SEATTLE — Authorities have closed a large swath of popular campgrounds and backpacking areas along Washington’s Pacific Crest Trail as they search for a former Army soldier suspected of killing his three young daughters.
Dozens of additional law enforcement officers from various agencies joined the investigation and search for Travis Caleb Decker, 32, on Friday, four days after the girls — 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker, and 5-year-old Olivia Decker — were discovered dead at a remote campsite outside Leavenworth.
The girls’ mother reported them missing the night of May 30 after Decker failed to return them to her home in Wenatchee, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Seattle, following a scheduled visit.
Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Friday night that the state’s National Guard would assist with the search, saying, “We will be providing helicopter transportation for law enforcement as they search in remote areas.”
“The brutal murder of these young children has shocked our state,” he said in a social media post. “I’m committed to supporting law enforcement as they seek justice for Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia.”
The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that more than 100 officers were involved in the search, which covered rugged terrain in central Washington’s Cascade Mountains, and that the public had provided more than 500 tips.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we have been given notice to, and are working in conjunction with our surrounding counties in the event Mr. Decker moves through the forest into their jurisdiction,” the statement said.
Decker was an infantryman in the Army from March 2013 to July 2021 and deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2014, according to Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro. From 2014 to 2016, he was an automatic rifleman with the 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
In a petition to modify their parenting plan filed last September, his ex-wife, Whitney Decker, stated that his mental health issues had worsened and that he had become increasingly unstable, frequently living out of his truck. She attempted to prevent him from spending overnights with the girls until he found housing.
“He has made huge sacrifices to serve our country and loves his girls very much but he has got to get better,” she wrote to us. “I don’t want to separate Travis from the girls at all.
But I can’t have our girls staying in what is essentially a homeless shelter, sometimes unsupervised, with dozens of strange men, or staying in a tent or living in his truck with him in extreme temperatures and unknown areas for their own safety.”
Authorities warned people to keep an eye out for Decker and urged those with remote homes, cabins, or outbuildings to keep them locked, leave blinds open so law enforcement could see inside, and keep exterior lights on.
It was unclear whether Decker was armed, but the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office described him as dangerous. A $20,000 reward was offered for information that led to his arrest.
An online fundraising campaign for Whitney Decker raised more than $1 million, and friends Amy Edwards, who taught the girls in a theater program called “Short Shakespeareans,” and Mark Belton thanked supporters at a news conference Thursday.
“Their laughter, curiosity and spirit left a mark on all of us,” Edwards told the crowd. “They were the kind of children that everyone rooted for, looked forward to seeing and held close in their hearts.”
According to Edwards and Belton, Whitney Decker hopes that the tragedy will prompt changes to the state’s Amber Alert system as well as improvements in mental health care for veterans.
Wenatchee police asked the Washington State Patrol to issue an Amber Alert the night the girls went missing, but it declined, citing that the case did not meet the criteria for one because it was a custody matter with no imminent threat.
The patrol did issue a “endangered missing person alert” the following day, but notifications were not sent to mobile phones.
As search efforts for the girls intensified last weekend, a sheriff’s deputy discovered Decker’s pickup near Rock Island Campground, northwest of Leavenworth.
There were two bloody handprints on the tailgate. An affidavit filed in support of Decker’s murder and kidnapping charges states that the girls’ bodies were discovered down an embankment nearby, with evidence that they had been bound with zip ties.
County Coroner Wayne Harris said Friday that his office is awaiting pathology results to determine when and how the girls died.
The previous day, authorities issued closure notices for the camping area, which is located in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, as well as a large swath of rugged terrain to the north. This included trails and campgrounds along the Pacific Crest Trail, which connects Canada and Mexico, as well as around Stehekin, at Lake Chelan’s northern end.
