Search for Washington man accused of killing his 3 daughters reaches one month. Here's where things stand

SEATTLE — Wednesday marked one month since law enforcement found Travis Decker’s white pickup truck along Icicle Road near Leavenworth.

But the search for the Wenatchee ex-soldier accused of killing his three young daughters continues.

“You’re looking at one of the largest, most complex search rescue efforts that we’ve ever conducted here in our county,” Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said.

The search has expanded across state and international borders. Law enforcement has checked tips in Idaho, Montana and Canada, and worked with agencies across the nation to follow up on possible sightings, Morrison said.

“It’s certainly frustrating,” Morrison said. “I don’t believe that Decker is some kind of super villain that has somehow eluded us. I just think, overall, things have worked out in his favor.”

Here’s where things stand one month into the search.

What led to the search for Decker?

Chelan County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike McLeod was riding around the Rock Island campground on his dirt bike wearing plain clothes looking for Decker and his three daughters when he located the truck on June 2, USA Today reported.

The Decker girls’ disappearance was still a missing persons case until an investigator found the bodies of 9-year-old Paityn, 8-year-old Evelyn and 5-year-old Olivia 50 yards away from the truck. They died of suffocation, an autopsy report said.

The girls were reported missing May 30 after their father failed to return them to their mother’s home in Wenatchee per a custody agreement. A petition for a protection order from the girls’ mom, Whitney Decker, drafted before the bodies were found, said the 32-year-old former U.S. Army soldier’s mental health had been spiraling.

Decker has been charged with aggravated murder and kidnapping.

Is there any indication Decker is dead or alive?

All law enforcement can say is that Decker is unaccounted for, Morrison said in an interview with The Seattle Times on Wednesday.

“We certainly recognize the probability that he’s deceased, succumbed to injuries, took his own life,” the sheriff said.

There are several places in the large search area that Decker could have thrown himself off a cliff, fallen in the water, or been injured, but the sheriff’s office is “keeping all options open,” Morrison said.

How big has the search for Decker been?

Teams from Kittitas, Douglas, Grant, King, Snohomish and Chelan counties have been joined by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, National Park Services, the National Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service and other entities in the search. Multiple search teams were deployed on the Pacific Crest Trail.

“He could be anywhere in the nation, he could be anywhere internationally,” Morrison said. “But we recognize there’s still a very strong potential he could be here locally and we’re not taking anything off the table.”

Search efforts are currently focused in Chelan County.

“We recognize, too, you’ve got to be responsible with resources,” as well as responsible to the family and all those searching for closure, Morrison said. “It’s not like these resources are out there for free.”

Over the weekend, 25 members of the Chelan County Volunteer Search and Rescue team scoured the area of the crime scene, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday in a news release.

Teams from Kittitas County searched the Crystal Creek drainage from the Enchantments through Ingalls Creek last week with the help of a cadaver dog and drone teams.

A swift water rescue team will soon deploy with the National Park Service to search the bodies of water from the campsite where Decker’s truck was found down to the Columbia River in Wenatchee, Morrison said.

Teams have flown drones and helicopters over the water and dropped GoPros in. But as soon as the waters go down, they will be able to check spots underwater where Decker’s body may have been pinned or caught up in strainers. That could take several months.

Has Decker ever been seen?

The search for Decker intensified June 10, just over a week after the search began, when a hiking party told law enforcement they’d seen a lone hiker in the Enchantments who was ill-prepared for the trail and seemed to be avoiding others. The man began to run from a helicopter flying near Colchuck Lake, the Chelan County sheriff’s office said at the time.

The helicopter had to turn around to get fuel and did not redeploy, Morrison said. The sheriff’s office did find tracks that they followed to Ingalls Creek, but they didn’t find anyone. It remains unconfirmed if the man was Decker or not.

Many people have called to report potential sightings, but after following up, law enforcement found none to be credible or confirmed, Morrison said. Some have reported Decker may have stolen items out of their cabins. Law enforcement tracked down and found items reported missing, tested them for Decker’s DNA and came up with no matches.

In his interview with USA Today, McLeod pointed to a torn and abandoned orange tent found a mile outside of where the Decker girls were found that he believed belonged to their father.

Morrison said detectives determined the tent was not Decker’s. It was likely left by a camper to save a spot during the busy tourism season, or was discarded for crews to clean up, he said.

Was anyone else involved in the Decker girls’ murders?

There was speculation that, somehow, Decker had been killed and framed by someone else for the murder of his daughters, Morrison said. But a bloody fingerprint smear on the tailgate of Decker’s truck and other samples found at the crime scene were found to match Decker’s DNA. No one else was at the scene, he said.

The blood samples means there’s potential Decker had some kind of injury that was bleeding, but it’s nothing that made law enforcement concerned for his safety, Morrison said.

Nonhuman blood was found at the scene as well, which is most likely associated with Decker’s dog that law enforcement knew was also present, Morrison said, though officials have not confirmed the match.

The dog was friendly with law enforcement when it was discovered at the campsite and had no injuries that required a visit to the vet, Morrison said. The dog was taken to the humane society.

Chelan County, especially the area where Decker went missing, is a tourist destination. Morrison expects more recreationalists to visit the area to hike and camp, he said. That means additional eyes, though he said people should remain cautious and vigilant because Decker is considered dangerous.

Law enforcement have asked anyone who sees Decker to call 911, and if he is alive, to not approach him.

“We haven’t given up. We’ll continue to do what we need to do to bring closer to the family and the community as well, Morrison said. “And we recognize that, still, Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia need their voices heard and we prefer to have Travis standing in one of our courtrooms facing the charges that we’ve applied against him.”