Search expands for former Army soldier accused of killing his 3 young
daughters in Washington state
[June 07, 2025]
By GENE JOHNSON
SEATTLE (AP) — Authorities have closed a wide swath of popular
campgrounds and backpacking areas along the Pacific Crest Trail in
Washington as they search for a former Army soldier wanted in the deaths
of his three young daughters.
Dozens of additional law enforcement officers from an array of agencies
joined the investigation and search Friday for Travis Caleb Decker, 32,
four days after the girls — 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn
Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker — were found dead at a remote
campsite outside Leavenworth.
The girls’ mother reported them missing the night of May 30 when Decker
failed to return them to her home in Wenatchee, about 100 miles (160
kilometers) east of Seattle, after a scheduled visit.
Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Friday night that he was ordering the
state’s National Guard to help 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
added in a statement on social media. “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 there were
more than 100 officers involved in the search, which covered rugged
terrain in the Cascade Mountains of central Washington, and more than
500 tips had poured in from the public.
“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.
Last September his ex-wife, Whitney Decker, wrote in a petition to
modify their parenting plan that his mental health issues had worsened
and that he had become increasingly unstable, often living out of his
truck. She sought to restrict him from having overnight visits 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. “I do not want to
keep Travis from the girls at all. ... But I cannot have our girls
staying in what is essentially a homeless shelter, at times
unsupervised, with dozens of strange men, or staying in a tent or living
in his truck with him both in extreme temperatures and unknown areas for
their safety.”
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Pictures, flowers and candles mark a makeshift memorial Tuesday,
June 3, 2025, in Wenatchee, Wash., in honor of Olivia, Paityn and
Evelyn Decker, who were found dead near Leavenworth after their
father Travis Decker failed to return them after a scheduled
visitation. (Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times via AP
Authorities warned people to be on the lookout for Decker and asked
those with remote homes, cabins or outbuildings to keep them locked,
to leave blinds open so law enforcement can see inside and to leave
exterior lights on.
It was unclear if Decker was armed, but the Chelan County Sheriff's
Office said he should be considered dangerous. A reward of up to
$20,000 was offered for information leading to his arrest.
An online fundraiser 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
during a news conference Thursday.
“Their laughter, curiosity and spirit left a mark on all of us,”
Edwards said. “They were the kind of children that everyone rooted
for, looked forward to seeing and held close in their hearts.”
Edwards and Belton said Whitney Decker hopes the tragedy prompts
changes to the state's Amber Alert system as well as improvements in
mental health care for veterans. The night the girls were reported
missing, Wenatchee police asked the Washington State Patrol to issue
an Amber Alert but it declined, saying that as a custody matter
without an imminent threat, the case did not meet the criteria for
one.
The patrol did issue an “endangered missing person alert” the next
day, but those do not result in notifications being sent to mobile
phones.
As searches expanded for the girls last weekend, a sheriff's deputy
found Decker's pickup in the area of Rock Island Campground,
northwest of Leavenworth. There were two bloody handprints on the
tailgate. The girls' bodies were discovered down an embankment
nearby with evidence that they had been bound with zip ties,
according to an affidavit filed in support of murder and kidnapping
charges against Decker.
County Coroner Wayne Harris said Friday that his office was awaiting
pathology results to determine when and how the girls were killed.
Authorities issued closure notices the previous day for that camping
area, which lies in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, as well
as for a large swath of rugged territory to the north. That included
trails and campgrounds along the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs
from the Canadian border to Mexico, and around Stehekin, at the
northern end of Lake Chelan.
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