Travis Decker human remains believed to be found in Leavenworth, Washington, more than 3 months after a custody exchange led to 3 young girls dead and a mother’s word turned upside down.
Will a mother finally have her closure…? Remains believed to be those of the Washington state man suspected of killing his three young daughters were found this week in a remote ‘dense’ wooded area, authorities said Thursday.
Preliminary findings suggest the remains are those of Travis Decker, 32, whom authorities had been searching for more than three months. The remains were found south of the town of Leavenworth during a search, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said according to KOMO News.
Manhunt for killer Washington dad turned into search and recovery mission for likely dead man
The accused child killer is alleged to have suffocated his daughters, Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, five, prior to a custody exchange with his ex-wife in Leavenworth, Washington state in early June.
Three weeks into the manhunt, authorities issued a lengthy statement casting doubt on whether Decker, a military veteran and National Guardsman whom the local sheriff described as a longtime outdoorsman, remained alive.
Officials said resources had been shifted to focus on finding Decker’s remains, presuming the likelihood of his death ‘increases every day.’ A future autopsy would seek to determine the father of three’s cause of death.
On June 10, officials said they believed they had tracked Decker to an area near the remote campsite where his daughters were found dead days earlier, roughly 130 miles east of Seattle.
The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said that the person was spotted by helicopter after a hiking party reported seeing someone who appeared unprepared for the trail and the weather and appeared to be avoiding others. The sheriff’s office said the person ran from sight but was later tracked with dogs to a nearby trailhead.
Mother blamed ‘failure of system’ leading to her ex husband killing their 3 daughters
Decker, whom his ex-wife described to authorities as homeless and experiencing mental health issues, had a planned visitation with their daughters a few days before their bodies were found.
When Decker did not return the girls and his ex-wife, Whitney Decker, could not reach him by phone, she filed a complaint that day with Wenatchee police, prompting a search that lasted through the weekend.
Evelyn, 8, Paityn, 9, and Olivia Decker, 5, were found June 2 near a campground where they also discovered Travis Decker’s white pickup truck.
A preliminary examination found that they most likely died of asphyxiation, the detective wrote. Travis Decker’s unoccupied white pickup was found nearby with two bloody handprints on its tailgate, according to the affidavit.
Decker was charged with three counts of murder and kidnapping. Federal prosecutors also charged Decker with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Court documents obtained stated Decker Google searched ‘how does a person move to Canada,’ ‘how to relocate to Canada,’ and ‘jobs Canada’ in the days before he kidnapped his daughters.
Whitney and Travis Decker were married for seven years but divorced several years ago, according to the affidavit. Whitney Decker told the detective her ex-husband had always been communicative about their children and previously returned them when he was supposed to.
Whitney Decker, in a release through her lawyer, blamed police for ‘failing’ to issue an Amber alert after her 3 daughters were initially reported missing along with ‘red tape’ preempting her ‘mentally unstable’ ex from obtaining critical support and resources from Veteran Affairs.
A parenting plan in effect since September 2024 required him to seek mental health treatment and domestic violence anger-management counseling, but he had not done so, the affidavit says.
A copy of the parenting plan shows that Travis Decker refused to sign it.
Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) said dozens of agencies and organizations, hundreds of people, and thousands of hours have been put into the search for the wanted man.
