CHELAN COUNTY, Wash. — Officials have confirmed that the remains found earlier this month were those of Travis Decker, the father who was suspected of killing his three young daughters in May.
KIRO reported that the Chelan County Sheriff confirmed that the DNA results of the remains found near Leavenworth, Washington, were a match for Decker.
“We can finally bring a close to this dark chapter of Chelan County,” Sheriff Mike Morrison said, according to CNN. “He is deceased, our DNA results confirm that, and this will bring a close to our case.”
Earlier this week the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office had said that Decker was dead, but the sheriff’s office at the time said the federal officials had “jumped the gun,” with the declaration saying that the DNA results they based the legal filing to dismiss the murder charge against the man were from clothing found with the remains, not the remains themselves.
Morrison said most, but not all, of Decker’s remains were found.
He said that Decker had sustained injuries that caused his death.
“He succumbed to those injuries, whatever those injuries were,” Morrison said during a news conference.
He said a medical examiner is trying to determine the exact cause.
Morrison said it appears that Decker went into the mountains after his daughters, Paityn, 9; Evelyn, 8 and Olivia, 5, were killed, KIRO reported.
Decker had picked up his daughters for a visitation on May 30 and did not return. His truck was found on June 2 and the girls’ bodies were found near the vehicle.
The father’s remains were found less than a mile from where his daughters were found dead three months ago, CNN reported.
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