‘Items of interest’ that could belong to a wanted killer dad have been found as a manhunt continues, Washington State cops said today.
Decker has been on the run for 12 days and faces three counts of aggravated murder after the bodies of his daughters Paityn, nine, Evelyn, eight, and Olivia, five, were discovered at a woodland campsite on June 2.
Though hopes for a quick resolution to the search were raised last night, Chalon County Sheriff Mike Morrison stated at the Wednesday press conference that the search will persist with Border Patrol’s assistance, as police promise not to give up on locating Decker.
He did, however, say ‘tactics would change’ and warned that all it would take would be ‘one mistake’ for him to be caught.
Morrison mentioned that they’ve found ‘items of interest’ in the Blewitt Pass area that may be linked to Decker and believes that authorities are still closing in on the father, despite the shift in strategy.
He added that the cops still have K-9 and ground search units in the area.
Sheriff Morrison said Decker is effectively surrounded thanks to additional police units from neighboring counties but warned he is still considered armed and dangerous.
He said he still has hope Decker will turn himself in but said that when he is caught, he will be treated ‘with the same respect’ as any other suspect.
Travis Decker, 32, is accused of killing his daughters, Paityn, nine, Evelyn, eight, and Olivia Decker, five, after he failed to return them back to their mother following a scheduled three-hour visit in Washington on Friday
Chelan County Sheriff’s Office deputies found the girls’ bodies about 75 to 100 yards from Decker’s truck at a campsite. Police believe the girls died from asphyxiation and reported that their wrists were zip-tied, court documents said
Ingalls Creek trailhead area in the rugged wilderness areas within Chelan County, where Travis Decker was last seen
Former soldier Decker has spent the past two weeks hiding out in the Wenatchee Mountains – a rugged stretch of peaks that stretch for 50 miles across central Washington State.
Exclusive Daily Mail photos show exactly how challenging the search has been, with thick forest and soaring peaks of up to 9,500ft dominating the area.
Complicating the search is the fact that Decker, a former soldier, knows the area intimately and has ample experience of living rough – once spending two months living off grid in the backwoods.
Photos released by the Chalon County Sheriff’s Office show searchers battling through the mountainous terrain – with cops pictured searching the snowy flanks of Mount Stuart and being choppered to mountain meadows hundreds of feet above the valley floor.
Until Monday, Decker had not been seen since vanishing with the three children following a scheduled custody visit on May 30.
Their mother Whitney, 35, called the cops after he failed to return with the girls and could not be reached by phone.
Three days later, the children were found suffocated at the remote Rock Island Campground near Leavenworth, with plastic bags over their heads and bound with zip ties.
Police said Decker’s 2017 GMC truck was also found at the scene and had two bloody handprints on the back gate.
Chelon County Sheriff Mike Morrison vowed that teams will ‘not give up’ on the search for Decker during a press conference on Wednesday
The vast land within Chelan County has been deemed an area of interest to authorities
Chelan County Sheriff’s Office is helping orchestrate the search for Decker
Shortly after, a no-bail arrest warrant was issued for Decker, charging him with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of kidnapping.
On Monday, cops revealed they were finally closing in on the alleged killer, saying in a statement that a tip from a hiker had led to a breakthrough.
‘Our office recently received a tip from a hiking party who stated they spotted a lone hiker in the Enchantments area who appeared to be ill-prepared for trail and weather conditions and appeared to be avoiding others,’ the statement said.
‘Tracking teams immediately acted upon the information and spotted a lone, off-trail hiker from a helicopter near Colchuck Lake who ran from sight as the helicopter passed.’
An alert was later issued to residents in the Ingalls Creek and the Valley High communities – warning them to lock up their homes and vehicles and be on the lookout for Decker.
‘Residents and visitors are urged to secure homes and vehicles, remain vigilant, and report any suspicious activity to 911,’ an alert said.
‘A heightened law enforcement presence will persist as a precautionary measure.’
Snohomish County Sheriff’s Special Operations, in coordination with the Snohomish County Region 1 SWAT team and Air Support Unit, came together in a unified effort to support the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office
The vast land surrounding Colchuck Lake is now an area of interest to authorities
The search for 32-year-old Decker intensified this week, as more than 100 Chelan County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) officers scoured hundreds of square miles of the Rock Island Campground in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in the Cascade Mountains
That alert was lifted Wednesday morning at 11.30am, while the police presence in the area was noticeably diminished when the Daily Mail visited the same day.
A plane that cops had been using to scour the area had also departed – traveling to an airport in state capital Olympia, a three-hour flight away.
The bearded dad-of-three is a former soldier who joined the Army 2013. He served in Afghanistan before transferring to the Washington National Guard in 2021.
He was a full-time member of the Guard until 2023 or 2024, when he switched to part-time.
Decker stopped attending mandatory monthly drills a little over a year ago, and the Guard was in the process of a disciplinary discharge.
According to ex-wife Whitney, he has been suffering from mental health issues in recent years and was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
When Decker failed to return with the girls that night, Whitney reported them missing
Still, Whitney told police she didn’t believe Decker was dangerous and said he loved his daughters.
She said the girls had a ‘good relationship with Decker and enjoy their time with him,’ and noted that he had never failed to return the girls before, according to a police affidavit.
Whitney added that when Decker went to pick up the girls for the visit on Friday, he was ‘quieter than usual’ which was ‘out of character’ for him.
He had also allegedly been talking about getting rid of his dog due to housing and financial struggles.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail in an interview published earlier today, Decker’s older brother Thomas said the alleged killer is not the man he knew – and saw just a week before the murders.
‘The guy on the wanted poster for murdering my three nieces is not the brother I know,’ said Thomas. ‘I can’t even comprehend what is going on.
‘I am in complete shock that he would do something like this. He loves his daughters – at least I thought he did. And Whitney is devastated beyond belief.’
This is a breaking news story. More to come.
