As the search for Travis Decker — the father accused of murdering his three daughters — reaches well over the one-month mark, video released by police shows the fugitive father three days before he picked up his kids and vanished.
The video, obtained by ABC News from the Wenatchee Police Department, shows Decker in the parking lot of a grocery store in Wenatchee, Washington, after rear-ending another individual’s vehicle.
Throughout the 20-minute video, Decker — seen wearing a white t-shirt and dark shorts — leans against his white pickup truck, crosses his arms and talks to a police officer and the individual whose car he hit.
Officials described the incident as a fender bender and that Decker would receive a ticket in the mail for “no insurance and following too closely,” police said in the incident report.Before Decker leaves the scene, he shakes the hand of the individual he rear-ended.This interaction was captured on May 27 — just three days before Decker picked up his daughters for a planned visit on May 30. Several days later, on June 2, the three girls — Paityn Decker, 9; Evelyn Decker, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5 — were found dead near the Rock Island Campground in Chelan County, Washington, police said.Ever since then, Decker, an Army veteran accused of murdering the three girls, has not been seen since.Mike Morrison, the Chelan County Sheriff leading the search efforts, told ABC News officials are “of course frustrated like the rest of our community” that Decker has not been located.”It could be several weeks, several days or years before we find him. But we don’t give up, we haven’t closed this out. We’re still pursuing,” Morrison said.While the search efforts have slowed down in the past month, Morrison said the U.S. Marshal Service and the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office — along with partners in Canada — are the agencies currently partaking in the manhunt for Decker.But to ensure officials are not “aimlessly deploying taxpayer dollars,” Morrison said authorities are leaning more on the investigative side of the case and only searching if credible leads arise — like the instance in Idaho earlier this month, which turned out not to be Decker. Groups that are training this summer — specifically search and rescue teams and swift water rescue teams — will also search for Decker in the Washington area during their already scheduled training times, Morrison said.After conducting thorough searches of the surrounding land and water — along with interviewing friends and family members — Morrison said, “We just don’t have anywhere specifically to go” to look for Decker. But, he said, they remain “hopeful” and are aware that this hunt could be a “long haul.””We could be in for a fight for five years, 10 years, 20 years. I certainly hope we’re looking at a couple weeks and it closes out, but it could be a long time and we are committed to staying with it,” Morrison told ABC News.The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office revealed earlier this month that DNA found at the scene of the crime matched the DNA profile “that we believe is Decker’s” and that they had no “reason to believe there are any other suspects,” the sheriff said in a press release at the time.Morrison confirmed once again that the DNA evidence to ABC News on Wednesday, and also revealed that the non-human blood found at the scene of the crime belonged to Decker’s dog, which was recovered “in good health” at the scene and was taken to a humane society.Regardless of when they locate Decker, Morrison said he wants “closure for the family.””We want the voices of Peyton, Evelyn and Olivia to be heard,” Morrison told ABC News.The U.S. Marshals Service is still offering a $20,000 reward for information leading directly to Decker’s arrest. He is currently wanted for three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of kidnapping, police said.Officials said anyone who has information on Decker or knows of his whereabouts should not attempt to contact him, but instead call 911 or the U.S. Marshals Communication Center immediately.
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