murder in Tennessee ends at hospital in Columbia, SC police say
The manhunt for a man wanted on a murder charge in Tennessee ended Sunday when he was captured in South Carolina, according to the Columbia Police Department.
At about 6 p.m., police said that Nicholas Wayne Hamlett was located and identified at a hospital in Columbia. Information about why the fugitive out of Monroe County, Tennessee was at the hospital was not available.
But an employee at the hospital recognized the man wanted for murder and notified law enforcement, according to police.
A responding officer also recognized Hamlett, and his identity was confirmed with a University of South Carolina Police Department fingerprint scanner, police said. Hamlett is in the temporary custody of U.S. Marshals Service Columbia Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force as arrangements are being made with Tennessee authorities regarding his extradition to Monroe County, according to police.
On Halloween, the Chapin Police Department said it was one of multiple law enforcement agencies that was searching for Hamlett, who was reported to be in the Chapin area of Lexington County. Hamlett is believed to have family in the Midlands, and was last seen early Nov. 1 near 431 East Boundary St., Chapin police said.
Chapin police provided updates about the search for more than a week. On Nov. 8, police said U.S. Marshals had moved on from searching in Chapin for Hamlett, and although it was believed he was no longer in town police warned residents to “always stay vigilant and aware of your surroundings.”
On Sunday afternoon Chapin police announced Hamlett was in custody.
“The suspect in this case HAS BEEN ARRESTED. Thank you to our law enforcement partners who relentlessly worked this case until he was apprehended,” Chapin police said. “Thank you to the community as well for your patience and vigilance throughout this time.”
The search for Hamlett began in October.
On Oct. 18, emergency officials in Monroe County said they received a call reporting a “distressed hiker” who claimed to be Brandon Andrade, and said he was injured after falling of a cliff while running from a bear, Men’s Journal reported.
Investigators said they found a man’s body and quickly determined that the ID found on the victim’s body was stolen and had been used on multiple occasions, and that the victim was really 34-year-old Knoxville resident Steven Douglas Lloyd, per TV station WATE.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said it believed that Hamlett had met Lloyd, “befriended him, and lured him into a wooded area to take Steven’s life and his identity,” CBS News reported.
Hamlett was also wanted out of Alabama on a parole violation, according to WATE.
