Prosecutors seek dismissal of arrest warrant as Marshals declare Travis Decker dead in three-daughters case
U.S. attorney says the U.S. Marshals Service has informed prosecutors that Decker is dead; remains found in central Washington are being tested for identity.
A federal prosecutor on Wednesday asked a judge to drop the arrest warrant for Travis Decker, the former soldier sought in the deaths of his three young daughters, after the U.S. Marshals Service declared him dead.
Authorities in Washington state found remains believed to belong to Decker in a remote wooded area of central Washington last week, and investigators are awaiting DNA results to confirm the identity.
In court documents filed Wednesday, U.S. Attorney S. Peter Serrano said the U.S. Marshals Service has advised prosecutors that Decker is dead. The Chelan County Sheriff's Office said an autopsy determined the three sisters — 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker — died from suffocation after being bound with zip ties and having plastic bags placed over their heads. They were found in June at a campground near Leavenworth.
Decker, 32, had been with his daughters on a scheduled visit but failed to bring them back to his ex-wife, who a year ago said that his mental health issues had worsened and that he had become increasingly unstable. She petitioned to restrict him from overnight visits until he found housing.
He served as an infantryman in the U.S. Army from March 2013 to July 2021 and deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2014. Authorities said he had training in navigation, survival and other skills, and he once spent more than two months living in the backwoods off the grid.