BOISE, Idaho — The only thing worse than being mistaken for somebody else is if that somebody else is wanted by the law. That's exactly what happened to a Garden City man who authorities thought might be the triple homicide suspect, Travis Decker.
I held up a photo of murder suspect Travis Decker and asked the man. "If I could hold this up, that is Travis Decker. A suspect in the murders of his three young daughters in Central Washington. There were two separate sightings by two parties saying there was somebody who looked like him up in the Sawtooth's. Turns out that was you?" "Yep, he confirmed."
Using only his first name, Nick says he and a friend went to enjoy the Fourth of July weekend in the backcountry. After spending Friday night in the woods, his friend left on Saturday, and Nick decided to hike a bit further near Bear Creek in the Sawtooth National Forest.
"I took this fateful trip on my own to the Bear Creek trail, and here we are."
The first person who reported seeing a man who looked like Travis Decker said that person didn't make eye contact with them. I asked Nick about that. "You had your sunglasses, so there's no way in the world she would know you didn't make eye contact with her. Is that fair to say?" "That's fair to assume, he replied."
Nick spent Saturday night in a different location and came home on Sunday
Idaho News 6 spent all day Monday in the Sawtooth National Forest speaking with officials about their search for a man matching Travis Decker's description. Keep in mind, Nick was already at work Monday morning in Boise. He wasn't aware of the search until a friend said something. Nick explains.
"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 said.
Nick called authorities, who in return called him back and asked if they could talk to him at work on Wednesday. "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. I said Oh my God, they think I'm that guy."
Nick wants to make it clear, the people who called the tip line did the right thing.
"In my opinion, I don't realistically look like that guy. They saw me from a distance. But 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."
Fair warning, Nick plans to head back up to the hills this weekend, but he will be with his father the whole time.
