Travis Decker manhunt: Latest on the search for suspect in 3 girls' deaths
Travis Decker manhunt: Latest on the search for suspect in 3 girls' deaths
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New footage of Travis Decker released amid manhunt
Travis Decker is wanted on first-degree murder charges in connection with deaths of his three daughters.
Nearly four days after officials found the bodies of three young sisters at a remote Washington state campground, allegedly slain by their own father, federal law enforcement officials say they are investigating hundreds of leads and tips as they search for 32-year-old Travis Decker.
The manhunt for Decker continued on Friday, June 6, a Chelan County Sheriff's Office spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY, four days after the girls' bodies were found and a week after they were first reported missing.
Officials shut down a large swath of a national forest in Washington while law enforcement continues to search the area for the girls' father, who is the case's sole suspect so far.
The order to close a hefty portion of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest went into effect on June 5 and is slated to last through June 18, the sheriff's office, the lead agency in the case, announced June 5 in a news release.
The man is wanted connection to the deaths of his daughters, Paityn Decker, 9; Evelyn Decker, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5. An outdoorsman, Travis Decker attended mountain survival school and served in the U.S. Army, officials said. He is suspected of killing his daughters after taking them for a scheduled custody visitation.
Travis Decker manhunt: New video released in search for man suspected of killing his 3 daughters
Following a dayslong search, official found the sisters dead on Monday, June 2 after their mother reported them missing on Friday, May 30. Authorities in Wenatchee, located in central Washington, said Travis Decker took the children for a scheduled custody visit and failed to return them to their mother on time. The parents were divorced, and Travis Decker was homeless and staying primarily in his truck.
A search turned up Travis Decker's white 2017 GMC Sierra truck near a campground, and the sisters were found dead nearby. Their father was nowhere to be found.
Local, state and federal officials continue to search for Travis, wanted on charges of kidnapping, first-degree murder and custodial interference.
Who is Travis Decker? Police search for father suspected of killing his 3 daughters
Where are authorities searching for Travis Decker?
Dan Ozment, undersheriff with the Chelan County Sheriff's Office, did not elaborate on exactly where law enforcement is looking, but warned those who own cabins or live in remote areas of Chelan, Kittitas King, Snohomish, and Okanagan counties to be on high alert as Decker was still at large.
"As law enforcement conducts their searches, we are asking for those owners to lock all of their doors," Ozment wrote in the statement, encouraging residents to leave window blinds open and outside lights on.
'Grieving the unimaginable'
Since the tragedy, the Wenatchee Valley community and beyond have rallied behind the girls' mother, Whitney Decker. A GoFundMe page has raised more than $1 million in financial support for Whitney as of June 6.
"We ask for grace at this time. Whitney is grieving the unimaginable," said family friend Amy Edwards, who organized the GoFundMe page, at a news conference June 5. "When one mother cries, we all cry and hold her in our heart. Thank you for holding Whitney in your hearts now."
How did the Decker sisters die?
The three girls likely died of asphyxiation, court filings reveal.
"Their wrists were also zipped tied or showed signs of being zip tied," according to the affidavit, and each girl was found with a plastic bag over her head.
Travis Decker had exhibited mental health issues prior to the girls' deaths, the court filings show.
New photos, video released of Travis Decker
Authorities this week released photos and videos of the suspect and are asking for the public's help as the manhunt continues.
Travis Decker description
Police described Travis Decker as a white man with black hair and brown eyes, standing 5'8'', and weighing 190 pounds.
He was last seen wearing a light-colored shirt and dark shorts.
Authorities said Decker may have scoped out a hiding location before venturing into the wilderness. Investigators learned from Decker's father he is well-versed in outdoor survival, a skill that may have assisted his efforts to avoid detection, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said at a June 4 news conference.
In addition to being an outdoorsman, Decker attended mountain survival school and served in the U.S. Army.
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Who were Olivia, Evelyn and Paityn Decker?
The daughters of Travis Decker and his ex-wife Whitney Decker − Olivia, Evelyn, and Paityn Decker − lived in the Wenatchee Valley prior to their killings.
In addition to playing sports and attending school in the city of Wenatchee, the three girls were involved in the local art scene through performance and dance. They performed at the Music Theatre of Wenatchee through a children's program known as "Short Shakespeareans" and practiced dance at the city's Fabulous Feet Dance Studio.
The Music Theatre of Wenatchee held a candlelight vigil on June 3 at Wenatchee's Memorial Park.
Anyone who knows Deckers whereabouts is asked to call 911. If you see him, do not approach him, officials warned.
Tipsters can also call the CCSO tip line at 509-667-6845 or submit your information online at https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/sheriff/forms/submit-a-tip.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
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Newsweek
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Father Accused of Killing Daughters Could Be Traveling to Canada: Police
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
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Father Accused of Murdering His 3 Daughters Allegedly Made These Chilling Online Searches Days Before They Went Missing
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
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Death of 3 girls in Travis Decker's custody is a familiar tragedy
As authorities in Washington state search for a man accused of killing his three young daughters after taking them for a scheduled custody visitation, the tragedy rings all too familiar for the parents of murdered children and advocates who say courts allow this to happen. Travis Decker, 32, is wanted for the deaths of Paityn Decker, 9; Evelyn Decker, 8; and Olivia Decker, who were found dead on June 2 after their mother reported them missing. Authorities in Wenatchee in central Washington said Decker took the children for a scheduled custody visit and failed to return them to their mother on time. The parents were divorced, and Decker was homeless and staying primarily in his truck. A search turned up Decker's white 2017 GMC Sierra truck near a campground, and the girls' bodies were found nearby, but Decker has not been found, police said as of June 4. 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Of those, about 140 were deemed preventable cases due to court failures. In those cases, the center found that a protective parent attempted to restrict an abusive parent's access to the victims, or that there were risk factors that should have been detected by a trained judge or child advocate. Some of the deaths are also attributed to failures by law enforcement or child protective agencies. Media reports of children murdered by a parent involved in a divorce, separation or custody issue can be found all across the United States. According to the Center for Judicial Excellence, fathers are the perpetrators in these cases 70% of the time, while mothers kill their children 18% of the time. More: A child dies every 6 days amid custody fights, family court lapses. Advocates want change. In recent years, the deaths have included: A 10-month-old infant in Tucson, Arizona, who authorities said was killed by his father Jimmy Torre McElroy in October 2024, the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. The month before the child's death, McElroy had been given temporary custody, according to KOLD-TV. Ellie Lorenzo, 3 years old, whose body was found in July 2024 at a recycling facility in San Jose, California, after going with her father, Jared Lorenzo, for a scheduled custody visit. Jared Lorenzo was also found dead in an apparent suicide, police said. ABC7 San Francisco reported that the child's mother had made repeated requests that court-ordered visits with the father be supervised because she feared for her safety, but the court continued to grant him unsupervised access. Rashawd Hines' 2-year-old son Jayden in 2021 in Florida. Hines sought full custody of Jayden and said he feared for the boy's safety while with his mother, but the court did not immediately act. The mother's boyfriend, Alegray Damiah Jones, was charged with the boy's murder and aggravated child abuse. The deaths of children at the hands of their parents have occurred under many different circumstances, including during custody disputes and after courts have ordered the children spend time with a parent accused of being unsafe. The Center for Judicial Excellence said domestic violence experts believe the most dangerous time for a victim of abuse and their children is in the days immediately following separation from the alleged perpetrator. Meier's research revealed a disturbing pattern, she said: When a mother alleges abuse by the father against the children or says she fears for the children's safety, courts may often end up giving more custody to fathers. In a review of about 2,000 court decisions from January 2005 through December 2014, Meier found that courts believed less than half (41%) of mothers who claimed any kind of abuse by the father, with an even lower rate when the allegation involved abuse of the children. "There's a very strong bias... – it's embedded and unstated – against believing that a father's dangerous to a child and believing a mother who's saying it or child who's saying it," Meier said. The Center for Judicial Excellence said on its website that court transcripts show that judges and other court officials were warned about a parent's violent history before placing child victims into their care unsupervised. "There is a crisis in the family court system that is putting children in danger,' said Kathleen Russell, executive director of the Center for Judicial Excellence, said in 2023. 'When a child is murdered, the system failed. It's irrefutable evidence that something went wrong.' Meier said a big red flag that a custody issue could end in tragedy include demonstrated behaviors of what's known as "coercive control," which many states consider a form of domestic abuse and is defined as "a pattern of threatening or intimidating behavior that interferes with the free will of another person," according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Coercive controllers sometimes take their children's lives as a means of controlling or retaliating against the other parent, Meier said. Other potential signs include prior threats to kill or threats of suicide, along with firearm ownership, she said. Advocates are hoping to pass legislation known as Kayden's Law in many states, which would require courts to consider past evidence of abuse in custody cases along with other requirements they hope will curb deadly and violent outcomes. The law is named after 7-year-old Kayden Mancuso, who was killed by her father during an unsupervised visit in 2018 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, before he also killed himself, the Bucks County Courier Times, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. The law passed in Pennsylvania last year despite initial opposition by groups including the ACLU of Pennsylvania which argued that while the measure had good intentions, it could end up harming mothers' contact with their children, especially within families of color, because it would require courts to consider any history of abuse, no matter how old, against any household member. The ACLU later withdrew its opposition after an amendment it said changed the focus to any "on-going risk of abuse." An important step forward is the education of family judges on the realities of domestic abuse and child abuse, Meier said, adding that serious change is needed in the culture of the family court system in the United States. "How many kids need to be murdered?" Meier said. Contributing: Ken Alltucker and Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY (This story was updated to add new information.) This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Death of Decker sisters is a familiar custodial tragedy
