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COPS have released an update on their search for dad Travis Decker, eight weeks after his three young daughters were killed.
The former Army Ranger, aged 32, is charged with suffocating his daughters, Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, and leaving their remains at a campground in Washington state on June 2.
Investigators have been combing the wilderness throughout the Pacific Northwest ever since, but Decker still hasn’t been found.
He was last observed on May 30 when he collected his daughters from the home of his estranged wife, Whitney, in Wenatchee, which is located around two and a half hours east of Seattle, for a planned visit.
Decker was supposed to be back by 8 pm that night, but he never returned.
The mom couldn’t get a hold of him so at 9:45 pm, she called the Wenatchee Police Department and reported her daughters missing.
Following several days of searching, their bodies were discovered at Rock Island Campground in Chelan County on June 2, near his abandoned vehicle, which contained bloody handprints inside.
On Friday, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office admitted that they will be reducing their footprint at the initial crime scene.
The office said it has conducted an “exhaustive search” at the campground and surrounding areas using water teams, K-9 units, units on food, and air assets.
“As of today, Mr. Decker has still not been located, and there is insufficient information to suggest that he is alive, nor is he is deceased,” the office wrote.
The local law enforcement warned anyone going out for bear hunting season to “remain vigilant” and report any suspicious activities.
They also reminded the public that there’s a $20,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads directly to Decker’s arrest.
But they stressed that the suspect is considered armed and dangerous and shouldn’t be approached under any circumstances.
Despite the reduction in search efforts, the office said that its criminal investigation into Decker is ongoing.
WARNING SIGNS
Decker’s ex-wife said that he had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and was homeless when he allegedly kidnapped their daughters.
Her attorney Arianna Cozart said the mom feared “something broke” in her estranged ex for him to have committed the heinous act.
After leaving the Army in 2021, Decker “suddenly felt very alone and was still facing a lot of the ramifications of his combat that he saw” like nightmares and severe insomnia,” Cozart previously told NPR’s KUOW.
The attorney said she believed that Decker had PTSD from serving as an infantryman in the Army between 2013 and 2021, including a four-month stint in Afghanistan in 2014.
Timeline of the missing Decker girls
Paityn, 9; Evelyn, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5, were found dead at a campground after they were last seen on a custody visit to their dad.
Below is a timeline of events:
May 29: Cell phone activity shows that the girls’ dad, Travis Decker, drove to the Rock Island Campground and left.
May 30: 5 pm – Travis Decker picks the three girls up from their mom, Whitney Decker.
8 pm – Travis Decker is supposed to return the girls but doesn’t. Whitney Decker calls him and it goes to voicemail.
9:45 pm – Whitney Decker calls the Wenatchee Police Department to report her daughters missing.
Travis Decker’s truck is seen driving westbound on Highway 2.
Washington State Patrol is contacted for an Amber Alert but said the situation didn’t match their criteria.
May 31 : WPD issues an Endangered Missing Persons Alert.
June 2: 3:45 pm – Travis Decker’s truck is found empty at Rock Island Campground with two bloody handprints and items inside.
5 pm – Cops search the area and find the bodies of the three girls.
June 3: 9:30 am – Cops notify the public that they are still searching for Decker.
2 pm – WPD tells the public that the three girls were found dead and that Travis Decker is still on the loose.
June 8: Federal authorities take over search efforts.
June 9: Autopsy results confirm three girls were murdered by suffocation.
June 13: An affidavit revealed Whitney described Travis as having “recent mental health concerns.”
“She provided the examples of randomly leaving or waking her up by screaming at her in the middle of the night,” it read.
“She also said near the end of the marriage he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder that she believes he currently does not take medications for.”
June 17: New audio of Travis in court fighting for custody of his daughters is released.
“I understand that my current position when I’m by myself isn’t ideal, but my daughters aren’t a part of that,” he said in September 2024.
“I only get to see them over the weekends and camping is something that the four of us have done since the three of them were in diapers.”
June 20: Memorial is held where Whitney speaks publicly about girls for first time.
July 5: A family spotted a man believed to be Travis Decker in the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho.
July 9: US Marshals call off the search in Sawtooth National Forest after locating and questioning the man believed to be Travis Decker and confirming it isn’t him.
In September 2024, Whitney requested a change in their parenting plan, and a custody case judge ordered Decker to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, an anger management evaluation, and therapy.
Cozart said that Decker asked for her advice on how to get these services, and she referred him to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Decker went on to claim that the department couldn’t help him find care providers, but Cozart said, “I know this is incorrect – that they do them all the time, including locally.”
However, Rob Bates, a mental health counselor for veterans, remembers seeing Decker walking out of a veterans’ services office weeks before his daughters’ deaths.
“So he was trying to engage services,” Bates told KUOW.
“We just didn’t have the services that he needed.
“I think most of what I have is anger at the system, because the system failed him.
“We — we failed him. We failed Whitney, and mostly we failed those children.”
The VA didn’t return The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.
The search update comes as audio of Decker that was recorded just days before the girls were murdered revealed his worst fear.
And new pictures of the on-the-run suspect were released.
VETERANS CRISIS LINE
If you or someone you know is a veteran affected by any of the issues raised in this story, you can alternatively dial 988 and then press one to access the Veterans Crisis Line, chat on veteranscrisisline.net or text 838255.
There are also many veterans-founded private organizations that provide support to America’s heroes:
