Hunt for Travis Decker zeroes in on campsite of national park as FBI takes over search for ‘killer dad’
Authorities in Washington are refocusing their manhunt for alleged killer dad Travis Decker on a specific campsite at a national park.
Decker, 33, is accused of suffocating his daughters Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, but typing plastic bags over their heads in in Leavenworth, Washington.
The girls were found in his abandoned truck on June 2 at the Rock Island Campground after he failed to bring them to their mother on May 30. Decker was nowhere to be found.
Nearly three months later, the FBI Seattle Office announced that it will be leading federal, state and local agencies in conducting a ‘coordinated search’ near the Rock Island Campground.
Crews will now be clearing lush overgrowth in the campground to once again scour the grounds for any evidence that may lead them to Decker.
It remains unclear whether the suspect, who is wanted on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping, but Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison insisted investigators ‘have not given up’ in finding him.
‘We understand the frustration, we feel it as well,’ he said at a news conference Monday night.
‘We will not relent, we will not give up until Travis Decker is taken into custody,’ the sheriff vowed as he asked for continued patience and understanding from the community ahead of the Labor Day weekend.
Travis Decker, 33, suffocated his daughters Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, by tying plastic bags over their heads in in Leavenworth, Washington
Decker was nowhere to be found, and it remains unclear whether he is still alive
Authorities are now refocusing their search efforts on the Rock Island Campground
‘This is not going to go away until Travis is located’ whether he is alive or not, the sheriff continued, as he expressed doubts about the former soldier’s ability to survive in the wilderness this long despite his military survival training.
‘He has to be perfect every single day,’ Morrison explained. ‘We just have to be perfect once.’
Yet there is no new evidence tying Decker to the Rock Island Campground, as authorities explained they are simply recombing the area for ‘anything of interest’ since it has become overgrown.
A news release Monday night, ahead of the press conference, noted that the ‘areas being searched are extremely challenging with steep hillsides, dense brush, minimal cell service and unpredictable conditions.’
The area of Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest extending west from the campground now remains off-limits to all but federal, state or local officers, members of an organized rescue or fire-fighting force’ or anyone with a US Forest Service permit through Wednesday morning.
‘While this latest operation may or may not yield new findings, our promise is that we will not stop until we have exhausted every possible avenue to find him and to bring closure to this case,’ Sheriff Morrison said in a statement.
Thus far, each effort to find and capture Decker have yielded nothing.
Even a tip that Decker may be hiding out in Idaho proved to be false, with someone mistaking a local man for the wanted killer.
Washington mom-of-three Whitney Decker hadn’t raised any serious concerns about ex-husband Travis since their divorce and custody proceedings began in 2022
Travis and the girls’ mother, Whitney Decker, divorced in 2022, but Travis was allowed to have the girls with him part-time.
He 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.
He had been suffering from mental health issues at the time, and had recently been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
Decker was even court-mandated to receive mental health treatment and domestic violence anger management counseling but had refused.
Decker is accused of killing his three young daughters – Olivia, 5; Evelyn, 8; and Paityn, 9
Decker’s ex-wife Whitney told police she did not believe he was dangerous and that he loved his three daughters
Police said he was also homeless and living out of his car by the time he picked up his three girls from their mother’s house on May 30.
Still, his ex-wife Whitney told police she didn’t believe Decker was dangerous, and that he loved his daughters, with whom he had a ‘good relationship.’
