Deputy still 'haunted' by what he discovered after finding Travis Decker's truck

A law officer has told how he is “still angry” that a suspect wanted over the murders of his three children has still not been found.

Police have been searching for a month in the mountains of Washington statefor ex-soldier Travis Deckerfollowing the deaths of his daughters but there is no evidence that he remains in the area or that he is alive at all. The 32-year-old has been wanted since June 2, when sheriff’s deputy Mike McLeod found his truck and the bodies of Paityn Decker, nine, Evelyn Decker, eight and Olivia Decker, five, at a campground outside Leavenworth.

The discovery came three days after he failed to return the girls to their mother’s home in Wenatchee, about 100 miles east of Seattle, following a scheduled visit.

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"I'm still angry. He still hasn't been found," Chelan County Deputy Mike McLeod told USA Today. The bodies of the girls were found down an embankment close to Travis’ white pick-up truck in a remote area of Rock Island Campground and an autopsy determined they died from asphyxiation.

“There was nothing we could do for them," McLeod recalled of the grim discovery. "I was angry... Where is he? Oddly enough there wasn’t anyone at any other campsites," he said, "no people. No vehicles. Normally it’s super busy."

Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office said they were determined to find Travis. “There is no certain evidence that Decker remains alive or in this area,” the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office said. “Seemingly strong early leads gave way to less convincing proofs over the last two weeks of searching.

"Still, we can’t and won’t quit this search; Paityn, Evelyn, and Olivia Decker deserve justice. And Decker remains a danger to the public as long as he’s at large.”

The post said resources were being shifted to focus on finding Decker’s remains “if he died in the rugged wilderness during this intense search — a possibility that increases every day.” Sheriff’s Inspector Chris Whitsett said that includes the use of dogs trained to find human remains.

“Because of the ruggedness, the remoteness of the of that country, and some of the conditions that we’ve observed, it’s clear that the longer he stays out there — the longer anybody stays out there — the greater the chance that something’s gonna happen, and whether he intends it or not, that he’s gonna die,” Whitsett said.

It is not overly surprising that Decker has not been found in the rugged, remote region for a month; the area is dotted with abandoned buildings as well as unoccupied vacation homes in which he might find shelter, as well as caves and former mines.

The US Marshals Service is working to track down Decker if he managed to escape the region, the sheriff’s office said, and extra patrols have been on duty. The killings occurred in neighbouring Chelan County, but backcountry trails link the area to Kittitas and to the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from Canada to Mexico.