Travis Decker search: FBI shuts down campsite where his 3 daughters were murdered as manhunt intensifies

Nearly three months after Travis Decker allegedly suffocated his three young daughters to death near Rock Island Campground in Leavenworth, Washington, authorities are intensifying their search for the fugitive father.

On Sunday, the FBI and local authorities launched a two-day grid search near the campground where the 32-year-old former soldier’s daughters, Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, were found dead on June 2, with plastic bags over their heads, about 100 yards away from his abandoned truck.

Authorities also discovered a bloody fingerprint on the truck’s tailgate, along with Decker’s dog. DNA from the bags and zip ties near the girls’ bodies matched Decker, with no other DNA detected, confirming him as the sole suspect, authorities said. Decker was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of kidnapping in June.

Despite having no break in the case, approximately 100 federal and local agents, including specialized teams with search dogs, electronics detection tools, and dive units, bushwhacked through rugged terrain near Icicle Creek, aiming to uncover any clues to Decker’s whereabouts.

Rock Island, as well as two other campgrounds, trailheads, and nearby roads, have all been closed to allow thorough operations. The closure is scheduled to remain in effect until Wednesday at around 6 a.m., the Forest Service said.

“You can’t be too thorough in a search like this,” Peter Orth, the FBI’s supervisory senior resident agent in Yakima, said Monday. “It is such incredibly dense vegetation that anybody who walks down one of these trails could walk 10 meters off the trail and no one would ever know they’re there.”

Officials added Monday that the closure could be extended through the end of the week if investigators require additional time.

Decker has been missing since he failed to return his daughters to their mother’s home in Wenatchee, about 100 miles east of Seattle, following a scheduled visit. It is unknown whether he’s dead or alive.

The bodies of Decker’s three young daughters were found near Rock Island Campground in Washington on June 2, near his abandoned truck (The Seattle Times)

Decker failed to return his daughter to their mother after scheduled visitation on May 30

Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said during a press conference on Monday that Decker must be "pretty tired by now” if he’s alive.

"He's got to be perfect every single day; we just have to be perfect once," Morrison said.

The U.S. Marshals Service has announced a reward of up to $20,000 for tips that lead to Decker’s capture.