(CNN) – The suspect who allegedly staged a fake bear attack to cover up a murder is in custody after a three-week manhunt.

Nicholas Wayne Hamlett was arrested Sunday in Columbia, South Carolina, after being recognized at a hospital.

The case began on October 18 when a man who identified himself as Brandon Andrade called 911.

Police said he posed as a distraught hiker who had fallen off a cliff while fleeing a bear in Monroe County, Tennessee.

Rescuers found a body but determined it was not Andrade’s body.

Instead, his identity had been stolen and used several times.

The body was actually that of Steven Douglas Lloyd.

Authorities said Hamlett befriended Lloyd and lured him into the woods, where he took his life and identity.

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