Travis Decker, the man believed to have suffocated and abandoned his three young daughters at a campsite in the Washington state wilderness, is dead, Chelan County authorities said Thursday.
Positive DNA results determined human remains authorities discovered last week, along with clothes that looked like what Decker was wearing on surveillance footage before he disappeared, were the fugitive’s, Chelan County Sheriff Michael Morrison said at a Thursday afternoon news conference.
The confirmation ends a monthslong saga punctuated by a family tragedy that touched an entire community.
A drone flying over the area on September 18 detected some unusual material on a mountainside in the Washington Cascades. Detectives with the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office rappelled from a helicopter and discovered the remains and items among a trove of evidence.
Travis Decker is seen in an undated photo released by the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office. – Chelan County Sheriff’s Office
The search for Decker spanned three counties, led authorities to Canada and Mexico and involved several local and federal agencies, only for his remains to be found less than a mile from where the girls’ bodies were discovered.
Decker was charged with murdering his three daughters, 5-year-old Olivia, 8-year-old Evelyn and 9-year-old Paityn, not long after he picked them up from their mother for the custody visit on May 30.
Drones, a swift water team, cadaver dogs and even GoPros were used in the Cascade Mountain range outside the city of Leavenworth, a rural area known for its wild beauty and treacherous terrain.
The search was complicated by the fact that Decker had a three-day head start.
Decker’s truck was found abandoned in the area of Rock Island Campground on June 2. His daughters’ bodies were nearly 100 yards away down a small embankment, along with zip ties and plastic bags found strewn throughout the area, according to a police affidavit.
Authorities also found a bloody fingerprint on the truck’s tailgate, as well as Decker’s dog.
The sheriff hoped more people flocking to the popular area surrounding where the girls were found for the busy summer season would help in the search, but no trace of Decker was found all season.
The girls’ mother, Whitney Decker, told investigators her former husband had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and was homeless at the time of his disappearance.
Before the remains were determined to be Decker’s, Whitney Decker’s attorney, Arianna Cozart, told ABC News, “We are praying that the remains found are confirmed to be Travis’s. We continue to be grateful for law enforcement’s efforts in this case and are forever appreciative of the entire world’s love, compassion, and support for Whitney.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN’s Ryan Young, Holly Yan, Alaa Elassar and Zoe Sottile contributed to this report.
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