In the midst of a manhunt for a 33-year-old wanted for the murder of his three young daughters, the FBI announced on Friday that bones were discovered near a Cascade Mountains campground.
This discovery happened near a campground in Leavenworth, Washington, where the bodies of Travis Decker’s daughters—Paityn, 9; Evelyn, 8; and Olivia, 5—were found on June 2.
The bones are being analyzed to determine if they’re human, FBI Seattle spokesperson Ted Halla said Friday.
“We can confirm that bones were retrieved during the recent search activities in the area around the Rock Island Campground,” he stated via email.
Earlier this month, it was revealed by officials that DNA from plastic bags placed over the girls’ heads matched their father’s, with no foreign DNA present. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death as suffocation, classifying the case as a homicide.
After their bodies were found, a thorough search began involving local, state, and federal forces, out of concern that Decker might exploit his military and wilderness skills to disappear.
Additionally, Decker’s truck was located nearby, in an area described by the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office as “rugged and heavily forested terrain,” approximately 150 miles east of Seattle.
Decker was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping and is the subject of an arrest warrant.
On May 30, his ex-wife reported Decker did not return the girls after a planned visit, authorities said. The report wasn’t enough to trigger an Amber Alert, Washington State Patrol said, noting that a late return is not necessarily an abduction and that there was no imminent threat of violence.
Investigators said motive was unclear. Court filings state Decker refused to sign a parenting plan nearly a year ago that included orders to seek mental health treatment and anger management counseling.
On Monday, Chelan County Sheriff Michael L. Morrison outlined the two-day search for evidence near the campground on federal land that started Monday and drew roughly 100 police, deputies and federal agents.
“Over the past three months, investigative teams, led by your Sheriff’s Office Investigative Unit, have pursued every lead and searched vast, remote areas in the hope of locating Travis Decker or any evidence that might bring us closer to answers,” Morrison said in a statement.
The sheriff repeated that it’s not clear if Decker is alive.
“At this time, no conclusive evidence has been found to indicate whether Travis Decker is alive or deceased,” he said. “We continue to follow every credible lead.”
