DNA confirms Travis Decker dead; end of three-month manhunt in Washington state
Chelan County officials say remains found on Grindstone Mountain match the fugitive father accused of killing his three daughters; federal case dismissed after death confirmation
DNA testing has confirmed that human remains found in a Washington state wilderness belong to Travis Decker, the fugitive veteran suspected of killing his three young daughters, ending a three-month manhunt.
The three girls, Paityn Decker, 9; Evelyn Decker, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5, were found June 2 at Rock Island Campground in Chelan County. Authorities said Decker murdered them and then disappeared into the surrounding wilderness, living out of his truck and camping at various locations in the area as investigators searched for him amid the broader inquiry.
In the weeks that followed, a key turn in the case emerged when a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office dive team recovered a fob belonging to Decker in Icicle Creek. The discovery spurred grid searches across the rugged terrain as investigators connected the dots back to the fugitive. Last week, authorities recovered human remains on Grindstone Mountain, located about 0.75 miles from the Rock Island Campground site. Investigators subsequently confirmed the remains belonged to Decker following DNA testing.
On Sept. 18, investigators recovered Decker’s remains, along with a shirt, a pair of shorts, a bracelet and chewing tobacco consistent with belonging to the missing man. The items were sent to the Washington State Crime Lab for testing as part of the broader effort to close the case.
The investigation into the deaths of the three girls has long included questions about Decker’s personal life. Last year, his ex-wife, Whitney Decker, filed a petition to modify the family’s parenting plan, citing concerns about his mental health and his living arrangements, which had him staying in his truck and camping at various sites. The filing asked that Decker be restricted from overnight visits with the children until he secured housing.
The girls’ autopsy determined the cause of death to be suffocation; their bodies were found with plastic bags over their heads and had been bound with zip ties.
Decker served as an Army infantryman from March 2013 to July 2021, including a four-month deployment to Afghanistan in 2014, and held wilderness navigation training. He faced state charges of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping, along with a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
This week, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the federal case after the U.S. Marshals Service declared Decker dead. However, Chelan County officials did not confirm the death until DNA results were returned.
Sheriff Mike Morrison said the confirmation marks a turning point for the community: “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. 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.”
To Whitney Decker and to the families, authorities expressed condolences while stressing that the closure comes after a painstaking, multiagency effort spanning weeks of searches, forensics, and coordination across jurisdictions. The case has been one of the more high-profile manhunts in recent Washington state history, drawing attention to the challenges of tracking a fugitive who had been living off the grid.
As investigators continue to review the sequence of events and the evidence collected over the course of the investigation, officials emphasized that the outcome ends a long and painful chapter for the families involved. The case has now moved from pursuit and search to a formal determination of identity and closure for the community, with authorities warning that lingering questions about Decker’s broader motivations and timeline remain outside the scope of the verified facts.
