'On-the-run killer' dad Travis Decker may be found thanks to clues from chilling 2020 manhunt

A 2020 manhunt for a still-missing Washington man may provide clues on finding 'killer' dad Travis Decker. 

The bodies of Decker's three little girls - Paityn, nine, Evelyn, eight, and Olivia Decker, five - were found near Rock Island Campground in Chelan County on June 2 and are believed to have been strangled to death by their 32-year-old father. 

Decker has a military background, having served in the Army in Afghanistan and in the National Guard, and has intense combat training and knowledge of living off-the-grid. 

Similarly, Jorge Alcantara-Gonzalez, who is the suspect in the Ian Eckles 2020 homicide case, also had knowledge of off-grid living and police searched for him in a similar area. 

Alcantara-Gonzalez led police on a 23-day manhunt through the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest - the same one Decker was last known to be in - after authorities found Eckles stolen car near Red Top Lookout in neighboring Kittitas County. It showed signs of a violent encounter. 

Alcantara-Gonzalez was charged with Eckles murder, but took a plea deal for lesser crimes, which excluded the murder charge.  

Chris Whitsett, Inspector with Kittitas County Sheriff's Office, said there's a 'number of similarities' between the two cases. 

'That manhunt, like this one, lasted more than three weeks. It was in much of the exact same terrain, or at least some of the same,' he told Fox 13 Seattle

Travis Decker, 32, is suspected of killing his daughters, Paityn, nine, Evelyn, eight, and Olivia Decker, five , after he failed to return them back to their mother following a scheduled three-hour visit in Washington on May 30

Travis Decker, 32, is suspected of killing his daughters, Paityn, nine, Evelyn, eight, and Olivia Decker, five , after he failed to return them back to their mother following a scheduled three-hour visit in Washington on May 30

The Decker girls' bodies were found roughly 60 miles away from where Ian Eckles, a missing Washington man's vehicle was found, and the same forest the suspect in that case was found

The Decker girls' bodies were found roughly 60 miles away from where Ian Eckles, a missing Washington man's vehicle was found, and the same forest the suspect in that case was found

Similarly, Jorge Alcantara-Gonzalez, who is the suspect in the Ian Eckles 2020 homicide case, also had knowledge of off-grid living and police searched for him in a similar area.

Similarly, Jorge Alcantara-Gonzalez, who is the suspect in the Ian Eckles 2020 homicide case, also had knowledge of off-grid living and police searched for him in a similar area.

'It overlapped. It was up off of Blewett Pass, and it involved a lot of the same kind of interagency, multi-agency resource coordination and command that challenge the same challenges of communications and remoteness that this one faces, teams in the field for days after days after days, dogs tracking.' 

He said the multiple agencies have learned to 'overcome the communications difficulties' they faced in the Eckles case with this one and to manage their expectations that this manhunt would go quickly. 

'At least from the beginning, you have to be planning not just for today, but for tomorrow and a week from now and three weeks from now,' he told the outlet.  

'Maybe he's just successfully evading us all this time,' Whitsett continued. '[Decker's] intimately familiar with this particular wilderness and with living off-the-grid and in the quiet for long stretches at a time.' 

There are trails that also lead toward the highway near both spots the suspects were at. 

'There's no magic brick wall between counties. It's all trails up there and nothing but trails because it's high, undeveloped, and in some cases like federally protected, you can't develop it, even if it were practical,' he told the outlet. 

'When we started our 2020 manhunt, it started in a campground right along Highway 97. When the suspect who was on foot for those three weeks, when the suspect finally showed up in a cabin, It was there in the Teanaway Valley.' 

Teanaway Valley is located South of where Decker's girls were found on the edge of the forest. 

Eckles and Decker's manhunts originated roughly a 60 mile drive from each other in the same forest, meaning Decker could have traveled similar trails as Alcantara-Gonzalez

Eckles and Decker's manhunts originated roughly a 60 mile drive from each other in the same forest, meaning Decker could have traveled similar trails as Alcantara-Gonzalez

'That manhunt, like this one, lasted more than three weeks. It was in much of the exact same terrain, or at least some of the same,' Chris Whitsett, Inspector with Kittitas County Sheriff's Office, said (pictured: Ian Eckles)

'That manhunt, like this one, lasted more than three weeks. It was in much of the exact same terrain, or at least some of the same,' Chris Whitsett, Inspector with Kittitas County Sheriff's Office, said (pictured: Ian Eckles)

Alcantara-Gonzalez led police on a 23-day manhunt through the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest - the same one Decker was last known to be in - after authorities found Eckles stolen car near Red Top Lookout in neighboring Kittitas County. It showed signs of a violent encounter (pictured)

Alcantara-Gonzalez led police on a 23-day manhunt through the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest - the same one Decker was last known to be in - after authorities found Eckles stolen car near Red Top Lookout in neighboring Kittitas County. It showed signs of a violent encounter (pictured)

The two locations where Eckles' vehicle was found and where the Decker girls were discovered is roughly a 60 miles drive and in the same forest, meaning Decker has a good chance of covering the same ground as Alcantara-Gonzalez did. 

Authorities are hoping the public can also help in this case and they've asked locals to pay attention to their vacation homes and cabins. 

'People who are out there with all their eyes and ears and intelligence are going to be the ones who help us to solve this,' Whitsett said. 

'It was information from the public that brought that torturous manhunt to a close. And we still believe that's the best chance to resolve this.' 

Decker remains on the run and has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping after his failed to return his children from a visitation on May 30. 

His visitation time with the girls had earlier been reduced after his ex-wife raised concerns over his declining mental health, alleged endangerment, and lack of stability.

She was given near-full custody while Decker was only allowed to visit every other weekend for a set number of hours. 

Frustrated with the lack of time with his daughters, Decker pled with a family court judge to restore access to the girls - claiming he'd never put them in danger.

'Maybe he's just successfully evading us all this time,' Whitsett continued. '[Decker's] intimately familiar with this particular wilderness and with living off-the-grid and in the quiet for long stretches at a time' (pictured: Travis Decker)

'Maybe he's just successfully evading us all this time,' Whitsett continued. '[Decker's] intimately familiar with this particular wilderness and with living off-the-grid and in the quiet for long stretches at a time' (pictured: Travis Decker)

Decker remains on the run and has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping after his failed to return his children to their mother (pictured with girls)

Decker remains on the run and has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping after his failed to return his children to their mother (pictured with girls)

Decker in an undated mugshot. Prior to his daughter's death, he argued a judge should give him more access to his girls as he has never hurt them

Decker in an undated mugshot. Prior to his daughter's death, he argued a judge should give him more access to his girls as he has never hurt them 

'Every time I've had the girls, we have been in campsites and national forests and paid campsites that have campers,' he said in the audio.

'We've never done anything that was unsafe, or anything I wouldn't want to put myself in.'

'I understand that my current position when I'm by myself isn't ideal, but my daughters aren't a part of that,' Decker continued.

'I only get to see them over the weekends, and camping is something that the four of us have done since the three of them were in diapers.'

He emphasized again that he's never put his daughters' at risk - and brings them to camp sights that are 'sold out.'

'I've never done anything I feel like that puts them in any sort of a risk.' 

After finding the girls, investigators 'obtained and served multiple search warrants for records contained in Decker's Google accounts,' leading them to discover that the 32-year-old appeared to be planning how to relocate to Canada, according to an affidavit reviewed by The Independent.

In the affidavit, Deputy US Marshal Keegan Stanley wrote that Decker made several searches on May 26, including: 'How does a person move to Canada,' 'how to relocate to Canada' and 'jobs Canada.'

His daughters' remains were also found 'relatively close to the Canadian border and approximately 11 miles from the Pacific Crest Trail, a well-established trail that leads directly to Canada,' per the affidavit. 

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