On a late Friday, May 30th, 2025. Travis Decker, 32, picked up his three daughters, Olivia, age five, Evelyn, age eight, and nine-year-old Paityn, at their home in Wenatchee Valley. Decker’s attorney states, “He said, ‘Hey, I will see you at 8 [p.m.], ‘and he left, and never came back,” Cozart said. (Forrester)
On June second, the three girls were later found dead near a Washington state Campground, according to the police. It was stated that Decker was homeless and had been living in his van or at campgrounds. Decker’s vehicle was left behind near the same campground where the three girls’ bodies were found, but with no Decker.
After this happened, Decker was accused of ending his three children’s lives and was reported
as a missing person for over three months. Even though he was missing or on the run, Decker was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree kidnapping.
On June fourth, a Chelan County sheriff, Mike Morrison, made an announcement specifically for Travis Decker, “Travis, if you’re listening, this is your opportunity to turn yourself in, do the right thing, do what you need to do, and take accountability for your actions. We’re not going to rest, and we’re going to make sure we find you. You will be brought to justice; those young ladies deserve it.” There were then reports of possible sightings of Travis Decker in Idaho the same day. (Forrester)
It was revealed that the three young girls had their wrists zip-tied together with plastic bags over their heads. The authorities then checked the area where the girls were found, and there were more traces of zip-ties and plastic bags scattered around the campsite. They also found what turned out to be two bloody handprints on Decker’s tailgate to his vehicle. Later on, the autopsy was performed, and they discovered the girls had been suffocated, and the death was ruled a homicide. (Forrester)
It was shown that Travis not only lacked mental health resources and struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder, but was well-versed in wilderness survival, and he could stay in the wild with no equipment for days or even weeks, and so he did.
A couple of days before the homicide, it was shown in Decker’s research history that he was going to move to Canada: “How does a person move to Canada?” How to relocate to Canada.”(Forrester)
On June twenty-third, there was no evidence that Travis Decker remains alive or in the area. Two months later, on August twenty-ninth, there were bone remains found close to where the girls were found dead; were they Decker’s? They took the bone remains with them to test if they were human or animal bones.
Sixteen hours ago, September twenty-fourth, Wednesday at 1:00 AM, it was pronounced that Travis Decker was dead, and the unknown bones found the day before were in fact Decker’s.
Work Cited
Forrester, Megan. “Travis Decker timeline: How an ‘active dad’ ended up allegedly murdering his 3 daughters.” ABC News, Megan Forrester, 18 September 2025, https://abcnews.go.com/US/travis-decker-timeline-active-dad-ended-murdering-3/story?id=123341987. Accessed 25 September 2025.