Search for fugitive dad closes in as autopsy reveals heartbreaking details in deaths of 3 NW sisters

After a tip, authorities

believe they spotted Travis Decker, the ex-soldier

wanted in the deaths of his three daughters, in a remote area of the Cascades.

After authorities deployed trackers and helicopter searchers, a solo hiker was spotted from the air.

The off-trail hiker

ran from sight as the helicopter passed, the Chelan County sheriff’s office said. Teams later found a trail, and K-9 teams tracked the person to the area of the Ingalls Creek Trailhead, south of Leavenworth.

Authorities did not say when they spotted the subject, but late Monday night they issued an alert for residents in the Ingalls Creek and the Valleyhi community to lock homes and vehicles and to be on the lookout for Decker.

The bodies of Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia Decker, ages 9, 8, and 5, were found a week ago near an abandoned campsite outside Leavenworth, three days after their father failed to return them to their mother’s Wenatchee, Washington, home per a custody agreement.

Autopsies were completed Friday and determined the girls died from suffocation, the release says. The girls’ wrists were bound with zip ties and their heads covered with plastic bags.

Their deaths were ruled homicides.

Late Tuesday, authorities said they had received a tip from hikers who saw a lone, ill-prepared person near Colchuk Lake, in a popular Cascade Range backpacking area called The Enchantments.

Prosecutors charged Decker last week with aggravated murder and kidnapping. Charging papers say investigators found the girls’ bodies a short distance from his abandoned GMC pickup.

Sheriff’s detectives recovered “a large amount of evidence” and many of Decker’s personal belongings from the pickup, according to Monday’s news release. His dog was also found at the scene and was placed in the care of the humane society. One blood sample was confirmed to have originated in a male while a second came back as nonhuman, though the release doesn’t elaborate on the source. Analysis of DNA and fingerprints is ongoing.

Command of the search for Decker was turned over to federal authorities around 6 p.m. Sunday. The U.S. Marshals Service, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol have all been previously named as federal agencies participating in the search.

“We had reached a point where we had to rest our local resources,” the news release says. “Our command staff continues to be engaged with the search command while we give our teams time off to rest and recuperate and be ready to rejoin the search for, and capture of, the suspect.”

The sheriff’s news release does not indicate whether investigators believe Decker is still in Chelan County. His military training included navigation and outdoor survival and Decker is an avid outdoorsman, according to court documents. An affidavit filed last week federally charging Decker with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution says he conducted online searches about relocating to Canada and notes the site where the girls’ bodies were found is 11 miles from the Pacific Crest Trail, a well-established route that leads directly to Canada.

The news release acknowledges residents’ frustration in not learning more about the girls’ killings and the search for Decker.

“During any criminal investigation, including this one, there is law enforcement sensitive information that is not shared with the public in order to protect the integrity of the investigation,” the news release says. “We appreciate the public’s patience, understanding and cooperation during this complex and emotional investigation.”

–The Associated Press and Seattle Times contributed

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