Manhunt Ends Remains of Father Accused in Daughters’ Killings Identified
This undated photo provided by Whitney Decker shows Paityn, Olivia and Evelyn Decker. (Courtesy of Whitney Decker via AP, File)
UPDATE – Sep 26, 2025, 12:30 AM CDT
Authorities have confirmed that human remains found on a rugged Washington mountain earlier this month belong to Travis Decker, the former soldier accused of murdering his three daughters last spring.
The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that forensic testing positively identified Decker, 32, whose body was discovered on a steep, wooded slope of Grindstone Mountain—less than a mile from the campsite where the bodies of 9-year-old Paityn, 8-year-old Evelyn, and 5-year-old Olivia were found on June 2. Investigators are still working to determine how and when he died, according to the county coroner.
Decker had been on the run since June, when deputies located his truck and the children’s bodies at the remote campground outside Leavenworth. He had failed to return them to their mother’s home in Wenatchee three days earlier.
A U.S. Army veteran who served as an infantryman from 2013 to 2021, including a deployment to Afghanistan, Decker had survival and navigation training and was once known to live off the grid for months at a time. Those skills, officials said, complicated the massive search that spanned hundreds of square miles of rugged terrain and involved more than 100 personnel from multiple agencies. The U.S. Marshals Service had offered a reward of up to $20,000 for tips leading to his capture.
About Post Author
