Search for Missing Man Ends with Discovery of Remains Believed to Be His

Wed Oct 22 2025 20:46:23 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

Authorities have found remains believed to belong to a man suspected of murdering his three daughters in Washington state. The investigation sheds light on a tragic family dispute.

Human remains discovered in Washington state are thought to be those of Travis Decker, a man wanted on suspicion of murdering his three young daughters. Police had been searching for Decker after the bodies of the girls were found in a remote campground in June, and his remains were found near that location. The ongoing investigation raises serious concerns about familial violence and the search for justice.

Human remains, believed to be of a man wanted on suspicion of murdering his three daughters, aged nine, eight and five, have been found in the US state of Washington.

Police had been searching for Travis Decker since officers discovered his phone and the bodies of his girls, Paityn, Evelyn, and Olivia, in a remote campground on 2 June. His truck was also located nearby.

While positive identification has not yet been confirmed, preliminary findings suggest the remains belong to Travis Decker, the Chelan County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

The remains were discovered in a remote wooded area south of Leavenworth, Washington state.

Decker, 32, was wanted on kidnapping and first-degree murder charges, according to the Wenatchee Police Department. Officials believed he had been hiding in a remote part of the mountainous and wooded state.

The girls' mother reported them missing on 30 May, after Decker failed to return his daughters following a visit. He also did not answer her phone calls.

Authorities indicated that the children died from apparent suffocation and had their wrists bound with zip ties. Decker was an ex-soldier and may have attended a mountain survival school as part of his military training.

It sounds like at times he would go out and would be off-grid for sometimes up to two and a half months, Sheriff Morrison mentioned after speaking to Decker's family.

The remains were found on Thursday on Grindstone Mountain, a few miles from where Decker's daughters' bodies were discovered in June. A $20,000 reward had been announced by the US Marshals Service for information leading to Decker's capture, and the search led to widespread closures of national forests in the area, popular among hikers.