FILE – This undated photograph supplied by the Wenatchee Police Department exhibits Travis Caleb Decker, who was needed in reference to the deaths of his three daughters.
AP/Wenatchee Police Department
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AP/Wenatchee Police Department
WENATCHEE, Wash. — Forensic exams confirmed that human stays discovered on a distant mountain in Washington state this month had been these of Travis Decker, a former soldier needed for killing his three younger daughters final spring, officers confirmed Thursday.
His stays had been found on a steep, distant, wooded slope half means up Grindstone Mountain in central Washington, lower than a mile (1.6 km) from the campsite the place the our bodies of 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker had been discovered on June 2, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office stated.
Law enforcement groups had been looking out greater than three months for Decker, 32, earlier than the sheriff’s workplace introduced final week it had situated human stays believed to be his. Sheriff Mike Morrison stated Thursday that DNA exams on clothes discovered on the scene in addition to from the stays matched Decker.
The sheriff stated investigators needed to honor the women’ reminiscence by fixing the case, and he apologized to their mom, Whitney Decker, that it took so lengthy.
“I hope you’ll be able to relaxation simpler at night time understanding that Travis is accounted for,” Morrison stated.
Decker had been along with his daughters on a scheduled go to however failed convey them again to his former spouse, who a yr in the past stated that his psychological well being points had worsened and that he had turn out to be more and more unstable.
FILE – Pictures, flowers and candles mark a makeshift memorial, June 3, 2025, in Wenatchee, Wash., in honor of Olivia, Paityn and Evelyn Decker, who had been discovered useless close to Leavenworth after their father Travis Decker did not return them after a scheduled visitation.
Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times/AP
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Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times/AP
He was usually dwelling out of his truck, she stated in a petition in search of to limit him from having in a single day visits with them.
A deputy discovered Decker’s truck in addition to the women’ our bodies three days after Decker did not return them to their mom’s home. Autopsies discovered the women had been suffocated.
Decker was an infantryman within the Army from March 2013 to July 2021 and deployed to Afghanistan for 4 months in 2014. He had coaching in navigation, survival and different abilities, authorities stated, and as soon as spent greater than two months dwelling within the backwoods off the grid.
More than 100 officers with an array of state and federal businesses searched lots of of sq. miles, a lot of it mountainous and distant, by land, water and air in the course of the on and off search. The U.S. Marshals Service provided a reward of as much as $20,000 for info resulting in his seize.
At one level early within the search, authorities thought they noticed Decker close to a distant alpine lake after receiving a tip from hikers.
Officials say the coroner’s workplace continues to work on figuring out the trigger and time of his demise.
