DNA confirms remains found in WA is Travis Decker

CHELAN COUNTY, Wash. – DNA analysis confirms the human remains found in the Chelan County wilderness belonged to Travis Decker, the man believed to have kidnapped and murdered his three young daughters, according to the Washington State Patrol crime lab.

Authorities made the announcement Thursday afternoon in Wenatchee, concluding a nearly four-month manhunt.

“We are glad to say that those remains do come back as a positive match for Travis Decker,” said Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison. “It’s a big day for the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office and all our federal partners that we can finally bring a close to this dark chapter of Chelan County.”

Travis Decker (Chelan County Sheriff’s Office)

Law enforcement agencies have been searching tirelessly for Travis Decker since June 2, when a sheriff’s deputy found his truck and the bodies of his three daughters — 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker — at a campground outside Leavenworth.

The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said that DNA analysis confirmed the remains were of Decker, bringing an end to the months-long triple-murder case.

“Certainly pay respects to the deaths of Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia, we wanted to show honor to them, let them know we haven’t forgot about them,” said Sheriff Morrison.

Where was Travis Decker found?

Decker’s body was found on Grindstone Mountain, located just northwest of Washington tourist destination Leavenworth in Chelan County.

Decker’s remains were found roughly just three-quarters of a mile from the Rock Island Campground, where the bodies of Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia were found.

How did they find Travis Decker?

A major breakthrough in the case came after a dive team from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office found a key fob belonging to Decker’s truck in Icicle Creek.

Following this discovery of key evidence, search teams from multiple law enforcement agencies conducted grid-by-grid searches in the surrounding area, using drones, canines and additional resources.

On Thursday, Sep. 18, a search crew found human remains on Grindstone Mountain, along with a shirt, pair of shorts, bracelet and chewing tobacco consistent with belonging to Travis Decker.

Several sets of bones were then collected and sent to the Washington State Crime Lab to be tested. The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office announced the major discovery later that night.

Who is Travis Decker?

Decker was an infantryman in the Army from March 2013 to July 2021 and deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2014. He had training in navigation, survival and other skills, authorities said, and once spent more than two months living in the backwoods off the grid.

Last September, Decker’s ex-wife, Whitney Decker, wrote in a petition to modify their parenting plan that his mental health issues had worsened and that he had become increasingly unstable. He was often living out of his truck, and she sought to restrict him from having overnight visits with their daughters until he found housing.

An autopsy determined the girls’ cause of death to be suffocation, the sheriff’s office said. They had been bound with zip ties and had plastic bags placed over their heads.

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