Accused child killer Travis Decker has been found dead in dense wilderness three months after he allegedly killed his three daughters and went on the run, police believe.
The Washington father has been missing since early June, after he allegedly suffocated his daughters, Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, five, prior to a custody exchange with his ex-wife in Leavenworth, Washington state.
On Thursday night, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office announced officers have found remains during the ongoing search.
The body was found in a remote wooded area near Leavenworth, where there have been coordinated efforts to track Decker down.
‘While positive identification has not yet been confirmed, preliminary findings suggest the remains belong to Travis Decker,’ a statement from the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office reads.
Sheriff Mike Morrison told NCWLIFE while they are awaiting further confirmation, it ‘seems to be consistent with (clothing) we believe he was last seen in.’
The sheriff’s office is continuing to process the scene of the discovery alongside the Washington State Patrol crime scene response team.
Authorities said a further DNA analysis will soon take place.
Police had previously noted that the 32-year-old had extensive wilderness survival training as an Army veteran and member of the Washington National Guard.
He joined the Army in 2013 and served in Afghanistan before transferring to the Washington National Guard in 2021.
The Guard was in the process of a disciplinary discharge due to Decker’s absences when his daughters were killed.
But as the search wore on, authorities became less certain he was still alive and hiding out in the wilderness.
Decker, a former soldier, had been wanted since June 2, when a sheriff’s deputy found his truck and the bodies of his three daughters at a campground.
The discovery came three days after he failed to return the girls to their mother’s home in Wenatchee, about 100 miles east of Seattle, following a scheduled visit.
Search crews, comprised of officers from two sheriff’s offices, the US Marshals Service, two police departments and Central Washington University’s anthropology department, used electronic mapping to document the scope of their search.
They ultimately went beyond their planned perimeter to cover as much ground as they possibly could.
Authorities had vowed to stop at nothing to bring justice to the Decker girls and their family.
Police said he was also homeless and living out of his car by the time he picked up his three girls from their mother’s house on May 30.
His ex-wife Whitney told police she didn’t believe Decker was dangerous, and that he loved his daughters, with whom he had a ‘good relationship.’
He had been suffering from mental health issues at the time, and had recently been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
Decker was even court-mandated to receive mental health treatment and domestic violence anger management counseling but had refused.