An Idaho man mistaken for ‘killer dad’ Travis Decker during a Fourth of July weekend hiking trip revealed how he realized he unknowingly triggered an interstate manhunt.
A family camping at Sawtooth National Forest told police on July 5 they believed they saw Decker, who vanished after allegedly suffocating his three little girls and dumping their bodies near Washington’s Rock Island Campground.
The US Marshals Service soon after declared the search for the Army veteran fugitive, 32, had expanded to the Idaho wilderness.
News of the shocking development in the hunt for Decker, who went missing more than a month ago, spread rapidly throughout fearful local communities.
The announcement hit particularly close to home for a man named Nick, who was in the Bear Creek area of the park at the same time ‘Decker’ was spotted there.
The Garden City resident told Idaho News 6 the friend he went camping with sent him an alarming text on Monday after they had both made it home.
‘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,’ the message read.
And then it hit him.
Nick, pictured holding up photos for Travis Decker, contacted authorities after realizing a recent report of a sighting of the accused-killer was about him
Decker (pictured) went missing after allegedly suffocating his three little girls and dumping their bodies near Washington’s Rock Island Campground
‘On Tuesday the dots started connecting as news developed with better detail and I realized someone reported me as Decker,’ Nick elaborated in a Reddit thread.
Nick’s friend, who came with him on Friday, had to leave early Saturday morning. But he decided to stay and enjoy the scenic park on his time off from work.
He recalled a brief interaction he had with four people while traveling alone on a Bear Creek trail on Saturday around 10am.
‘About an hour later I returned to the main 889 trail and at the intersection, there was a group of four old timers in two Razors, right in the path, just sitting there as I approached down a switchback,’ he explained on Reddit.
‘They started to use the intersection to 3 point turn and leave. I stayed about 25 yards back and waited for the second Razor to fumble the steering, drive over bushes, apologize for her “sh*tty driving” (her words) and finally make room for me to continue.’
Nick has tattoos, a thick beard, long hair and earrings. While he was hiking on that Saturday, he was sporting a black backpack, a tan shirt and black shorts.
This was the description the family gave to police – and it also happens to match what investigators say Decker may look like.
‘In my opinion, I don’t realistically look like that guy,’ he told Idaho News 6. Nick was wearing sunglasses at the time and ‘they saw me from a distance,’ he added.
Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia (pictured) were found about 75 to 100 yards from Decker’s truck
Nick said he does not think he looks like Decker, but said the campers saw him from a distance
The campers believed Nick had similar tattoos and piercings to Decker’s (pictured)
When Nick came to the nerve-wracking realization that he had been confused with the suspected triple-murderer, he immediately tried to sound the alarm to authorities.
He first tried the Fairfield Ranger Station, which is located in the national park, on Tuesday. But he said his call went straight to voicemail.
Nick tried dialed the station again the following day and to his relief, someone picked up the phone this time around.
He explained why he believed there may have been a mix up between him and Decker.
Meanwhile, helicopters and search crews were swarming the Bear Creek area hoping to capture the wanted man.
About three hours after he made the call, three plain-clothed US Marshals came to Nick’s office, bringing security camera pictures of him to confirm his story.
Soon after meeting with Nick, the agency suspended the Idaho manhunt.
Eric Toms, supervisory deputy with the US Marshals, confirmed with USA TODAY on Thursday the Idaho hunt sparked by the July 5 tip was called off and that they spoke with Nick.
Nick (pictured) wore sunglasses while traveling through the trail on July 5
Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia (pictured) were reported missing by their mother after Decker did not return them home from camping
Decker’s truck (pictured) was found on June 2 after police started searching for Decker and the girls
But the over search for Decker is far from over, Toms assured.
While investigators have been relentlessly searching for the veteran – vowing to get justice for his daughters he allegedly killed – they have considered the possibility that he may be dead, introducing cadaver dogs to their widespread manhunt.
Decker has been missing since May 30, when he failed to return the three little girls, Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, back to their mother Whitney after a visit.
Whitney, who is divorced from the veteran, told police that he had picked the girls up around 5pm but had not returned them by 8pm, and his phone went straight to voicemail, court documents said.
Detectives said she ‘expressed concern because Decker reportedly has never done this before and … is currently experiencing some mental health issues.’
She also told law enforcement officials that Decker was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and believes he did not take medication for the condition, according to court documents.
He was court-mandated to seek out mental health and domestic violence anger management counseling, but refused treatment.
At the time of his disappearance and his daughters’ deaths, Decker was living out of a white 2017 GMC Sierra pickup truck, police said.
Whitney (pictured with her daughters), who is divorced from the veteran, told police that he had picked the girls up around 5pm but had not returned them by 8pm
On June 2, a search party led to the chilling discovery of the sisters’ dead bodies near Rock Island Campground (pictured) in Chelan County
‘He clearly had some sort of break and everything that he had been living with, everything that had been bottled up inside of him for so long as far as trauma, just won out,’ Whitney’s lawyer, Arianna Cozart, previously told the Seattle Times.
On June 2, a search party led to the chilling discovery of the sisters’ dead bodies near Rock Island Campground in Chelan County along with Decker’s truck.
Deputies found the girls’ bodies about 75 to 100 yards from Decker’s truck.
An autopsy revealed the girls died from suffocation and police reported their wrists were zip-tied and plastic bags were over their heads when they were found, court documents said.
Police collected ‘a large amount of evidence’ from the truck, including male blood and non-human blood.
The alleged-killer’s dog was found nearby as well and taken to an animal humane society, Fox 8 reported.
Chilling audio from just months before the harrowing murders captured the fugitive father begging for more custody time to go camping with his daughters.
In the recording from a September 2024 custody hearing, Decker makes an eerie promise that no harm would come to the girls if he’s given more time to take them camping in Washington’s wilderness.
Decker (pictured) is believed to have long hair, just like Nick does, which apparently sparked confusion on July 5
During a September 2024 custody hearing, Decker eerily vowed never to harm the girls if he took them camping (pictured: a memorial for his daughters)
With an extensive combat background, authorities and locals have been concerned about Decker being on the loose.
He joined the Army in 2013 and served in Afghanistan before transferring to the Washington National Guard in 2021, Karina Shagren, communications director for the Washington Military Department, confirmed to the Daily Mail.
He was a full-time member of the Guard until 2023 or 2024, when he switched to part-time.
Decker stopped attending mandatory monthly drills a little over a year ago, and the Guard was in the process of a disciplinary discharge.
He likely has advanced combat training and was an airborne paratrooper who earned the elite rank of ‘Ranger,’ indicating he would have excellent wilderness and survival skills, Fox 13 Seattle reported, citing social media posts.
Decker is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping.