THE search for the Washington dad accused of killing his three daughters has a new update as the manhunt enters week eight.
The Coast Guard in Astoria, Oregon, shared new pictures as they announced they were joining the search for Travis Decker.
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Local, state, and federal authorities have been hunting Decker, 32, since his daughters were found suffocated to death at a campsite in Washington state on June 2.
Last week, the United States Coast Guard at Air Station Astoria partnered with a Washington State Patrol SWAT team to look for the fugitive.
“This important mission highlights the versatility of the Coast Guard and our complex network of interagency partnerships,” the Coast Guard said in a post on Facebook.
They shared pictures of crews in helicopters and gathering in the wilderness stretching from Washington to Oregon.
“While search-and-rescue may lie at the heart of USCG Aviation, our aircrews are always ready to support our national defense readiness and domestic law enforcement efforts,” they added.
The search for Decker has spanned hundreds of miles in the rough mountain terrain as cops have had difficulty finding any evidence as to whether the dad is alive or dead.
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Authorities previously warned that the search for Decker could last a while because he’s a former military member with extensive survival skills and wilderness knowledge.
Recently, the search for Decker led cops to the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho, which is over 560 miles away from where the girls were found.
Several witnesses reported seeing someone who looked very similar to Decker over the July 4 weekend.
However, the lead was revealed to be a dead end when the man they thought was Decker came forward and proved himself to be someone completely unrelated to the case.
US Marshals found and interviewed the man and confirmed he was not Decker.
Now, the ongoing search for Decker appears to have returned closer to the area where he allegedly kidnapping and killing 9-year-old Paityn, 8-year-old Evelyn, and 5-year-old Olivia Decker.
Decker was last seen on May 30, when he picked the girls up from their mom and his ex-wife, Whitney Decker, from their home in Wenatchee, about 150 miles east of Seattle, for a scheduled three-hour custody visit.
Whitney called the police when Decker didn’t return the girls home on time and wouldn’t answer his phone, both of which she said were unusual behavior for him.
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.
Three days later, the girls were found dead with plastic bags over their heads at Rock Island Campground. Their wrists had been zip tied.
Decker was nowhere to be found.
His dog was left alive at the scene, along with his truck, which had two bloody handprints on it that officials believed belonged to him.
Police footage recently revealed a new video of Decker taken three days before the alleged murders.
On May 27, an interaction between Decker, a police officer, and another driver was shown in dashcam video shared by the Wenatchee Police Department.
Decker was seen sitting on his white truck and standing with his arms crossed during the 20-minute interaction.
Police ask anyone with information about Decker’s whereabouts to call 911 and warn anyone who spots him not to approach as he is considered dangerous and potentially armed.
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