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The remains were found in a remote wooded area south of Leavenworth during a search involving multiple agencies. Decker has been wanted since June.
LEAVENWORTH, Wash. — The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office believes it found the remains of Travis Decker, the man charged with three counts of murder and kidnapping for the deaths of his daughters, Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia.
The remains were found in a remote wooded area south of Leavenworth during a search involving multiple agencies.
“While positive identification has not yet been confirmed, preliminary findings suggest the remains belong to Travis Decker,” a statement from the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office reads.
The sheriff’s office is processing the scene with the help of the Washington State Patrol crime scene response team. DNA analysis will be done after.
The manhunt for Travis Decker began after he failed to return his three daughters home following a scheduled visit per a parenting plan on Friday, May 30. That night, the Wenatchee Police Department responded to a Civil Complaint from the girls’ mother.
After additional investigation, police activated an Endangered Missing Person Alert on Saturday, May 31, for the Deckers to notify the public to be on the lookout.
On Monday, June 2, information led the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office to search the Icicle Road area near Leavenworth for the Deckers. Deputies found Decker’s truck near the Rock Island Campground, which is about 17 miles west of Leavenworth. The vehicle was unoccupied.
Law enforcement searched the surrounding area and found the three Decker children dead. The Chelan County medical examiner determined the official cause of death for the girls to be suffocation.
Authorities closed a network of hiking trails in the northern Cascades, identifying the Pacific Crest Trail as a prime area of interest.Â
Officials also urged residents and cabin owners in remote parts of Chelan, Kittitas, King, Snohomish and Okanogan counties to take extra precautions while Decker was on the loose.
Investigators described Travis Decker as highly skilled in wilderness survival. Decker was an infantryman in the Army from March 2013 to July 2021 and deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2014, according to Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro. From 2014 to 2016, he was an automatic rifleman with the 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
By June 6, more than 100 law enforcement officers were searching for Decker as Gov. Bob Ferguson authorized the deployment of Washington National Guard resources.
On the night of Monday, June 9, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office asked people in the area to be on alert as they believed Decker could be in the Ingalls Creek area west of Wenatchee.
The search continued through the summer, including a law enforcement search near the campground in the area where the girls’ bodies were originally found.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
