Law enforcement is searching for a father suspected of murdering his three young daughters after they were found dead in central Washington state.
Suspicions grew as the girls, ranging in age from five to nine years old went missing. After their bodies were found, police intensified the manhunt for Travis Decker, a 32-year-old former Army soldier.
Authorities asked the public Tuesday for help finding Travis Decker, 32, who is wanted for three counts of murder and kidnapping, according to police in Wenatchee, about 100 miles east of Seattle.
Police said it was unknown whether Decker, a former Army soldier with “extensive training,” was armed.
The Wenatchee Police Department is asking for help locating Travis Decker, a 32-year-old former Army soldier wanted for murder after his three young daughters were reported missing and then found dead. (Wenatchee Police Department via AP)
The girls’ mother called police on Friday to report them missing, saying they hadn’t returned from a custodial visit with Decker. The mother told police that Decker had picked up the girls — Olivia, 5; Evelyn, 8, and Paityn, 9 — around 5 p.m. but had not returned them by 8 p.m., court documents said. Calls to his phone also went straight to voicemail.
The mother also told police that it was unlike Decker not to call if he was going to return the girls late.
The detective said she “expressed concern because Decker reportedly has never done this before and … is currently experiencing some mental health issues.”
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The girls were found with plastic bags over their heads. It is believed they died from asphyxiation.
Olivia, Paityn, and Evelyn Decker were all asphyxiated, and each was found with a plastic bag over her head. FML. What a sick bastard. Travis Decker somehow did this to his own daughters. I will never understand. pic.twitter.com/ae4jUCSIMt
— Rose (@901Lulu) June 4, 2025
🚨 Washington / Oregon people:
— ☘️𝕃𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕪 Ƒʉͫcͧкͭιͪηͣ 𝕄𝕔𝔾𝕖𝕖 (@LuckyMcGee) June 4, 2025
WANTED: The search is on for Travis Decker, a 32-year-old man wanted for the kidnapping and murder of his three daughters, aged 5, 8, and 9 years old. The girls were found dead at a remote campground west of Leavenworth.
Decker is a former… pic.twitter.com/Ez6Xe9JNxC
The girls were found dead on Monday, according to a statement from the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.
As of yesterday, CCSO detectives and deputies were able to gather information that led them to search the Icicle Rd area of Leavenworth, WA in hopes of locating Travis Decker and his three daughters. Around 3:45 pm yesterday, a CCSO Forest Service Deputy, conducting patrol on his motorcycle, located Mr. Decker’s vehicle in a remote area, approximately 17 miles up the road, ultimately discovering the three deceased children and Mr. Decker was nowhere to be found.
On duty detectives, supervisors, and deputies immediately launched an in-depth investigation into the scene and began coordinating a response from multiple local, state, and federal agencies to assist in processing the crime scene and conducting a large-scale search for Mr. Decker.
Decker had been living out of his truck, which a CCSO Forest Service deputy found about 17 miles from where the children were found.
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