LEAVENWORTH, Wash. — Authorities have discovered remains believed to be that of Travis Decker, a former soldier wanted in connection with the tragic deaths of his three young daughters. The unsettling revelation emerged from a remote mountainous area in Washington state, where the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office is collaborating with the Washington State Patrol crime scene response team for further processing and DNA analysis of the site.
According to the sheriff’s office, While positive identification has not yet been confirmed, preliminary findings suggest that the remains belong to Travis Decker. The searches had been ongoing since June 2, when deputies discovered Decker’s abandoned truck alongside the bodies of his daughters—9-year-old Paityn, 8-year-old Evelyn, and 5-year-old Olivia—at a campground near Leavenworth.
Three days prior, Decker failed to return the girls to their mother, prompting a search that eventually led authorities to uncover the awful scene. Decker had served in the Army for over eight years, with deployments that included a four-month stint in Afghanistan, after which he reportedly became increasingly unstable. His ex-wife expressed concerns over his mental health, noting he had been living in his truck and sought measures to limit his access to the children.
Autopsy results indicated the girls had been suffocated with binding materials and plastic, marking their deaths as suspicious—which escalated the urgency in finding Decker. As more than 100 local and federal officials searched vast, rugged terrains over a period, a reward of $20,000 was offered for information regarding him until his remains were finally discovered.
This tragic case has drawn national attention, highlighting the mental health issues that often accompany domestic disputes. The loss of the young girls has left a community grappling with grief and searching for answers about the prevention of such heartbreaking tragedies in the future.
