NEED TO KNOW
- The USDA Forest Service announced that the Rock Island Campground in Leavenworth, Wash. will be closed to the public through Wednesday, Aug. 27
- This is so the FBI can continue the multi-agency investigation into fugitive Travis Decker, 32, who officials believe murdered his three daughters at the campground on June 2
- The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security, U.S. Border Patrol, Washington State Patrol, Wenatchee Police Department, and U.S. Marshals are also involved in the investigation
Travis Decker has been on the run for close to three months after allegedly murdering his three daughters, and still authorities have found no evidence to suggest he is alive or dead.
The manhunt for the fugitive father continues though, and this week agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation are returning to the scene of the crime to conduct additional investigations.
An order from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service announced that the Rock Island Campground in Leavenworth, Wash. will be closed to the public through Wednesday, Aug. 27.
That campground is where Decker took his three girls after the court approved him for a custody visit on May 30.
Ninety minutes after he failed to return the girls at 8 p.m., as ordered by the court, their mother Whitney Decker called police to report the girls missing.
Then, on June 2, authorities discovered the bodies of: Paityn, 9; Evelyn, 8; and Olivia, 2.
All three girls had plastic bags over their heads and several cable ties were found nearby on the ground near their bodies.
The girls had been hidden away, and were only discovered after a member of the search party came upon Decker’s truck.
Inside the truck were Decker’s wallet and cellphone.
Decker’s dog was also found wandering near the crime scene, alive and unharmed.
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A medical examiner determined that the three sisters each died of asphyxiation, with their manner of death being ruled a homicide.
Authorities announced in August that the only DNA found at the crime scene belonged to Decker and the three girls.
The closures are all within a four-mile radius of the crime scene, which is located in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.
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This is all part of the multi-agency effort to track down Decker that, in addition to the FBI, involves the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Border Patrol, Washington State Department of Corrections, Washington State Patrol, Wenatchee Police Department and U.S. Marshals Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force.
If apprehended, Decker is facing three counts each of first-degree murder and kidnapping.
U.S. Marshals announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Decker, 32, is a former military member with extensive tactical training, which would allow him to survive in the woods for long periods of time.
Authorities believe he may be in Canada based on internet searches conducted before his disappearance, and there have been at least two reported sightings of men who were initially thought to be Decker, but were soon debunked by investigators.
Decker and his wife divorced in 2023, at which time she petitioned the court for sole custody of the couple’s three daughters citing her husband’s mental health struggles, according to copies of court documents obtained by PEOPLE.
As part of that agreement, Decker was granted three hours of visitation with the girls every Friday, and an additional eight hours every other weekend.
Prior to the incident there were no red flags or warning signs of any kind, a lawyer for his ex-wife told ABC News.
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