A man wanted in Tennessee has been captured for staging the murder of a bear, authorities said

The man who allegedly sparked a nationwide manhunt for him staged the murder of a hiker as a bear attack in the Tennessee woods was found and taken into custody, law enforcement said.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office in Tennessee said law enforcement determined in Columbia, South Carolina Nicholas Wayne Hamlett and took him into custody Sunday evening after he was recognized at a local hospital. The FBI was able to confirm his identity by checking his fingerprints.

Hamlett is currently charged with first-degree murder in Tennessee and a probation violation in Alabama, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said.

In mid-October, 34-year-old Steven Douglas Lloyd of Knoxville was found dead in a staged bear attack allegedly linked to Hamlett.

The murder of Steven Lloyd

Shortly before 11:35 p.m. on October 18, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office received a transferred call from nearby Polk County about a distressed hiker named “Brandon Andrade” who told dispatchers that he “fell off a cliff, when he was escaping from a bear.” ” and that he was injured and partially in the water.

Authorities were then able to pinpoint the man's location in the area of ​​the Charles Hall Bridge on the Cherahola Skyway in Tellico Plains, at least 80 miles northwest of Chattanooga.

When emergency responders and search and rescue personnel arrived, they found a dead man with Andrade's identification on him and took the body to the Knox County Regional Forensic Center.

After examining the crime scene, investigators determined that the dead man was not Andrade and that the ID had been “stolen and used multiple times.” The dead man they found was Lloyd.

Additionally, they learned that Hamlett had used Andrade's ID and that he was about to be expelled from Alabama for violating his probation. Authorities had then determined that Hamlett had used a false name when he called 911 after the 911 call and that he had probably fled his home in Tennessee before his identity was verified.

During a conversation with Lloyd's family, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office learned that he was a foster child who suffered from trust issues and was diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder, a condition that makes it difficult to have healthy relationships with parents and caregivers to build.

At some point before his death, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office believed Hamlett met Lloyd, “befriended him and lured him to a wooded area to take Steven's life and his identity.”

Hamlett reportedly had ties to Tennessee, Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky, North Carolina and Florida and was believed to have been armed and dangerous during the manhunt.