THE hiker mistaken for missing murder suspect Travis Decker has opened up about the moment he knew cops were tracking him down.
The man known only as Nick accidentally threw a wrench into the search for the 32-year-old dad accused of murdering his three young daughters when he went on a solo hike.
The man who was mistaken for murder suspect Travis Decker has opened up about the mixup[/caption]
Decker, 32, is accused of killing his three little girls[/caption]
The bodies of Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, were all found in Leavenworth, Washington, after Decker disappeared[/caption]
On July 5, someone called the police and said that Nick, who was walking in the Bear Creek area of the Sawtooth National Forest, matched Decker’s description, according to the US Marshals Service.
Decker still hasn’t been found since May 30, when he’s believed to have murdered daughters Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, after picking them up from their mother.
He was supposed to be back three hours after getting them, but went dark, leading the distraught mother to call the police and declare them missing.
On June 2, the girls’ bodies were found near Decker’s empty truck at Rock Island Campground in Washington, about three hours outside Seattle.
Cops say there’s no indication whether Decker, who served in the US Army, is dead or alive, and the grueling search through the Mountain West continues.
Nick, who has since been cleared by officials, is now opening up about exactly what happened in the days following the worried bystander’s call.
Nick and some friends were spending the July 4 weekend in Sawtooth when he decided to separate from the pack and take a solo hike up Bear Creek.
The whistleblower said she was disturbed by how the hiker refused to look at her, but Nick said that he was merely wearing sunglasses, he told ABC and CBS affiliate KIFI.
The day after getting the report, authorities started combing the area looking for the man. Meanwhile, Nick drove home to Boise, completely unaware of what was happening.
By Monday, he was at work like any other day until a friend sent him a telling text message.
“Everything seemed normal until my friend who was up there with me sent me a text that said something like ‘Bro there’s a manhunt […] There’s a killer that was in the campground with us,” Nick said.
Nick said that he read a news article about the search and saw a picture of the so-called suspect. At first, he just felt grateful that he wasn’t hurt.
“Your instinct isn’t to think, ‘That was me,’” Nick said.
“So my first thought was, ‘Oh my God we spent the night next to a murderer!’
“That is frightening.”
TRUTH COMES OUT
Nick called the authorities and told them that he would try and help them with the search, so they asked him to come in.
Throughout their “friendly” 30-minute interrogation, Nick said that he realized he was the man they had been looking for.
Decker has tattoos and an earring, and is suspected of having long hair and a beard – all of which Nick also has.
“I was like ‘Oh my God, they think I’m that guy,’” Nick said.
Despite his life being thrown into brief chaos, the hiker said that he’s glad people are calling the tip lines and encourages everyone to keep an eye out for the suspect.
The dead end in the case comes after a woman reported seeing a man matching Decker’s description in Idaho City on June 18.
Meanwhile, an expert believes that Decker’s survival tricks could be running dry.
And the grueling search for the suspect will continue in the mountains in Washington state, where hundreds of miles of rough terrain have already been sifted.
Timeline of the missing Decker girls
Paityn, 9; Evelyn, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5, were found dead at a campground after they were last seen on a custody visit to their dad.
Below is a timeline of events:
May 29: Cell phone activity shows that the girls’ dad, Travis Decker, drove to the Rock Island Campground and left.
May 30: 5 pm – Travis Decker picks the three girls up from their mom, Whitney Decker.
8 pm – Travis Decker is supposed to return the girls but doesn’t. Whitney Decker calls him and it goes to voicemail.
9:45 pm – Whitney Decker calls the Wenatchee Police Department to report her daughters missing.
Travis Decker’s truck is seen driving westbound on Highway 2.
Washington State Patrol is contacted for an Amber Alert but said the situation didn’t match their criteria.
May 31 : WPD issues an Endangered Missing Persons Alert.
June 2: 3:45 pm – Travis Decker’s truck is found empty at Rock Island Campground with two bloody handprints and items inside.
5 pm – Cops search the area and find the bodies of the three girls.
June 3: 9:30 am – Cops notify the public that they are still searching for Decker.
2 pm – WPD tells the public that the three girls were found dead and that Travis Decker is still on the loose.
June 8: Federal authorities take over search efforts.
June 9: Autopsy results confirm three girls were murdered by suffocation.
June 13: An affidavit revealed Whitney described Travis as having “recent mental health concerns.”
“She provided the examples of randomly leaving or waking her up by screaming at her in the middle of the night,” it read.
“She also said near the end of the marriage he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder that she believes he currently does not take medications for.”
June 17: New audio of Travis in court fighting for custody of his daughters is released.
“I understand that my current position when I’m by myself isn’t ideal, but my daughters aren’t a part of that,” he said in September 2024.
“I only get to see them over the weekends and camping is something that the four of us have done since the three of them were in diapers.”
June 20: Memorial is held where Whitney speaks publicly about girls for first time.
July 5: A family spotted a man believed to be Travis Decker in the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho.
July 9: US Marshals call off the search in Sawtooth National Forest after locating and questioning the man believed to be Travis Decker and confirming it isn’t him.
