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TRAVELERS visiting the rugged Washington mountains in the summertime might help the manhunt for the dad accused of killing his three daughters and disappearing into the wilderness, cops say.
As the search for Travis Decker continues, police have shared their hopes for a conclusion on the horizon while dispelling the popular idea that the fugitive veteran is an expert on the rough terrain.
Tourists flocking to the Cascades have been warned to keep an eye out for Decker, 32, after he allegedly murdered his daughters during a scheduled custody visit on May 30.
Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, were found suffocated to death at an abandoned campsite near Icicle Creek on June 2.
Now, police say the waters of Icicle Creek will start to recede in the summer weather, which could bring answers to the massive search.
Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said officials are hoping to find Decker alive in the mountains, but they understand he might turn up dead — whether that be in water or elsewhere.
More visibility from tourists taking summer trips to the Cascades might also help ramp up the search for Decker, Morrison said.
“It may work in our favor now that we have that many people out there just saturating that part of the county with camping, hiking and other recreating,” Morrison told CNN.
Morrison also said Decker isn’t a wilderness “guru,” despite online theories inflating his survival skills.
“We’re not going to glorify his abilities,” Morrison said.
“We don’t think that he’s some kind of special forces guru.
“He could get lucky at times, and eventually luck runs out.”
Decker is an Army veteran with extensive military skills who previously spent months alone in the outdoors, previously leading officials to believe he may have planned to survive in the wilderness for a while.
The renewed hope for the manhunt comes after cops recently said there was no clear evidence as to whether Decker is alive or dead.
JULY 5 ‘SIGHTING’
However, on Saturday, a potential sighting led authorities to search an Idaho forest for the suspect.
A family camping in the Sawtooth National Forest reported seeing a man who looked like Decker around their camp, according to the US Marshals.
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: US Marshals say a family spotted a man believed to be Travis Decker in the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho.
The man had black gauge earrings and wore his hair in a ponytail, with an overgrown beard, the family reported.
He was wearing a black hat, a cream-colored shirt, black shorts, and carrying a black backpack.
The family who reported the man didn’t want to make eye contact with him, according to ABC affiliate KIVI-TV.
Cabin owners in the area have been warned that Decker might be in the area.
Last month, a group of hikers reported another potential sighting when they saw a “lone hiker” believed to be Decker traveling through the woods alone.
When authorities sent in a chopper to investigate the sighting, the suspicious hiker sprinted out of view off the trail.
While cops lost Decker’s trail after that sighting, Morrison said he’s confident the visibility brought on by the summer will see Decker located.
“The search is unmatched,” Morrison told CNN.
“We’ve never had anything like this in Chelan County.”
