July 6, 2020
Michael J. Hammer (8/26/82) of Old Town, Florida was
apprehended Thursday, July 2, 2020 by Levy County deputies. Hammer emerged from
a wooded area near Otter Creek after three days on the run.
Deputies responded to a report of a suspicious incident in
the McGee Branch Hunting Club on Wednesday, July 1, 2020. A third party called
the LCSO and reported two men went into the McGee Branch Hunting Club to
burglarize camp sites late Sunday night/Monday morning. A witness told the
third party they heard two gunshots and only one man returned to the vehicle. The
third party believed a murder had been committed and the missing person, Michael
Hammer, had not been seen since. Hammer was not reported missing by family members
because he was on active probation.
Deputies located evidence of camp site burglaries and began looking
for Hammer. Efforts to locate him were hampered by limited information on the
exact location of the alleged murder and high water in this remote location.
When Michael Hammer was located he was suffering from minor
exposure due to his days on the run in the woods. He confessed to LCSO detectives
to breaking into camp sites and was arrested. Hammer is being held in the Levy
County Detention Facility and has been charged with burglary, grand theft and a
probation violation. His bond was set at “No Bond.”