- The man mistaken for triple-murder suspect Travis Decker in Idaho while hiking over Fourth of July weekend is speaking out
- The person in question, known only as Nick, recalled the moment he realized police were looking for him after a family reported a sighting in Sawtooth National Forest
- I was like ‘Oh my God, they think I was that guy,’ ” Nick told Idaho News 6 of being questioned politely by authorities
The man mistaken for missing father Travis Decker, who is accused of killing his three young girls over a month ago, is speaking out about the moment he realized the police were looking for him.
Earlier this month, a media release shared by U.S. Marshals Service Supervisory Deputy Michael Leigh and obtained by PEOPLE confirmed that federal authorities were searching the Bear Creek area of the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho after a family had potentially spotted Decker in the area on July 5.
On Wednesday, July 9, Leigh then confirmed to PEOPLE in an email that the man wasn’t Decker, with an update stating that the search of the forest had been called off.
A man named Nick has now revealed he was the Decker lookalike police had been on the hunt for following the sighting, per Idaho News 6. Authorities have been searching for Decker since his daughters Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, were found dead on June 2.
Revealing the moment he discovered police thought he was the triple-murder suspect, Nick recalled how the friend camping with him at the time had sent him a text once he saw that a manhunt in the area was underway, according to the outlet.
The friends had spent the Fourth of July weekend in the backcountry, with the pair camping together in the woods on the Friday, before Nick’s friend left on the Saturday and he decided to go toward the Bear Creek trail by himself.
The publication stated that Nick had spent Saturday night in a different location, before heading home on the Sunday and returning to work in Boise on the Monday.
Nick told Idaho News 6, “Everything seemed normal until my friend that 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,’ ” stating that his friend had sent over a news article regarding Decker.
He said his “instinct” wasn’t immediately to think police were looking for him, and that instead he focused on the fact they’d potentially spent “the night next to a murderer,” which is “frightening.”
Nick said he called authorities, who then asked if they could speak to him at work on Wednesday, which is the day officials revealed that the forest search had been called off.
“They friendly interrogated me for about half an hour. It described me like, the hair, the beard, the hat, the glasses, my earrings, tattoos, my shirt. The shorts were a different color, my shoes, the backpack, the location. I was like ‘Oh my God, they think I was that guy,’ ” Nick recalled, per the outlet, referencing the family’s description of him.
“In my opinion, I don’t really look like the guy. Granted, they saw me from a distance. But, just be careful because this has been a little bit tumultuous for me and people around me. [It’s been] disruptive at work, but I would encourage people to do that,” he added, insisting he thought the family made the correct decision to call the tip line.
U.S. Marshals Service Supervisory Deputy Leigh didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for comment on Nick’s interview.
Following the case of mistaken identity, the hunt for Decker continues, well over a month after his three girls were discovered deceased at 3:45 p.m. local time on June 2.
Authorities had located their father’s car near the Rock Island Campground in Chelan County, Washington state, the Wenatchee Police Department previously said in a June 3 release. The girls hadn’t been seen since heading off with their father for a planned visitation on May 30.
The victims’ “cause of death was determined to be suffocation and the manner of death was determined to be homicide,” per autopsy results confirmed in a June 9 press release shared with PEOPLE from the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.
Decker is wanted on first-degree murder and kidnapping charges.
A GoFundMe page set up to help the girls’ mother and Decker’s ex-wife, Whitney Decker, with expenses and legal costs amid the tragic loss had raised almost $1.3 million as of Tuesday, July 15.