Idaho
Fugitive dad accused of killing 3 daughters may have been seen in Idaho
The Army veteran accused of killing his three daughters in Washington state and disappearing into the wilderness for weeks may have been spotted in an Idaho forest, federal authorities said.
The person believed to be Travis Decker, 32, was seen in Sawtooth National Forest, hundreds of miles from the campground where the bodies of his young daughters were found June 2, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
In a news release Sunday, the agency said the tip came from a family who reported having seen a man matching Decker’s description in the national forest’s Bear Creek area, east of Boise.
The man was described as 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches, wearing a black mesh cap, black gauged earrings, black shorts, low-top Vans or Converse shoes and a cream T-shirt. He had a long ponytail, an overgrown beard and a mustache and a black backpack, the agency said.
He was said to be wearing a black Garmin-style watch.
The Marshals Service warned people Monday not to fly drones in the area and to avoid picking up hitchhikers.
Authorities have described Decker, who was an active-duty member of the Washington State National Guard, as an avid outdoorsman known to go “off-grid” for months.
Law enforcement officers have investigated “dozens and dozens” of potential sightings and tips linked to Decker, but he appears to have been seen only once, nearly a month ago, in the Blewitt Pass area of Washington.
After a report from hikers, a tracking team in a helicopter described seeing a “lone, off-trail hiker” who ran from the aircraft.
Weeks later, on Tuesday, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said there was no evidence to suggest Decker was alive or dead.
His daughters, Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, were found dead in a remote area near Leavenworth, roughly 135 miles east of Seattle, after Decker failed to return them to his ex-wife. According to an affidavit in support of an arrest warrant, the girls had been zip-tied and had bags over their heads.
An autopsy attributed their deaths to suffocation.
Decker’s pickup was found near the girl’s bodies, and the sheriff’s office said an analysis of bloody handprints on the vehicle’s tailgate matched Decker’s DNA profile.
Whitney Decker was married to Travis Decker for seven years and described their divorce to authorities as amicable, according to the affidavit. The detective who wrote the affidavit noted that Travis Decker refused to sign a parenting plan last year and did not seek court-mandated mental health treatment and domestic violence anger management counseling.
Decker is wanted on charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping. He is also wanted on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
According to an affidavit in support of the federal charge, authorities discovered that in the days before the girls’ deaths, Decker appears to have searched Google for information related to Canada.
“How does a person move to canada” and “how to relocate to canada” were among the search terms linked to Decker’s Google account on May 26, according to the warrant. The deputy U.S. marshal who wrote the warrant noted that the victims were found 11 miles from the Pacific Crest Trail, a well-established path that leads to Canada.
The possible sighting in Sawtooth National Forest is more than 500 miles in the other direction.
Idaho
Idaho is home to the nation's first DarkSky Reserve. Now it's home to the nations first DarkSky Certified Resort
Idaho
Idaho Falls City Council delays vote on proposed alcohol ordinance – Local News 8
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – A controversy is brewing as the City of Idaho Falls reviews its alcohol ordinance.
The goal is to consolidate four existing ordinances for beer, wine and liquor into a single law and ensure compliance with state code.
However, at its meeting last Thursday, the Idaho Falls City Council unanimously voted to remove the proposed ordinance from its agenda, in order to receive and consider additional public comment.
The proposed ordinance would:
1. Require commercial establishments selling, dispensing or permitting consumption of alcohol – including beer, wine or liquor – to have an alcohol license, alcohol catering permit or a charitable event permit.
2. Business events with 20 or less employees consuming alcohol at the business would be allowed.
3. Require alcohol servers to complete training every three years.
4. Individuals who violate the law could be charged with a misdemeanor.
Idaho Falls City Council President Jim Francis said the changes were the culmination of months of collaboration between law enforcement, business owners and city attorneys.
“We wanted to provide a safe environment – the primary point here – for public gatherings,” Francis said. “We recognize that certain antiquated elements of the current code are overly restrictive and needed to be addressed. We wanted to make the code more accessible to the public. We needed to address over-pouring issues. We wanted to reduce penalties where possible for violations, particularly the first offenses, and yet make the code clear enough to be enforceable consistently by law enforcement.”
But City Council Member John Radford said the changes represent an overreach by city government.
“I believe it’s a bad policy. What problem are we solving in the name of trying to solve a non-problem?” Radford said. “We’re becoming big brother around alcohol in your private property. I’m concerned that landlords will be at risk of being charged with a misdemeanor if they knowingly, which I made sure that was in there, because that is what we’ve been talking about, allowed people to drink in our business. We will be outside the norm of Idaho cities. This is a big step, and I don’t think the public has weighed in on this.”
At a City Council Work Session on June 1, Idaho Falls Chief of Police Bryce Johnson cited an increase in alcohol-related crime – particularly downtown – as a reason for the changes.
“DUI is there, but this would include sexual assaults, assaults, batteries, disturbances, urination, public vandalism, shooting – all sorts of crimes,” Johnson said.
But business owners are concerned about the potential impact on commercial enterprises.
“The ordinance doesn’t address the real problem – which is people drinking … at one event and then showing up in a bar or restaurant already hammered and causing problems anyway,” ” said Terri Ireland, representing the Idaho Falls Downtown Merchants Association. “The industry is really well-regulated by state and local laws already.”
The City of Idaho Falls began the process of updating its alcohol ordinance in January 2026, seeking input from community stakeholders.
Multiple community members spoke out about the ordinance.
For more in-depth information, you can read the full 39-page proposed alcohol ordinance here.
Idaho
Idaho attorneys rebuff DOJ threat to prosecute Secretary of State in voter roll dispute
BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — A simmering dispute between Idaho’s top elections official and the U.S. Department of Justice escalated this month after federal officials warned Secretary of State Phil McGrane about possible prosecution tied to non-citizens voting in Idaho.
The Justice Department sent a letter earlier this month threatening McGrane with prosecution. The warning came amid a broader conflict between the Trump administration and McGrane, whom the administration has sued over his refusal to provide unredacted voter rolls to the federal government.
Idaho’s chief of civil litigation, James Craig, responded on July 10. In a letter first reported by the Idaho Statesman, Craig pushed back on the federal warning, writing, “Insinuations of criminal violations of the federal election laws are not well taken,” and asking the department to “stop threatening your friends in Idaho.”
Craig also requested that the lawsuit against McGrane be dismissed and criticized the Justice Department for sending its letter directly to McGrane rather than to the Idaho attorney general’s office.
The attorney general’s office said the state has already referred 15 cases of possible non-citizen election violations to the Justice Department but is not aware of any of them being prosecuted. Craig’s letter ends by asking the department to do so.
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