THREE agonizing months have passed since the dad accused of killing his three daughters went on the run in Washington state.
The multi-agency manhunt for Travis Decker, 33, ramped up after the FBI uncovered bones in their search this week, reigniting what little hope the community has for getting closure in the grueling case.
Travis Decker, 33, is accused of killing his three daughters[/caption]
FBI agents participating in the search for Travis Decker at Rock Island Campground in Washington state on Monday[/caption]
Decker allegedly murdered his daughters after picking them up for a scheduled custody visit from their home in Wenatchee, Washington, on May 30, according to the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.
Three days later, 9-year-old Paityn, 8-year-old Evelyn, and 5-year-old Olivia were found suffocated to death at Rock Island Campground.
Investigators located only Decker’s DNA left behind at the abandoned campsite. The suspect was nowhere to be found.
The search for Decker has spanned across hundreds of square miles by land, water, and air, as officials previously said there was no certain evidence as to whether the fugitive is dead or alive.
But this week, the FBI announced they were conducting a two-day grid search around the campsite where the girls were found, covering 247 acres with 100 agents, police said.
During the search, investigators found bones within the grid, which spread out in an oval shape near where Decker’s truck was found at the site, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison told The U.S. Sun.
Morrison said the bone was around the size of a human femur bone, and that there were no clothes or otherwise human items found near the remains.
It’s unclear whether the bones are human or animal bones, and they’ve been sent off to Central Washington University for anthropologists to confirm.
The origin of the bones is just one of many questions brought on by the tragedy, as most of them have gone unresolved.
Below is a look at some of the loose ends in the horrific case.
WHERE IS HE?
Decker seemed to have a head start in his escape from police because he went missing with the girls three days before their bodies were found, which has made the search more widespread and difficult.
Police initially warned that Decker, a former military member, was likely capable of surviving in the wilderness for weeks or months at a time.
Multiple pictures and videos, including bodycam footage when he was in a car accident, have been released showing what Decker might have looked like at the time of the killings.
No tips have been ruled out, including theories that he could be in Canada and a potential sighting in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest that was determined to be a false alarm.
Timeline of the missing Decker girls
Paityn, 9; Evelyn, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5, were found dead at a campground after they were last seen on a custody visit to their dad.
Below is a timeline of events:
May 29: Cell phone activity shows that the girls’ dad, Travis Decker, drove to the Rock Island Campground and left.
May 30: 5 pm – Travis Decker picks the three girls up from their mom, Whitney Decker.
8 pm – Travis Decker is supposed to return the girls but doesn’t. Whitney Decker calls him and it goes to voicemail.
9:45 pm – Whitney Decker calls the Wenatchee Police Department to report her daughters missing.
Travis Decker’s truck is seen driving westbound on Highway 2.
Washington State Patrol is contacted for an Amber Alert but said the situation didn’t match their criteria.
May 31 : WPD issues an Endangered Missing Persons Alert.
June 2: 3:45 pm – Travis Decker’s truck is found empty at Rock Island Campground with two bloody handprints and items inside.
5 pm – Cops search the area and find the bodies of the three girls.
June 3: 9:30 am – Cops notify the public that they are still searching for Decker.
2 pm – WPD tells the public that the three girls were found dead and that Travis Decker is still on the loose.
June 8: Federal authorities take over search efforts.
June 9: Autopsy results confirm three girls were murdered by suffocation.
June 13: An affidavit revealed Whitney described Travis as having “recent mental health concerns.”
“She provided the examples of randomly leaving or waking her up by screaming at her in the middle of the night,” it read.
“She also said near the end of the marriage he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder that she believes he currently does not take medications for.”
June 17: New audio of Travis in court fighting for custody of his daughters is released.
“I understand that my current position when I’m by myself isn’t ideal, but my daughters aren’t a part of that,” he said in September 2024.
“I only get to see them over the weekends and camping is something that the four of us have done since the three of them were in diapers.”
June 20: Memorial is held where Whitney speaks publicly about girls for first time.
July 5: A family spotted a man believed to be Travis Decker in the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho.
July 9: US Marshals call off the search in Sawtooth National Forest after locating and questioning the man believed to be Travis Decker and confirming it isn’t him.
August 25: FBI agents announce they are conducting a two-day grid search of the heavily wooded area near Rock Island Campground.
POTENTIAL SIGHTING MYSTERY
In June, authorities believed they saw Decker when a lone hiker sprinted out of view of a helicopter, but he was never caught.
A hiking party reported a tip after coming face-to-face with a man acting unusually near the Enchantments in Washington’s Cascade Mountain Range, CCSO said at the time.
The hiker “appeared to be ill prepared for trail and weather conditions, and appeared to be avoiding others,” CCSO said at the time.
Police searching for Travis Decker from a helicopter in the Washington wilderness[/caption]
The manhunt for Decker has utilized multiple agencies including the US Coast Guard[/caption]
Decker in a picture released by police to aid in the public’s search for him[/caption]
When cops went to check out the scene in a helicopter, the man sprinted off-trail and ran out of view of the chopper.
Officials lost sight of the man and told the public they believed it had been Decker.
However, there have been no confirmed sightings since Decker was last seen on May 30 — and it’s unclear whether he’s alive or dead.
DEAD OR ALIVE?
Because Decker wasn’t found near the abandoned campsite where his daughters were left, it was initially believed that he escaped on foot and was alive.
However, worries that he might never be found began to grow when local agencies began to scale back their searches.
Morrison has doubled down in saying that until clear evidence is found, cops will look for the fugitive living on the run.
But weeks after the manhunt began, cadaver dogs were brought out to aid in the search, signalling the uncertainty as to whether he’s still out there.
ANY HELPERS?
Two months after the murders, police theorized that Decker might have evaded capture by getting someone to help him hide.
Morrison shared fears that a member of the public might have been “sympathetic” to the suspect and given him food or supplies, or even a place to stay.
Speculation has also swirled that Decker might have been picked up by a hitchhiker.
However, there have been no clear reasons to believe Decker had support from anyone else.
CAMPGROUND MYSTERY
Another unanswered question is why the girls’ bodies were left at Rock Island Campground.
Whitney Decker, the mother of the girls, said that it wasn’t out of the ordinary for Decker to take his daughters on trips to campgrounds or nature trails in Washington state.
However, it’s unclear if the girls had been to that specific campground before, or if there was a reason Decker picked that to be the death scene.
The girls were found down an embankment at Rock Island Campground[/caption]
The campground is over an hour’s drive from Wenatchee, Washington[/caption]
Decker is accused of kidnapping and killing his daughters[/caption]
Decker was supposed to pick up his daughters for a three-hour custody visit that Friday night, and told Whitney he would bring them back home to Wenatchee, about 150 miles east of Seattle.
But the campground is located about an hour and a half away from the family’s home in Wenatchee, making it an inconvenient decision for a three-hour window.
DID HE PLAN IT?
It’s unclear if Decker made a plan to kill his three daughters by suffocating them to death.
Whitney has previously said that she believed her ex-husband just “snapped” due to post-traumatic stress disorder he suffered after his service in the military.
“Something came out of this man and he broke, that’s it,” Whitney previously said through her attorney, Arianna Cozart.
“When that man picked up those girls, his babies, he did not have a plan to kill them. There’s nothing that indicates that he did.”
Whitney Decker and her daughters Olivia, Evelyn, and Paityn Decker[/caption]
The area near Rock Island Campground where FBI agents found bones that might be evidence in the search for Decker[/caption]
Decker was homeless at the time of the murders[/caption]
However, police records show that cell phone data revealed that Decker visited Rock Island Campground in the days before his daughters’ deaths.
Cops also said it was possible that Decker could have hidden supplies in the woods that would help him survive in the outdoors.
He also made chilling web searches looking up how to relocate to Canada, leading investigators to believe he was planning his escape.
WHY?
The most haunting question in the case remains: how could a father be capable of killing his three daughters?
Decker’s PTSD diagnosis, financial struggles, and deteriorating mental health came to light after the tragedy, but Whitney said Decker had no previous history of violence.
After their marriage ended in 2023, Whitney asked the court to put restrictions on the custody agreement due to Decker’s mental health and stability, reporting that he was homeless at the time.
Paityn Decker, 9, holding a video game in a Target parking lot[/caption]
Evelyn, 8, was found dead with her sisters on June 2[/caption]
Olivia, 5, was the youngest of Decker’s daughters[/caption]
However, Whitney said the parenting plan was working well before May 30.
Police haven’t determined any motive for the horrific crime.
‘THEY WERE INCREDIBLE’
Whitney previously said she wants Decker to be found so that she can have closure for the loss of her three daughters.
“I’m so thankful for the time that I had with the girls,” Whitney said at a memorial service for the girls a month after their deaths.
“I truly hope that the legacy of the girls’ lives lives in everyone’s hearts forever. They were incredible.”
The FBI is expected to return to the wilderness in a few weeks to continue the search, Morrison said.
Paityn, Evelyn, and Olivia died by suffocation[/caption]
Pictures, flowers, and candles at a makeshift memorial for the girls in Wenatchee on June 3[/caption]
