8 hours ago
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A bearded Idaho man has revealed how he was mistaken for accused killer dad Travis Decker on a remote hiking trip — sparking a massive interstate manhunt some 500 miles from the original crime scene.
The US Marshals task force abruptly announced earlier this month they were zeroing in on Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest after two tipsters thought they’d spotted Decker there over the July Fourth weekend.
But it turned out were actually hunting a lookalike rather than the fugitive dad accused of murdering his three young daughters.
The apparent doppelganger, who only identified himself as Nick, said he only realized he was the subject of the frantic search when he made it home and returned to work.
“Everything seems normal until my friend who was up there with me sent a text saying, ‘Bro, there’s a manhunt for a killer that was in the campground with us. My God, we spent the night next the murder that is frightening’,” Nick told Idaho News 6.
He said he called authorities himself to let them know he was in the campground and immediately found himself being questioned.
“They friendly interrogated me for a half hour. The search described me like, the hair, the beard, the hat, the glasses, my tattoo, earrings, my shirt. Shorts were a different color, my shoes, the backpack, the location,” he said.
“I said ‘Oh my God, they think I’m that guy’.”
Soon after speaking with Nick, law enforcement announced they’d called off the search for Decker in the central Idaho forest.
“In my opinion, I don’t realistically look like that guy. They saw me from a distance,” Nick said.
Despite the mix-up, Nick added that he was actually glad the tipsters alerted authorities.
“Be careful because this has been a little tumultuous time for me and people around me. It’s been disruptive at work, but I would encourage people to do that,” he said.
Authorities have been hunting Decker since June 2 when his three daughters — Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5 — were found murdered at Rock Island Campground in Washington state.
Despite multiple false alarms, Decker hasn’t been seen since he vanished.
Decker, who reportedly suffered from PTSD and other mental health problems, is believed to have wilderness survival training from the military.
English (US)