Coroner: Cause of Travis Decker's death undetermined after skeletal remains found
Disposition of the case remains unresolved as authorities say the skeletal remains cannot reveal how or when Decker died, weeks after he was named dead in court filings.
A Chelan County coroner said Tuesday that the cause and time of death for Travis Decker cannot be determined from the skeletal remains found in a remote area near Leavenworth, Washington, leaving the timeline of the fatal events surrounding the case uncertain.
Decker, 32, was at the center of a nationwide manhunt after investigators said he murdered his three daughters during a court-ordered custody visit on May 30. Their bodies were found June 2 near Decker’s abandoned pickup truck at a remote site outside Leavenworth. Decker himself remained missing until human remains were found September 18 in a wooded area south of Leavenworth. The U.S. Marshals Service declared Decker dead in a court filing on September 24, citing DNA results from clothing found near the skeletal remains.
The coroner, Wayne Harris, said the condition of the bones—part of the torso and cranium missing, with several other bones scattered across roughly five locations at an elevation of about 4,200 feet—means investigators cannot determine whether Decker sustained injuries, how he might have died, or when the death occurred. “There were a few leg bones, a couple of arm bones, some vertebrae, some ribs, and a foot, and they were scattered in about five different locations, at an elevation of about 4,200 feet,” Harris told reporters.
Authorities have not ruled out the possibility of other causes, including potential animal activity, though Harris said it is unlikely that an animal would account for the absence of the cranium and torso. An anthropologist who examined the few bones available found no fractures, no signs of animal bite marks, and no conclusive evidence of how Decker died.
Despite the inconclusive physical evidence, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said investigators believe Decker likely died within hours or days of the killings. “Based off the information we have, it appears that the potential of him going directly up Grindstone Mountain shortly after the event or within that day would be pretty consistent,” Morrison said. The remains were found on Grindstone Mountain, about 0.74 miles from the Rock Island Campground, where the children’s bodies were first discovered.
Authorities have said the investigation remains open regarding the precise cause and circumstances of Decker’s death, and the medical examiner’s report could be complicated by the fragmentary remains. The case has prompted ongoing questions about custody enforcement and the steps authorities take in cases involving multiple homicides, though officials have stressed they are focused on delivering answers for the victims and their mother, Whitney.
The remains are expected to be released to Decker’s family at a later date. Morrison said the goal of sharing new findings is to help the victims’ mother find some sense of peace, acknowledging that nothing can bring the daughters back or undo the tragedy. "If anything, we hope she will sleep better at night, she wouldn't be looking over her shoulder," Morrison said, adding that the department understands nothing can reverse what happened.
The case drew national attention as investigators pursued leads across several states and coordinated with federal, state, and local partners. While the new findings provide some procedural closure for authorities, they do not resolve the core questions about how the three young girls were killed, or the exact sequence of events that night.