Federal and local authorities will swarm the Washington campground where Travis Decker allegedly murdered his three young daughters in a targeted search nearly three months after the killer dad went missing.
Roughly 100 specialists from the FBI and other local agencies are conducting a massive grid search on Monday and Tuesday for Decker, 32, near the Rock Island Campground, the FBI’s Seattle office and the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said in a news conference on Monday.
Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, were found suffocated to death on June 2 — bound at the wrists and necks with zip ties near the campground in Leavenworth, not far from Decker’s abandoned truck.
The Rock Island Campground and some local roads and trails will be closed to the public through Wednesday as several groups canvas the quarter-mile radius around the crime scene, according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and local authorities.
There is currently no evidence suggesting Decker is dead or alive, Peter Orth, a supervisory senior resident at the FBI Seattle Field Office, told reporters.
Though the area around the crime scene was initially searched, several federal and local officials specializing in grid searches and armed with sniffing dogs and electronics will brave the remote, “thick and dense” area with “vast dirt roads” and minimal cell service, Orth said.
The search will allow authorities to thoroughly document the campground and crime scene in case the accused killer dad is not located for some time, police said.
Authorities also raised concerns that natural elements and the rugged terrain could have already “eroded” evidence.
“We understand the girls would not want us to give up,” Chelan County Sheriff Michael Morrison told reporters.
“We don’t get frustrated, we’re not going to give up, we understand this could take years, and we’ll be here. If it’s not me wearing this uniform, it’ll be another Chelan County Sheriff’s Deputy, another FBI agent, another marshal. This is not going to go away until Travis is located,” Morrisson vowed.
He assured the search for Decker will not be rushed, and the current grid search of the area will not be deterred by the upcoming Labor Day Weekend if authorities determine more time is needed.
“This case is a priority to the FBI, that is why were are here today. This is a beautiful area in which a heinous crime occurred,” Orth said.
“We are here to seek justice for Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia. We are here to get answers for their family, friends, and the community, and we are here to hopefully provide some sense of closure.”
Decker had allegedly murdered his three girls by the campground just hours after picking them up for a planned visitation on May 30, according to authorities.
They were reported as missing when Travis, a former member of the US Army and a trained wilderness survivalist, failed to return with the girls that night.
Mother Whitney Decker said she knew her daughters were in “substantial danger” when their father did not return home within the court-ordered deadline, The Seattle Times reported.
“As soon as he didn’t bring those girls back at 8 o’clock, she knew something was going on,” said Whitney’s attorney, Arianna Cozart.
The sisters were discovered three days later at the campground with plastic bags over their heads and zip ties around their wrists.
Decker’s abandoned truck was also found at the scene with two bloody handprints smeared on the tailgate.
Decker’s dog was found alive at the scene and later turned over to the Humane Society for care.
Officials later determined the girls had died from suffocation.
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