Authorities have positively identified the remains of missing 32-year-old Travis Decker. He was the target for questioning in the murder of his three infant daughters. More than three months into the search, rescuers were finally able to recover Decker’s remains. They located him in a very remote wooded area in central Washington, south of the town of Leavenworth.
Travis Decker is a former U.S. Army infantryman who served from March 2013 to July 2021. During his military career, he deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2014, gaining extensive training in navigation, survival, and other critical skills. Notably, Decker had previously spent over two months living off the grid in the backwoods, showcasing his ability to survive in challenging environments.
Things got worse for the Decker family last spring. Travis Decker failed to return his three daughters—nine-year-old Paityn, eight-year-old Evelyn, and five-year-old Olivia—to their mother on her scheduled day of visitation. In the beginning of June, the bodies of the three girls were found at a campground next to Decker’s abandoned truck. This shocking discovery led to a massive search for their father. He soon became a prime suspect in the case.
Decker’s ex-wife shared that he had struggled with mental health ailments. Even his mother, Lisa Morris, observed that his difficulties started worsening about a year prior to the fatal overdoses. She portrayed him as getting more unhinged during that period. The multi-agency search for Travis Decker included more than 100 officials from several state and federal agencies. They sifted through hundreds of square miles, working day and night, combing rocky climbs into treacherous terrain. With ground, water, and aerial assets, they mobilized a concentrated search to find him.
Law enforcement officials are still investigating the girls’ deaths. They are hellbent on getting to the bottom of what caused the horrific conditions that led to this gut-wrenching reality. The community continues to mourn the loss of three young lives and deal with the repercussions of their father’s actions.