Idaho Tip on Dad Wanted in Death of 3 Girls Leads Nowhere

Federal authorities in Idaho say they have ended a search for accused child killer Travis Decker in the Sawtooth National Forest after determining it was a case of mistaken identity. The search began Saturday after the US Marshals Service Greater Idaho Fugitive Task Force said a family reported they saw a man who looked like Decker, who's been wanted since June 2 in connection with the deaths of his three daughters in Washington state, per the AP. The family was near a Bear Creek area campsite when they saw a man who was the same height and roughly the same weight as Decker, and also had similar hair, beard, and tattoos on his arm and calf.

Additional tips followed, and federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies joined the Marshals Service in the search. They found the man Wednesday afternoon, US Marshals Service Supervisory Deputy Michael Leigh said in a press release, and determined he was not Decker. "Investigators interviewed the cooperative man and confirmed he was hiking in the Bear Creek area this past weekend," Leigh wrote. The last presumed sighting of Decker, a former soldier, was in early June near a remote alpine lake in a popular backpacking area in Washington's Cascade Range. The Marshals Service is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to his capture. (The Kittitas County Sheriff's Office thinks he might be dead.)