After months of searching, police may have finally found Washington dad Travis Decker. In May, his ex-wife reported their three young daughters missing after a court-scheduled visit with their father. Sadly the girls were found dead at a remote campsite several days later, and Decker was the only suspect. Immediately, a manhunt began, and over the past few months, police have thoroughly searched in the hopes of locating Decker. Recently, human remains police suspect belong to Decker were found in the same area where his daughters were killed.
Officials from the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office found the remains in a remote wooded area during a search, ABC News reported. Police think they’re the remains of 32-year-old Decker.
“While positive identification has not yet been confirmed, preliminary findings suggest the remains belong to Travis Decker,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement on September 18. The office also said that it has been in touch with the Decker family and is “providing them with support and updates as the investigation proceeds.”
Arianna Cozart, attorney for Whitney Decker, mother of the three girls killed and Decker’s ex-wife, released a statement.
“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,” she wrote.
The Chelan County Sheriff’s office “is currently processing the scene” alongside the Washington State Patrol response team, People reported. They will also conduct a DNA analysis.
Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison gave an interview to Fox 13 Seattle, giving more details about how they may have found the remains of Travis Decker. Morrison said they were “about 0.74 miles away from the initial crime scene” where Paityn, Evelyn, and Olivia Decker were found dead.
“It was still outside of the initial three search areas that we conducted earlier throughout the summer,” Morrison said. “And this was just an expansion of the search area.”
Morrison gave details about the remains, saying there was “severe decomposition.” He also shared that the remains were spread across the area, “consistent with animals getting into it.” Given how long they’ve been searching for Decker, the sheriff wasn’t surprised by any of this.
Even though they don’t know if the remains definitely belong to Decker, officials feel secure releasing the information now.
“We’re asking to see if we can get DNA returns by the end of tomorrow,” Morrison said. “But we do feel pretty confident that there’s a high probability this is him. Just based off the clothing, some of the personal items we found on scene. But again, we’re not gonna say for 100% certainty until we get the results back.”
If the remains do indeed belong to Travis Decker, it will end months of frantic searching, and allow Whitney Decker and those close to her some closure.
