A Washington man with extensive military training who is accused of kidnapping and murdering his three daughters remains on the run as the state’s governor deploys National Guard resources to help in the search.
Travis Caleb Decker, 32, had a planned visitation with his daughters on May 29. When they did not return, the mother contacted police on May 30, Wenatchee Police said. Police located Decker’s vehicle on June 2, and although there was no sign of him, authorities found the bodies of his daughters Olivia, 5, Evelyn, 8, and Paityn, 9.
USA TODAY reported that authorities believe the girls were asphyxiated, as each girl had a plastic bag over her head and showed signs of having been zip-tied.
Since the discovery of the bodies, a massive manhunt was launched. Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said on June 6 he was “tapping emergency funds and ordering Washington National Guard resources” to assist in the search, USA TODAY reported.
Authorities said Decker had extensive military training, noting that he attended survival school and served in the U.S. Army. Officials told USA TODAY that he might be using his skills to survive in the wilderness.
“It sounds like at times he would go out and would be (living) off grid for sometimes up to two and a half months,” Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison told USA TODAY. “He could have scoped out this area before (he) put supplies out there and has the ability and the knowledge to survive for a long period of time.”
Decker’s vehicle was found at the Rock Island Campground, about 40 miles northwest of Wenatchee, Washington.
The U.S. Marshals Service submitted a court affidavit that highlighted some of Decker’s internet searches on May 26, just days before he disappeared, NBC Right Now reported.
“These Google searches included the following: ‘how does a person move to canada, how to relocate to canada, and jobs canada,'” U.S. Deputy Marshal Keegan Stanley wrote in the affidavit according to the station. “After the above-listed Google searches, he visited the site ‘Find a job – Canada.ca’.”
The affidavit also notes that the girl’s bodies were found roughly 11 miles overland from the Pacific Crest Trail, which joins Mexico, the U.S., and Canada, NBC Right Now reported.
Originally published on Lawyer Herald