Latest news with #MichaelLeigh
Fox News
7 days ago
- Fox News
Innocent hiker mistaken for fugitive dad accused of killing his three daughters
A man hiking in the Idaho wilderness says he was mistaken for fugitive child murder suspect Travis Decker, who has been on the run since May 30. Decker is accused of killing his three daughters — Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5 — who were found at Rock Island Campground on June 2 after their mother reported them missing three days earlier, when they did not return home from a court-mandated custody visit with their father. U.S. Marshal Supervisory Deputy Michael Leigh said the USMS Greater Idaho Fugitive Task Force on July 5 received a tip from a family in the Bear Creek area of Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho reporting the sighting of a man "consistent with the description of Travis Decker." "The person believed to be Travis Decker was described as a white male, 5'8"-5"10 wearing a black mesh cap, black gauged earrings, cream colored t-shirt, black shorts, long ponytail, black Garmin style watch, beard and mustache overgrown, wearing a black Jan Sport backpack and either converse or vans low top shoes," the USMS said in a July 7 press release. Days later, a Reddit user took to social media saying he was mistaken for Decker over the 4th of July weekend. The user said he and a friend went hiking on July 4, but his friend had to leave, so he went to hike the 889 Bear Creek trail alone the next morning at around 10 a.m. "Made it home safely on Sunday and my friend sent me a news article on Monday about the Decker sighting. We thought we stayed in the area with a killer," the user wrote. "On Tuesday the dots started connecting as news developed with better detail and I realized someone reported me as Decker." The hiker, identified only as Nick, told local news outlet Idaho News 6 that he had been unaware that authorities were searching for Decker in the area where he had been camping and hiking until he returned home. "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,'" he told the outlet. Nick soon realized he matched the description of the suspect and contacted authorities, who met him at his workplace the following Wednesday. "They friendly interrogated me for half an hour," Nick told Idaho News 6. He added that those who reported him in the Sawtooth National Forest did what they were supposed to do in an ongoing search for a dangerous fugitive. "In my opinion, I don't realistically look like… that guy. [But] they saw me from a distance," Nick told Idaho News 6. "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." Multiple local and federal agencies are involved in the active search for Decker. He drives a 2017 white GMC Sierra with the Washington license plate D20165C, according to authorities. A Chelan County sheriff's deputy found the truck around 4 p.m. on June 2 at the Rock Island Campground in Leavenworth, Washington. They found all three girls' bodies between 75 and 100 yards away, down an embankment, according to court documents. Each one had a plastic bag over her head, and "their wrists were also zip-tied or showed signs of being zip-tied," according to the affidavit. Deputies found two bloody handprints on the pickup's tailgate. Authorities warn that Decker should be considered armed and dangerous but insist they have no reason to believe he is a threat to public safety. He is charged with three counts of aggravated first-degree murder and kidnapping. The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $20,000 reward for any information leading to Decker's arrest.
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Frantic search for 'killer dad' Travis Decker ends with discovery of his LOOKALIKE
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.' '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. 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.
