Updated September 6, 2025 (see my January 21, 2026 post about how the manhunt ended)
The FBI’s recent grid search to locate Travis Decker or find evidence that could help solve the case came up empty.
On September 3rd, the FBI’s Seattle office issued a statement that bones recovered during the search were analyzed and turned out to be “not human.”
The grid search, a massive endeavor involving scores of law enforcement personnel, took place in the Leavenworth, Washington area, about ten miles east of Rock Island Campground where Travis Decker is suspected of killing his three daughters.
Decker’s three little girls were found brutally murdered on June 2nd after he failed to return them to their mother following a scheduled visitation.
On August 25th the FBI’s Seattle office issued a statement:
“At this time, we have discovered no evidence to indicate that Travis Decker is alive or dead. Over the past three months, investigators led by the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office have carefully followed every tip in an extensive search over rough terrain and vast remote areas to locate one person. This is an extremely difficult task, and we commend their perseverance. As the residents of Chelan County are aware, these areas may have dirt roads, no or limited cell service, dense forest, steep hillsides, creeks/rivers, and other challenges to searching. Time and the elements make the search increasingly challenging.”
Earlier in August, authorities in King County, Washington, received a report of a possible sighting of Travis Decker along the Pacific Crest Trail in the Snoqualmie Pass area, southwest of the Rock Island Campground. But despite an extensive search, Decker wasn’t located there.
Prior post:
Authorities continue to scour the backwoods of Washington state for Travis Decker, the U.S. Army veteran accused of murdering his three daughters.
But on July 25, 2025, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office announced that due to the lack of fresh leads, the search is being scaled back.
Decker, who served in Afghanistan and is trained in close combat and wilderness survival, is considered armed, dangerous, and desperate.
The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, where the little girls were killed, includes nearly four million acres of forested wilderness stretching north toward Canada.
But it’s also possible that Decker is somewhere else entirely.
On Friday, May 30, Decker picked up his daughters – Paityn, age 9, Evelyn, age 8, and Olivia, age 5 – from his ex-wife Whitney.
Decker was scheduled for an all-day visitation and promised to bring the girls home that evening.
When Decker and the girls didn’t return, Whitney called the police.
On June 2nd, the Chelen County Sheriff’s Office located Decker’s GMC pickup at Rock Island Campground, a remote location about 65 air miles east of Seattle.
Near the truck, authorities made a horrifying discovery.
The three little girls had been asphyxiated with plastic bags zip-tied over their heads.
Officials also found an abandoned tent along with Decker’s dog. But Decker was nowhere to be seen.
The killings spawned a massive manhunt by the U.S. Marshals Service, FBI, and sheriff’s officials across multiple counties in the rural Northwest.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is also involved in the hunt. In the days leading up to the murders, Decker searched online for information about Canada.
But Decker is an experienced hitchhiker, so at this point he could be almost anywhere.
A reported sighting of Decker in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest during the July 4th weekend, which authorities hoped was a break in the case, turned out to be a false lead.
The man was a vacationing hiker who, like Decker, had long dark hair, a scraggly beard, and tattoos.
Born Travis Caleb Decker on August 15, 1992, he reportedly deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 and joined the Washington National Guard in 2021.
Arianna Cozart, the attorney for his ex-wife Whitney, told the news media that Decker suffered from PTSD and this was the root cause of “whatever monster came out of him.”
Speaking on Whitney’s behalf, Cozart said that Decker “was a very loving man, but something broke.” She also claimed that “the system let Travis down.”
Following the couple’s divorce in 2023, Decker was denied joint custody of his daughters due to his mental health issues but was allowed to see them for regular visitations.
According to Cozart, until the murders occurred, Decker was never violent toward the girls.
But he was living on the ragged edge, sleeping in his truck, camping out, or staying in motels.
A few days prior to the murders, Decker got into a fender bender and was cited for a traffic violation and for driving without insurance.
Given Decker’s troubled mental state, authorities believe he may have committed suicide after killing the girls.
But a ground search using cadaver dogs in the area around the crime scene failed to locate any trace of Decker.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to Decker’s arrest.
Tips can be phoned in at 1-877-926-8332.
