The incomplete remains of Travis Decker provide no clues about the circumstances of the ex-soldier’s demise in the wild, following the tragic deaths of his three young daughters, a Washington state coroner reported on Friday.
Fragments of Decker’s body were discovered scattered in a secluded, forested area near Leavenworth last week. This followed an extensive regional search for the 32-year-old, lasting several months. Despite confirming the remains belonged to Decker through DNA analysis, the pieces are insufficient to establish the cause of his death, according to Chelan County Coroner Wayne E. Harris in a written statement.
“It is impossible to conduct an autopsy,” Harris stated. “The primary questions remain: when, and how did he die? With only limited skeletal fragments available, those answers will likely remain elusive.”
“The torso and cranium are yet to be located, and they may hold the clues necessary to prove a cause of death.”
Harris explained that animals likely dispersed Decker’s remains, which were located in five separate locations spread far apart. He also mentioned that “no biological tissue or material” was recovered. A state anthropologist did not detect any fractures on the bones that might suggest a death from falling, the coroner added.
Search for Travis Decker
Several law enforcement agencies had been searching for Decker since June 2, when authorities found the suffocated bodies of his daughters Paityn, 9; Evelyn, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5, near a campsite. Decker had taken his children on May 30 for a court-ordered parental visit but failed to return them to their mother’s residence in Wenatchee.
Friends and family have noted that Decker, who previously served as an Army infantryman, struggled with mental health issues that seemed to worsen in the period leading up to the tragic events.
During the manhunt, police said Decker was being sought on three counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. The U.S. Marshals Service offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to Decker’s arrest.
Travis Decker lost overnight custody rights
In court documents, Decker said he had previously lost overnight custody of his daughters because he was homeless and would often sleep in his vehicle. He said he’d only ever taken the girls to safe, paid campsites.
“Every time I’ve had the girls, we have been in campsites and national forests and paid campsites that have campers. We’ve never done anything that was unsafe or anything I wouldn’t want to put myself in,” Decker, who was homeless, said in an audio recording last fall.
