Grim new theory about why 'killer dad' Travis Decker still hasn't been tracked down

Daily Mail​

24-06-2025

Washington police have revealed a chilling new theory about alleged killer dad Travis Decker after three weeks of frantically searching for the fugitive.
The 33-year-old veteran accused of suffocating his three daughters - Paityn, 9; Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5 - may be dead, according to a Monday night statement from the Kittitas County Sherriff's Office (KCSO).
'At this time, there is no certain evidence that Decker remains alive or in this area,' the KCSO announced.
'Seemingly strong early leads gave way to less convincing proofs over the last two weeks of searching.'
However, the office noted that if Decker is alive, he remains a danger to the public, and police have 'preparing to capture and arrest' him if he emerges.
'Still, we can't and won't quit this search; Paityn, Evelyn, and Olivia Decker deserve justice,' the press release reads.
Authorities are still focusing their efforts in the Teanaway Valley, Liberty, Lauderdale and Blewett Pass areas.
But now that they are considering the possibility that Decker died roaming through the unforgiving wilderness while evading arrest, 'search resources are being redirected to find and recover' the man at the center of the convoluted manhunt.
These revised strategies include deploying cadaver dogs, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison told USA Today.
The KCSO's announcement comes just days after the girls' mother, Whitney, spoke out for the first time since they were found dead.
She spoke through tears at a memorial service for her girls on Friday, sharing heartbreaking details about their personalities.
Decker has been missing since May 30, when he failed to return the three little girls back to Whitney after a visit.
Whitney, who is divorced from the veteran, told police that he had picked the girls up around 5pm but had not returned them by 8pm, and his phone went straight to voicemail, court documents said.
Detectives said she 'expressed concern because Decker reportedly has never done this before and … is currently experiencing some mental health issues.'
She also told law enforcement officials that Decker was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and believes he did not take medication for the condition, according to court documents.
He was court-mandated to seek out mental heath and domestic violence anger management counseling, but refused treatment.
At the time of his disappearance and his daughters' deaths, Decker was living out of a white 2017 GMC Sierra pickup truck, police said.
'He clearly had some sort of break and everything that he had been living with, everything that had been bottled up inside of him for so long as far as trauma, just won out,' Whitney's lawyer, Arianna Cozart, previously told the Seattle Times.
Decker has been missing since May 30, when he failed to return the three little girls back to their mother, Whitney, after a visit (pictured: a wanted poster of Decker)
On June 2, a search party led to the chilling discovery of the sisters' dead bodies near Rock Island Campground in Chelan County along with Decker's truck.
Deputies found the girls' bodies about 75 to 100 yards from Decker's truck.
An autopsy revealed the girls died from suffocation and police reported their wrists were zip-tied and plastic bags were over their heads when they were found, court documents said.
Police collected 'a large amount of evidence' from the truck, including male blood and non-human blood.
The alleged-killer's dog was found nearby as well and taken to an animal humane society, Fox 8 reported.
Chilling audio from just months before the harrowing murders captured the fugitive father begging for more custody time to go camping with his daughters.
In the recording from a September 2024 custody hearing, Decker makes an eerie promise that no harm would come to the girls if he's given more time to take them camping in Washington's wilderness.
With an extensive combat background, authorities and locals have been concerned about Decker being on the loose.
He joined the Army in 2013 and served in Afghanistan before transferring to the Washington National Guard in 2021, Karina Shagren, communications director for the Washington Military Department, confirmed to the Daily Mail.
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.
He likely has advanced combat training and was an airborne paratrooper who earned the elite rank of 'Ranger,' indicating he would have excellent wilderness and survival skills, Fox 13 Seattle reported, citing social media posts.
Decker is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping.