Three Sisters Who Vanished While Visiting Homeless Father Found Dead Near Campground, Police Search for Dad

Authorities confirmed Tuesday that the bodies of three young sisters, Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, were discovered near a campground in Wenatchee. This grim finding follows their disappearance during a visit to their father, Travis Decker, who is now the focus of a police investigation into their kidnapping and murders.

The sisters' remains were located late Monday close to their father's truck after an extensive search involving SWAT teams and a Homeland Security helicopter. The search intensified after Decker failed to return with the girls following a planned visitation that began Friday.

Initially, AMBER alerts for the sisters were canceled without explanation just hours before the tragic confirmation of their deaths. Police expressed their condolences to the family in a statement released Tuesday.

Travis Decker, 32, had picked up the girls from their mother’s home but subsequently went missing with them in his white 2017 GMC Sierra truck. A warrant for his arrest was issued shortly before the bodies were found, initially on charges of custodial interference. These charges were later escalated to include three counts each of kidnapping and first-degree murder.

Decker, who is reportedly homeless and divorced from the girls' mother, has been known to frequent local campgrounds and hotels with his dog. After the girls were last seen, sightings of Decker and his truck were reported in Leavenworth, prompting a search of the surrounding wooded areas.

The tragic discovery occurred at Rock Island Campground, approximately 18 miles west of Leavenworth, around 5 p.m. on Monday. Earlier that day, the girls' mother, Whitney Decker, had made a heartfelt plea for their safe return.

“I just want the girls back home safe and sound — that is the most important thing to me,” she stated in an email sent to local media. “I am concerned about the safety and wellbeing of my girls and their dad. This is an unimaginable situation.”

Whitney expressed her belief that her ex-husband's mental health struggles would not pose a danger to their children. “Travis has really struggled since he left the military and his mental health can be hard sometimes,” she remarked before the discovery of her daughters' bodies. “I think that he is impulsive and he loves his children very much.”