<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Authorities say they believe they spotted Travis Decker, an ex-soldier wanted in the deaths of his three daughters, near a remote alpine lake in the US state of Washington, after receiving a tip from hikers who said they saw a lone person who appeared to be ill-prepared for the conditions.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Chelan County Sheriff's office said in a Facebook post that tracking teams responded immediately, and a helicopter crew spotted a hiker near Colchuk Lake, in a popular Cascade Range backpacking area called The Enchantments.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The off-trail hiker ran from sight as the helicopter passed, the sheriff's office said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/los-angeles-mayor-imposes-curfew/fc63c4d8-98f1-47a5-8c3a-63854406a0f3" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Los Angeles mayor imposes curfew on downtown areas</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Teams later found a trail, and K-9 teams tracked the person to the area of the Ingalls Creek Trailhead, south of Leavenworth.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Authorities did not say when they spotted the subject, but late on Monday night they issued an alert for residents in the Ingalls Creek and the Valleyhi community to lock homes and vehicles and to be on the lookout for Decker.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Decker, 32, has been the target of a large manhunt ever since June 2, when a sheriff's deputy found his truck and the bodies of his three daughters — nine-year-old Paityn Decker, eight-year-old Evelyn Decker and five-year-old Olivia Decker — at a campground outside Leavenworth.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/authorities-believe-they-spotted-exsoldier-travis-decker-who-is-wanted-in-deaths-of-3-daughters/a61daa2c-b90b-4828-9664-f2c160d69e3c" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He had failed to return the girls to their mother's home in Wenatchee, about 160km east of Seattle, following a scheduled visit three days earlier.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/trump-says-he-will-liberate-los-angeles-in-army-anniversary-speech/0404e24d-31b7-4481-a3b4-73037b2ef8fa" target="_blank"><strong><span>Trump says he will 'liberate' Los Angeles in speech to mark the 250th anniversary of the Army</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Decker was an infantryman in the US Army from March 2013 to July 2021 and deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2014.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He has training in navigation, survival and other skills, authorities said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He once spent more than two months living in the backwoods off the grid.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officials with an array of state and federal agencies have searched hundreds of square miles, much of it mountainous and remote, by land, water and air.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US Marshals Service was offering a reward of up to $US20,000 ($30,000) for information leading to his capture.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/hunter-valley-bus-crash-two-years-on-after-post-wedding-tragedy/bfc8538f-4c77-4ef9-bb8a-1c70b5dbad06" target="_blank"><strong><span>Mourners to gather at site of wedding bus crash in Hunter two years on</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Last September, his ex-wife, Whitney Decker, wrote in a petition to modify their parenting plan that his mental health issues had worsened and that he had become increasingly unstable, often living out of his truck.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She sought to restrict him from having overnight visits with their daughters until he found housing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An autopsy on Friday determined the cause of death to be suffocation, the sheriff’s office said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The girls had been bound with zip ties and had plastic bags placed over their heads.</span></div></div>