Authorities in Idaho have called off their search for alleged ‘killer dad’ Travis Decker after a potential sighting of the suspect led investigators to a lookalike hiker.
Decker, 33, is accused of murdering his three daughters, Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, and leaving their bodies a campsite in Leavenworth, Washington. He has been on the run since their bodies were found on June 2.
Investigators had hoped for a potential break in the case over the Fourth of July weekend when a family reported seeing a man who matched Decker’s description in the Sawtooth National Forest.
The US Marshals Service Greater Idaho Task Force announced that that the man was only a doppelganger.
‘The hiker who is the same height and roughly the same weight as Decker, also has dark features, a beard and tattoos on his arm and calf,’ US Marshals Service Supervisory Deputy Michael Leigh said in a press release.
‘Investigators interviewed the cooperative man and confirmed he was hiking in the Bear Creek area this past weekend.
‘At this time, law enforcement has stopped searching for Decker at the Sawtooth National Forest and has begun to demobilize their resources.’
Leigh told local news station KREM that the Decker lookalike had seemed ‘out of place.’
Travis Decker, 33, is accused of murdering his three daughters and has been on the run since police discovered their remains on June 2
There was a potential break in the case over the Fourth of July when a family reported seeing a man matching Decker’s description in the Sawtooth National Forest (pictured) in Idaho
Decker is accused of suffocating his three daughters, Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5 after picking them up for a visit on May 30
‘He was a bit out of place. It was described that he didn’t have hiking boots. He’s avoiding eye contact, and he was on an ATV, UTV trail that usually isn’t trafficked by hikers,’ Leigh said.
‘And then the tattoos that the tips are described was pretty accurate. You know, the unique design of his tattoos. And then even the locations were pretty accurate.’
The family was camping in the Bear Creek area of the vast forest, which spans over two million acres across Idaho and Utah, when they spotted the unidentified man who was between 5’8″ and 5’10,” with black gauged earrings and a black backpack.
They added that he was wearing a black mesh cap, a cream-colored shirt, and black shorts. He had his hair in a ponytail and he had a mustache and an overgrown beard.
The description matches Decker, who is 5’8″and weighs around 190 pounds, according to the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office. He also has black hair, brown eyes and earrings.
The nightmare saga began on May 30 when Decker picked his daughters up from their mother Whitney’s home.
Whitney contacted police later that evening after Decker failed to bring the girls home. She expressed concern to authorities due to her ex-husband’s history with mental health and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from his time in the military.
Decker was court-mandated to receive mental health treatment and domestic violence anger management counseling but had refused. Police said he was homeless and living out of his car.
The US Marshals Service Greater Idaho Task Force announced that the man in Idaho was only a doppelganger of Decker (pictured)
The girls’ mother contacted police after Decker failed to bring them home. She expressed concern to authorities due to her ex-husband’s history with mental health issues
Reports swirled two days later that Decker was spotted in Idaho, but authorities later dispelled the rumors.
An autopsy then confirmed the girls’ cause of death was suffocation and their deaths were ruled a homicide.
Authorities later said that there was no evidence that Decker was still alive as the sheriff’s office pivoted their search with cadaver dogs.
However, some experts, including law enforcement and security analyst Todd McGhee, said that Decker’s extensive military background may have enabled him to live in the wilderness.
Decker joined the Army in 2013 and served in Afghanistan before transferring to the Washington National Guard in 2021.
The Guard was in the process of a disciplinary discharge due to Decker’s absences when his daughters were killed.
