IDAHO — A Garden City resident's holiday weekend in the Sawtooth wilderness took an unexpected turn when he was mistaken for Travis Decker, a suspect wanted in connection with a triple homicide in Central Washington.
Nick, who asked that we use only his first name, was enjoying the Fourth of July weekend in the Sawtooth National Forest when he unknowingly became the subject of a manhunt.
Hear how Nick found out people were reporting him as a possible murder suspect:
The Garden City resident told me he and a friend initially went camping together on Friday night. After his friend departed on Saturday, Nick decided to continue his adventure alone, hiking further into the Bear Creek area of the Sawtooth National Forest.
"I took this fateful trip on my own to the Bear Creek trail, and here we are," Nick said.
The first person who reported a Decker sighting claimed the man they saw avoided eye contact, but Nick agreed that this would have been difficult to determine, considering he was wearing sunglasses.
After spending Saturday night at a different location in the forest, Nick returned home Sunday, completely unaware of the developing situation. By Monday morning, he was back at work in Boise while authorities were actively searching the area where he had been camping.
"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 to the murderer that is frightening,'" Nick said.
RELATED: Murder suspect Travis Decker possibly spotted in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains
Upon learning about the search, Nick immediately contacted authorities, who arranged to meet with him at his workplace on Wednesday.
"They friendly interrogated me for half an hour," Nick said.
During the interview, Nick realized how closely the description matched him. "It described me like the hair, the beard, the hat, the glasses, my tattoo, earrings, my shirt," Nick said. "Shorts were a different color, (but) my shoes, the backpack, the location, I said 'Oh my god, they think I'm that guy.'"
Despite the disruption to his life, Nick emphasized that the people who reported the sightings did exactly what they should have done.
"In my opinion I don't realistically look like the that guy. (But) they saw me from a distance," Nick said. "But be careful because this has been a little tumultuous for me and people around me. It's been disruptive at work, but I would encourage people to do that."
Nick says he plans to return to the Sawtooth wilderness this weekend, but assured me he'll be accompanied by his father the entire time.
RELATED: US Marshals: Idaho forest sightings not Washington murder suspect Travis Decker
Hear how Idaho campers responded when officials approached them about the possible Travis Decker sighting:
