SPOKANE, Wash. — Federal authorities filed charges Thursday against a Washington state father accused of killing his three young children and fleeing to avoid prosecution.
Travis Caleb Decker, 32, faces one count of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. The federal charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
Decker remains at large after allegedly kidnapping his three minor children on May 30 in the Wenatchee area. The children’s bodies were discovered June 2 on U.S. Forest Service land near Leavenworth. Decker’s vehicle was found at the scene, but he had disappeared.
Chelan County Superior Court issued an arrest warrant June 3 charging Decker with three counts of aggravated murder in the first degree and three counts of kidnapping in the first degree.
According to a federal affidavit, investigators obtained search warrants for Decker’s Google accounts. The records revealed internet searches conducted May 26, including “how does a person move to canada,” “how to relocate to canada,” and “jobs canada.”
Deputy U.S. Marshal Keegan Stanley noted the location where the children’s bodies were found sits close to the Canadian border and approximately 11 miles from the Pacific Crest Trail, which leads directly to Canada.
Stanley described Decker as a former military member with training in navigation, woodland terrain, and survival skills. Decker frequently engaged in outdoor activities throughout Eastern Washington and once lived off the grid in the backwoods for approximately 2.5 months.
“Based on my training and experience, those facing significant prison sentences have a propensity to employ a variety of tactics to avoid detection by law enforcement,” Stanley wrote in the affidavit.
The U.S. Marshals Service and Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force are involved in the ongoing search for Decker.
His current location remains unknown.
Anyone with information about his whereabouts is urged to contact law enforcement immediately.
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