The FBI is intensifying its search for Travis Decker — wanted in the death of his three young daughters — near the Washington state campground where their bodies were found nearly three months ago.
A two-day, multi-agency effort near Rock Island Campground outside Leavenworth, Wash., will cover rugged, heavily forested U.S. Forest Service land in hopes of locating the triple-murder suspect, Chelan County Sheriff Michael L. Morrison said Monday.
Decker, a 32-year-old former soldier, has been wanted since June 2, after the bodies of 9-year-old Paityn, 8-year-old Evelyn and 5-year-old Olivia, were found in a remote campsite in Chelan County. Their hands were zip-tied, and they had plastic bags over their heads, officials said. An autopsy later determined the cause of death to be suffocation.
The newly announced “grid search operation,” which is expected to last through Tuesday, is being led by the FBI’s Seattle office in conjunction with federal, state and local agencies.
While investigators have no evidence about whether Decker is alive or dead, specialty teams from the federal government and local partner agencies are searching for clues that could lead to him or provide information about the murder of his three daughters, FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Peter Orth in Yakima said Monday during a press conference.
The ongoing search for the suspect, which has nearly stretched into three months, has taken investigators over rough terrain, nearly inaccessible locations, and areas covered with dirt roads that stretch for miles, with no cellphone service and other challenges.
“That effort gets more difficult as time goes on,” Orth said. “The elements bury, they carry away, erode the very items that we’re looking to seek and capture for the investigation.”
Nearly 100 FBI agents and other law enforcement officers are taking part in the operation, which also includes diving teams searching areas of Icicle Creek that were previously inaccessible.
Teams are currently searching within a quarter-mile radius around the campground, Morrison told reporters.
“If we need to expand out further, we will,” Morrison said, noting that there hasn’t been any evidence that prompted the two-day grid search of the area.
“It’s just due diligence, making sure that we’re checking our boxes,” he said.
