Travis Decker manhunt echoes 2020 hunt in same WA wilderness

KITTITAS COUNTY, Wash. - Kittitas County Sheriff's Office Inspector Chris Whitsett discussed the ongoing manhunt for Travis Decker, the suspect wanted in a triple murder, with FOX 13 Seattle, drawing parallels to a 2020 manhunt in the same Washington wilderness.

Whitsett highlighted similarities in terrain, interagency coordination challenges and the persistence required for extended searches. He also emphasized that both suspects were believed to be familiar with living off-grid, and public assistance was crucial in resolving the 2020 case.

Keep reading to learn more about the search for Decker and what information authorities are using from a 2020 manhunt in the same area to help them locate him.  

The backstory:

A massive manhunt for an "armed and dangerous" murder suspect in the woods of Kittitas County took place around Memorial Day in 2020. Authorities had been searching the US 97 Blewett Pass-Mineral Springs area for Jorge Alcantara-Gonzalez.

Alcantara-Gonzalez was charged with the killing of missing 41-year-old Kent man, Ian Eckles, along with possession of two stolen vehicles and numerous other thefts and burglaries in Kittitas County, including the theft of firearms.

Similar 2020 manhunt for murder, theft suspect in Kittitas County

Dig deeper:

Whitsett explained that lessons learned from the 2020 manhunt, particularly regarding communication difficulties and the need for long-term planning, are being applied to the current search for Decker. He also clarified the geographical connection between the Icicle Creek area, the Enchantments and Kittitas County, noting that trails connect these rugged, undeveloped areas.

Authorities are concerned Decker may seek refuge in abandoned structures or vacation homes, and they are urging property owners to be vigilant and utilize security cameras.

Whitsett also reiterated that public information was vital in ending the previous manhunt and remains the best chance for resolving the current search for Decker. 

Transcript of FOX 13 Seattle interview with Inspector Whitsett 

Lauren Donovan, FOX 13: "That investigation was brought up multiple times by the Chelan County Sheriff. Why was that connection made?"

Chris Whitsett, Inspector with Kittitas County Sheriff's Office: "There are a number of reasons why, or a number of similarities that this current manhunt bears to one that we had in 2020 that started on May 17th of 2020, when a turkey hunter from the west side named Ian Eckles didn't show up to a hunting date with his partners. And that started a missing persons investigation that after a week... turned into a manhunt when we discovered a stranger driving his vehicle and with indications that there had been a violent confrontation and that led us to believe that Ian Eckles had been killed. That manhunting, like this one, lasted more than three weeks. It was in much of the exact same terrain, or at least some of the same. It overlapped. It was in. Up off of Blewett Pass, and it involved a lot of the same kind of interagency, multi-agency resource coordination and command that challenge the same challenges of communications and remoteness that this one faces, teams in the field for days after days after days, dogs tracking. And one of the most important things thinking about it in preparation for this interview that I think we took away that we bring to this experience is during a lot of that time, much of the public was saying, telling us, 'Oh, he's gone. He's absolutely got away.' And we kept having little pieces of evidence or information that made us think, maybe not, maybe he's still here. And maybe he's just successfully evading us all this time. Like we have reason to believe with Travis Decker, that suspect was intimately familiar with this particular wilderness and with living off the grid and in the quiet for long stretches at a time. So we were in that place of not being sure what's happening and having to persist day after day, after day until a citizen finally called us and said, there's somebody in this cabin and I don't think they're supposed to be there. And we found it was the suspect, and we made an arrest."

Lauren Donovan, FOX 13: "Hearing you say that, Inspector, it really does sound similar. And I think one other question probably from the public is like, how is this guy still alive? How is he out living in the wilderness at this point? But you said they had a unique set of skills, both of them. And so it does make sense that that parallel is there. Were there any pitfalls during that last manhunt where it's become, hey, a lesson learned in navigating spaces like the Teanaway where we are right now?"

Chris Whitsett, Inspector with Kittitas County Sheriff's Office: "Well, some of the things that we learned were ways to overcome the communications difficulties, and we've applied those lessons in the way that we're doing some things right now. We learned, and we applied this from the very beginning. We learned that this is not, you're not gonna expect a day or two resolution to this kind of thing. At least from the beginning, you have to be planning not just for today, but for tomorrow and a week from now and three weeks from now. And so that's part of what we've done. We've planned from the beginning and that's set us up to play the long game while we continue to protect our county for as long as we think he might be out there."

Lauren Donovan, FOX 13: "And I think it's important for folks who maybe aren't familiar with the area and the connection to the enchantments. Can you orient them? Put it on the map. ‘Where is the Teanaway in comparison to Colchuck Lake, right where there was that alleged sighting of him?'"

Chris Whitsett, Inspector with Kittitas County Sheriff's Office: "Right. Well, the place where this terrible alleged crime happened was in the Icicle Creek area in Chelan County in the Okanagan-Wenatchee National Forest. Just slightly south of Icicle Creek is the Enchantments, which is a highly rugged mountain terrain with Alpine Lakes leading up to Mountain Ridge. Mount Stewart, which is the highest of the two ridges south of that, just a few miles, is the Kittitas County line. So teams have been actively tracking since the beginning of this investigation. They focused naturally closest to where the incident happened, and then they started spreading north. The alleged sighting that people have, everybody's been talking about at Colchuk or in that area. Pushed up into the enchantments, which pushed itself farther towards Kittitas County. And there are trails that connect. There's no magic brick wall between counties. It's all trails up there and nothing but trails because it's high, undeveloped, and in some cases like federally protected, you can't develop it, even if it were practiced."

Lauren Donovan, FOX 13: "Well, we were just out on a forest service road just outside of the community forest here, and we were noticing, oh, is this the road that connects through to Old Blewett where we saw the UTVs last week? And it kind of highlighted for us these more remote roads where you all can have access that connect to 97. We're the other side."

Chris Whitsett, Inspector with Kittitas County Sheriff's Office: "There are roads, exactly, there are roads that all connect. When we started our 2020 manhunt, it started in a campground right along Highway 97. When the suspect who was on foot for those three weeks, when the suspect finally showed up in a cabin, It was there in the Tianaway Valley where you are."

Lauren Donovan, FOX 13: "All right, so you just said cabin, so I am looking around me. I see a bunch of abandoned structures, plenty of vacation homes, beautiful places to stay out here. Is there a concern that Decker might find his way into one of these based on your past experience?"

Chris Whitsett, Inspector with Kittitas County Sheriff's Office: "Absolutely. And that's one of the reasons why we've been in communication with our community and with property owners, asking them to be aware, to look out for their places. If people have ring cameras or game cameras, any kind of intelligence and monitoring that we can have of these situations, we're asking people to help out. And as I've stressed last time, it was public. It was information from the public that brought that torturous manhunt to a close. And we still believe that's the best chance to resolve this. People who are out there with all their eyes and ears and intelligence are going to be the ones who help us to solve this."

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