Are Cops Closing In on Travis Decker After 'Compelling' Tip About Bearded Man with a Ponytail?

The manhunt for missing Washington father Travis Decker, accused of killing his three daughters, is heightening in Idaho after a tip described by a U.S. Marshal as “compelling.”

Decker’s daughters — Paityn Decker, 9, Evelyn Decker, 8, and Olivia Decker, 5 — were found dead on June 2 near their father’s abandoned pickup in a remote area of the Rock Island Campground in Washington.

The girls’ deaths were ruled homicides caused by suffocation. Ever since their bodies were discovered, authorities have been scouring wilderness areas in both Washington and Idaho in search of Decker.

On July 5, a family visiting the Sawtooth National Forest reported seeing a man matching Decker’s description in the Bear Creek area of the forest, according to a U.S. Marshals Service Greater Idaho Task Force news release.

U.S. Marshal Supervisory Deputy Michael Leigh spoke to local outlet KREM about the July 5 tip.

“The tip that we received was pretty compelling,” Leigh told the station. “It was a busy holiday weekend, of course, and the tipster observed a man on an ATV trail who fit the description of Decker. 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. And then the tattoos that the tips described [were] pretty accurate.”

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Leigh also said that Marshals subsequently interviewed other campers in the area who said they saw a similar-looking person. He added that if the person spotted was indeed Decker, it is unclear how he got to the area, which is over 500 miles away from Chelan County, Wash., where the girls were found.

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The man spotted on July 5 was seen with a long ponytail and overgrown beard and mustache while wearing either Converse or Vans low-top shoes.

Idaho News 6 reported, citing the U.S. Marshal spokesman, that the family who reported the sighting said the man tried to avoid eye contact and didn’t respond when spoken to.

Decker is a U.S. Army veteran trained to survive in the wilderness. He is being sought on first-degree murder and kidnapping charges.