Authorities believe they’ve found remains matching Travis Decker, the military veteran accused of murdering his three young daughters, the Chelan County sheriff’s Office said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press on Thursday (September 18).
The department said it was processing the site where the remains were found in the mountains of Washington State with assistance from the Washington State Patrol crime scene response team and would follow up with DNA analysis.
“While positive identification has not yet been confirmed, preliminary findings suggest the remains belong to Travis Decker,” the statement reads via the Associated Press.
Decker, 32, has been wanted in the murders of his three daughters, Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, since June. Ring doorbell footage released by the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office captured on the night of the alleged incident shows Decker walking up to an unidentified home and knocking on the door before oddly sliding his hand up and down the surface. Authorities specified that the footage was captured prior to the murders of his three girls.
The children are suspected to have died from asphyxiation while visiting their homeless father, FOX 13 Seattle reports. The victims were found dead near their father’s white 2017 GMC Sierra pickup truck near the Rock Island Campground in Wenatchee, Washington, at around 5:00 p.m. local time on June 2.
AMBER alerts for the three girls were canceled late Monday prior to police publicly confirming that the children’s bodies were located on June 3. Travis Decker was wanted on three counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping in relation to his daughters’ deaths.
Whitney Decker, the girls’ mother, said calls to Travis’ phone after he was scheduled to return them to her home on May 30 went straight to voicemail, at which point she contacted the Wenatchee Police Department. The pickup truck was seen later that weekend in the west end of Leavenworth, which led to a police search in the wooded areas nearby.
A warrant was issued for Travis’ arrest on three counts of first-degree custodial interference before the children’s bodies were found, at which point murder and kidnapping charges were added. Decker, a military veteran divorced from the girls’ mother for several years, is homeless and known to stay at campgrounds and hotels with his dog within the area.
Cellphone activity showed that the suspect drove to and left the campground one day prior to kidnapping his daughters, according to court documents obtained by FOX 13 Seattle. The GMC Sierra was found with two bloody handprints, as well as blankets, food, car seats and a wallet inside.
The campsite showed signs that it had recently been used when the truck was found, the documents stated. Decker is described as being 5 foot 8, 190 pounds with black hair and brown eyes and could pose a significant threat if approached, though it’s unknown whether he is armed.
Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to call 911 immediately and advised not to attempt to approach or contact him.
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