FBI search at a Washington campsite linked to fugitive father Travis Decker has come to an end after days of grid sweeps.
The sprawling operation shut down part of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest as agents revisited the remote crime scene.
The area outside Leavenworth reopened Wednesday morning after the US Forest Service lifted a closure order.
Officials said the quarter-mile zone surrounding Rock Island Campground was off-limits from Sunday until 6:00 am that day.
The FBI confirmed its teams were finished but did not comment on the reopening.
The shutdown also closed off roads and trails around the campground during the search.
Decker is accused of killing his three daughters – Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia Decker, 5 – after a visitation in late May.
The girls were last seen alive on May 30 when they left Wenatchee, roughly 150 miles from Seattle, with their father.
Just days later, on June 2, investigators located Decker’s truck at Rock Island Campground.
The children’s bodies were found nearby, sparking a full-scale manhunt through the Cascades.
Decker has been missing ever since.
Authorities say they have no evidence indicating whether he is alive or dead.
The FBI’s latest push brought nearly 100 agents and partner agencies back to the scene.
Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said his team, along with other agencies, has followed every lead in the hunt for Decker.
He added, “The areas being searched are extremely challenging with steep hillsides, dense brush, minimal cell service, and unpredictable conditions.”
Specialists joined the mission, including electronics experts, intelligence analysts, and SWAT members embedded with the search teams.
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.
Peter Orth, supervisory senior resident agent with the Seattle FBI Field Office, called it a “boots on the ground search,” NBC local affiliate KING-TV reported.
Teams were assigned to GPS grids, cutting through dense brush and scouring the terrain.
Former King County Sheriff John Urquhart said every inch was being checked fro evidence.
That could include a firearm, a cellphone, or clothing that might help piece together Decker’s trail.
Urquhart noted the urgency, warning that snow and vegetation growth could bury or obscure evidence.
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