Search For Travis Decker Hits $6 Million Pricetag

The price for the manhunt for accused triple-murderer Travis Decker crosses $6 million.
Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison told the County Board of Commissioners multiple police agencies are sharing that bill.

Get our free mobile app

"I would imagine this operation, so far, has been over $6 million," Morrison said. "That's what we're getting [as a]] generalization. And the majority of that is not being billed back to Chelan County. If we'd had to take on the investigation by ourselves, I'd imagine it would've eaten up close to half of our budget."

Morrison also said genetic material collected from the campsite and crime scene matched Decker's suspected DNA profile. However, other samples taken in the high mountains of Kittitas County did not match.

"There were no other suspects that have been identified so far with DNA samples that we've gotten back from the crime lap," Morrison said.

The Sheriff's Office remains committed to finding Decker, dead or alive.

"We did put a ground unit on Saturday of over 30 people that did a grid search around the campsite, extending out, following up on additional information. We inserted additional units into the Enchantments area that did follow up searches. We had our cadaver dog out again," Morrison said.

There will also be a National Park Service team searching the Icicle Valley from above the campsite along the Icicle River down to the Columbia. Swiftwater-trained deputies will search the Icicle River itself.

"We're going to continue to search until we get to a point where we feel it would not be a vital utilization of our funds to continue to go through there."

The U.S. Marshals Service may place the 32-year-old Decker on the Top 15 most-wanted list, Morrison said.

Decker is a former Army servicemember and known to be an experienced outdoorsman. He has been missing and the subject of a nationwide manhunt since June 2, when police found the bodies of his daughters, 9-year-old Paityn, 8-year-old Evelyn, and 5-year-old Olivia, at an Icicle Creek campsite west of Leavenworth.

Decker picked the girls up from their mother Whitney Decker for a brief scheduled visit on May 30 and then did not return. He is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and a federal count of fleeing to avoid prosecution. Investigators believe he is hiding out in the mountains, but the Kittitas County Sheriff's Office put out a statement last week stating there is "no certain evidence" Decker remains alive.

The Marshals Service is offering a $20,000 reward for tips leading directly to Decker's arrest. He is 5'8", with black hair and brown eyes and several identifying arm and torso tattoos. anyone with information about the case should call 1-800-336-0102 or visit usmarshals.gov/tips.