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THE manhunt for the Washington state dad accused of murdering his three daughters has ramped up following a reported sighting.
Police launched a search for fugitive Travis Decker, 32, after someone thought they saw the alleged killer near a hiking trail on Friday.
The tip was called in around Washington’s Snoqualmie Pass and Pacific Crest Trail, about a day’s walk from where Decker’s daughters, all under age 10, were found suffocated to death on June 2.
Police responded after the possible sighting was reported at around 6 pm on Friday, about 55 miles outside of Seattle, the King County Sheriff’s Office said.
Multiple agencies, including SWAT teams and K-9 units, rushed to the wooded area, about a 36-hour hike from where the girls’ bodies were found at Rock Island Campground, for the large-scale search.
However, the search was called off after just a few hours at around 9:15 pm.
Cops said they didn’t find Decker and that there was no further update.
“Friday evening at about 6:00 the King County Sheriff’s Office received a tip from a community member who believed they saw Travis Decker near Snoqualmie Pass and the Pacific Crest Trail,” a KCSO spokesperson said in a statement to The U.S. Sun.
“As locating him is a priority, we dispatched multiple patrol units along with our SWAT team, K-9 Units and our helicopter to aid in the search.”
The statement continued, “A little more than two hours later we ended the search, and Travis Decker was not located.”
It’s still unclear why the search was called off.
Authorities have made it clear that they plan to investigate every tip as the hunt for Decker continues.
The Snoqualmie Pass is located along the Pacific Crest Trail, which cops initially closed in the early days of the search for Decker, as they believed he could be hiking the trail up to Canada.
Decker is accused of killing his daughters – Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5 – after their mom reported them missing when Decker didn’t return them after a scheduled custody visit.
Three days later, the girls were found near Decker’s abandoned pickup truck with their hands zip-tied and plastic bags over their heads.
The gruesome discovery prompted a manhunt for Decker, a military-trained survival expert, that has now lasted over nine weeks.
NINE WEEK HUNT
The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office previously said the department is scaling back its efforts due to tips from community members slowing down.
However, a former FBI agent told The U.S. Sun that the announcement may have been a tactic to flush Decker out by making him believe cops are backing down in the search for him.
“Given the nature of the triple homicide of three children, this investigation will maintain a status of high-priority investigation,” Stuart Kaplan, a former Special Agent for the FBI, said.
“At least one or two investigators will be assigned full-time work on it.”
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: A family spotted a man believed to be Travis Decker in the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho.
July 9: US Marshals call off the search in Sawtooth National Forest after locating and questioning the man believed to be Travis Decker and confirming it isn’t him.
Police recently said that Decker might have stayed hidden for this long if he had someone helping him travel or survive.
LOSING STEAM
Last month, a tip was called in about a potential sighting of Decker in Idaho’s Sawtooth Forest.
But the sighting was proven false after cops found the hiker mistaken for Decker.
Officials previously said they had no clear evidence proving whether Decker is dead or alive.
