Authorities search hiking area for Washington father accused of killing 3 daughters
Authorities believe they have tracked Travis Decker, who is accused of killing his three young daughters, to a hiking area in Chelan County, Washington.
'Tracking teams believe they are on Decker's trail, community support and tips are still needed!' the Chelan County Sheriff's Office said in a news release on Tuesday night.
Authorities believe he may be in the Blewett Pass area.
'We are asking for the public, especially those who live or have cabins in the area, to remain highly vigilant and report any suspicious activity,' the sheriff's office said.
The children, Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia Decker, 5, were found dead on June 2 near a campground east of Seattle after their father failed to bring them home from a visitation. According to an affidavit, the girls had bags over their heads and had been zip-tied. An autopsy attributed their deaths to suffocation.
Decker's white pickup was found near the girls, according to authorities, who said it had two bloody handprints on it. A large amount of evidence was collected from the scene, along with Decker's dog, which was turned over to a local animal rescue, authorities said.
An arrest warrant accuses him of first-degree murder and kidnapping.
The manhunt has covered hundreds of square miles by air, land and water, the sheriff's office previously said. Decker, a military veteran and active member of the Washington State National Guard, was described by authorities as an outdoorsman known to go 'off-grid' for months.
Authorities tracked him to the Blewett Pass area after receiving a tip from a hiking party who said they saw a lone hiker in the Enchantments area and that the person appeared to be ill-prepared for the trail and weather. The hiking party also said the person appeared to be avoiding others, the sheriff's office said.
Tracking teams in a helicopter immediately responded and saw 'a lone, off-trail hiker.' The person ran from sight as the helicopter passed, the sheriff's office said.
'Additional assets were called to the area while they developed a plan to track the individual. Teams later picked up a trail and deployed K9s to the area, tracking the subject to the area of Ingalls Creek Trailhead on HWY 97,' the release states.
Authorities are continuing to search the area.
Last year, a court ordered Decker to seek mental health treatment and domestic violence anger management counseling, according to the affidavit. It says Decker did not seek treatment and refused to sign a parenting plan imposed by the court.
His ex-wife, Whitney Decker, described her relationship with her ex-husband as cordial and said he had never previously failed to return their children, according to the affidavit.
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Ex-soldier wanted for 'murdering daughters' has chilling secret, brother says
A manhunt is underway for ex-US Army soldier Travis Decker, 39, whose three daughters were found dead in a tent in a remote campsite with police saying blood found at the site may be his A former soldier wanted for " murdering his three daughters" had a history of escalating violence, according to his brother. Travis Decker, 32, has been the target of a large manhunt ever since June 2, when a sheriff's deputy found his truck and the bodies of his three daughters — nine-year-old Paityn Decker, eight-year-old Evelyn Decker and five-year-old Olivia Decker — at a campsite outside Leavenworth, Washington. Investigators say the girls were visiting their dad during a court-ordered visitation at the time of the killing. An autopsy on Friday determined the cause of death to be suffocation, the sheriff's office said. The girls had been bound with zip ties and had plastic bags placed over their heads. A huge manhunt is now underway to locate Mr Decker as officials and an array of state and federal agencies have searched hundreds of square miles, much of it mountainous and remote, by land, water and air. The US Marshals Service was offering a reward of up to $20,000 (£15,000) for information leading to his capture. A man - believed to be Travis Decker - was seen near a remote lake by hikers who said he looked ill-prepared for the treacherous rural terrain. The man ran from sight when a police helicopter swooped over the remote area. His brother has now revealed Travis' 'violent' reaction when his family attempted to hold an intervention. Thomas, 35, told the Daily Mail that his brother tried to resort to violence during one family incident. Thomas found out that Travis was starting to abandon his family when he and his partner Whitney were beginning the divorce process. He said: "I told him, 'You can't leave your family like this. People get divorced all the time, if you are not happy in your marriage, that's okay." In a desperate bid to help Thomas and his father staged an 'intervention' with Travis at his house. He said: "We had hoped to have a good conversation with him - to ask him if he needed anything, any help, financial or otherwise. We are family, we want to help him and see what we could do to get him back on track. "'But things did not go well, he tried to resort to violence, because we were not supposed to be there and we just showed up unannounced,' said Thomas, who refused to elaborate further but clarified there was no physical violence." Thomas added: "The guy on the wanted poster for murdering my three nieces is not the brother I know. 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." A GoFundMe page set up to help the girls' mother raised more than $1.2 million by Wednesday afternoon.
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The manhunt for killer dad Travis Decker continues, Washington State cops said today – despite raising hopes of a swift end to the search last night. Decker has been on the lam for 12 days and is charged with three counts of aggravated murder after the bodies of his three daughters Paityn, nine, Evelyn, eight, and Olivia, five, were found at a woodland campsite on June 2. Chalon County Sheriff Mike Morrison said during the press conference the search will continue with the help of Border Patrol and they will 'not give up' on the search for Decker. He did, however, say 'tactics would change' and warned that all it would take would be 'one mistake' for him to be caught. 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. 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Police believe the girls died from asphyxiation and reported that their wrists were zip-tied, court documents said 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. 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.' 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. 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