COPS hunting for murder suspect Travis Decker are convinced that human remains found in rugged terrain belong to the fugitive.
Investigators made the discovery in woodland – more than three months after he allegedly murdered his three young children during a planned custody visit.
Decker, formerly of the military, has been a wanted man since early June and cops had investigated hundreds of tip-offs related to potential sightings.
But, a major breakthrough came last Thursday after cops had said they had no evidence Decker was either alive or dead.
Remains were found 0.74 miles from the site where the Decker girls were found dead, near the Rock Island Campground.
The remains found near Grindstone Mountain, near Leavenworth are being investigated but cops are optimistic.
A drone detected a green t-shirt Decker had worn previously. Cops described the item as an “anomaly.”
“Clothing is consistent with what we’ve seen in surveillance,” Mike Morrison, the Chelan County sheriff, told People.
Shorts, chewing tobacco, and a bracelet were also recovered from the site.
Investigators had been probing the terrain since September 15 and the discoveries came on the last day of the search.
Morrison explained that the terrain was tricky to navigate.
“It was in the middle of our wilderness area in a very steep, rocky, wooded terrain,” he said.
The remains were found at a site that hikers don’t normally try to access.
“Very steep. It was not a trail, it was not anywhere that’s recreated.”
Morrison has not ruled out the prospect of more remains being found.
But, he vowed that justice is close to being served.
Timeline of the missing Decker girls
Paityn, 9; Evelyn, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5, were found dead at a campground after they were last seen on a custody visit to their dad.
Below is a timeline of events:
May 29: Cell phone activity shows that the girls’ dad, Travis Decker, drove to the Rock Island Campground and left.
May 30: 5 pm – Travis Decker picks the three girls up from their mom, Whitney Decker.
8 pm – Travis Decker is supposed to return the girls but doesn’t. Whitney Decker calls him and it goes to voicemail.
9:45 pm – Whitney Decker calls the Wenatchee Police Department to report her daughters missing.
Travis Decker’s truck is seen driving westbound on Highway 2.
Washington State Patrol is contacted for an Amber Alert but said the situation didn’t match their criteria.
May 31 : WPD issues an Endangered Missing Persons Alert.
June 2: 3:45 pm – Travis Decker’s truck is found empty at Rock Island Campground with two bloody handprints and items inside.
5 pm – Cops search the area and find the bodies of the three girls.
June 3: 9:30 am – Cops notify the public that they are still searching for Decker.
2 pm – WPD tells the public that the three girls were found dead and that Travis Decker is still on the loose.
June 8: Federal authorities take over search efforts.
June 9: Autopsy results confirm three girls were murdered by suffocation.
June 13: An affidavit revealed Whitney described Travis as having “recent mental health concerns.”
“She provided the examples of randomly leaving or waking her up by screaming at her in the middle of the night,” it read.
“She also said near the end of the marriage he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder that she believes he currently does not take medications for.”
June 17: New audio of Travis in court fighting for custody of his daughters is released.
“I understand that my current position when I’m by myself isn’t ideal, but my daughters aren’t a part of that,” he said in September 2024.
“I only get to see them over the weekends and camping is something that the four of us have done since the three of them were in diapers.”
June 20: Memorial is held where Whitney speaks publicly about girls for first time.
July 5: A family spotted a man believed to be Travis Decker in the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho.
July 9: US Marshals call off the search in Sawtooth National Forest after locating and questioning the man believed to be Travis Decker and confirming it isn’t him.
August 25: FBI agents announce they are conducting a two-day grid search of the heavily wooded area near Rock Island Campground.
September 18: 3:15 pm – Human remains believed to be those of Travis Decker are recovered in Icicle Creek drainage, police say.
The discovery came just weeks after hundreds of law enforcement personnel from different agencies combed trails of the Rock Island Campground.
On August 28, investigators revealed bones were found.
The bones were sent to a lab and hopes were raised regarding a potential breakthrough.
However, it was confirmed that the bones were not Decker’s.
Cops vowed they would continue fighting for justice and said they wouldn’t give up.
“We could be in a fight for five years, 10 years, 20 years,” Morrison told ABC News in July.
Decker’s children, Paityn, nine, Evelyn, eight, and Olivia, five, were found dead with plastic bags over their heads.
Cable ties were found near where the bodies were discovered.
Their bodies were found on June 2 – hours after Decker’s truck was found empty at the campground.
The children were collected at 5pm on May 30 and supposed to return by 8pm.
Their mother, Whitney, reported them missing after they failed to show.
Hours before the bodies were found, bloody handprints were discovered on the tailgate of the vehicle and cops later ruled that the DNA matched Decker’s profile.
CHIEF SUSPECT
Decker, an experienced outdoorsman, was identified as the only suspect.
Cops were able to make the link after Decker’s DNA had been found on the bags.
Decker’s DNA profile was also found on the cable ties.
“No other DNA profiles were obtained by the cable ties,” Chelan County cops said.
During the hunt for Decker, cops received tip-offs that Decker was seen hiking in the Enchantments – a wilderness area located west of Washington – and an area of the Sawtooth National Forest.
Jennifer Rice called the cops after she spotted a man she said looked out of place in Idaho City.
She recalled that he was carrying bedding but didn’t have a sleeping bag which left her baffled, as per the ABC affiliate KIVI-TV.
Cops received the first alleged sighting report – just two weeks into search for Decker.
That was before cops probed the alleged sighting in the Sawtooth National Forest.
The Sawtooth National Forest, located in Idaho, is 550 miles away from the site of the alleged murders.
And, it’s 50 miles from where Rice said she saw Decker.
Cops probed a description they received from a hiker about a man who had a beard and tattoos.
The hiker said that the man was between 5 feet eight and 5 feet 10, matching Decker’s description.
Cops initially said the tip-off was compelling, but neither led to Decker’s arrest nor to his remains being found.
The discovery came just weeks after investigators found bones[/caption]
