Human remains found in Washington state are believed to be Travis Decker, a 32-year-old man from Pewaukee accused of killing his three daughters, authorities say.
According to a news release from the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office in Washington state, a search utilizing national, state and county resources found human remains in a remote wooded area south of the town of Leavenworth, Washington.
The remains have not been officially identified, but preliminary findings suggest they belong to Decker, the news release says. A DNA analysis is underway.
According to the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office news release, the sheriff’s office was processing the scene with Washington State Patrol’s crime scene response team as of Sept. 18 evening.
Decker, 32, has been sought by law enforcement for more than three months, after his three daughters, 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker, were found dead June 2. Their bodies were located at the Rock Island Campground near Leavenworth, Washington, about 40 miles west of Wenatchee, in the vicinity of Decker’s truck.
The girls likely died of asphyxiation, USA TODAY reported.
The Wenatchee Police Department provided this photo of Travis Decker, a Pewaukee native being sought in connection with the death of his three daughters in Washington State. The search for Decker was continuing June 3, three days after the girls’ mother reported the girls missing and one day after their bodies were found near a campground.
Authorities began searching for the three girls after their mother reported that Decker did not return them home May 30, per a custody arrangment.
Decker grew up in Pewaukee and graduated from Pewaukee High School, where he was a member of the 2010 Pewaukee wrestling team. He had been living in Washington state, authorities say.
At the time of the girls’ disappearance, Decker was living primarily out of his pickup truck, and occasionally at motels and campgrounds, according to police.
Authorities said Decker had military training and went to mountain survival school. When a warrant for his arrest went out June 3 and a manhunt commenced, police warned people that it was unknown if he would be armed.
The search was led by the U.S. Marshals Service Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, with assistance of the FBI, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office, Washington State Patrol, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Forest Service and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, according to the news release.
In late July, law enforcement in Washington announced they were scaling back the manhunt for Decker, after they received a decrease in leads and had conducted thorough searches of the wilderness area surrounding the crime scene.
Then, in late August, the FBI announced a two-day grid search operation found “several items” that would be examined to determine if they were tied to Decker or the girls’ deaths. The search covered more than one million square meters, or 247 acres, and was the first time a search of that magnitude had been completed in that area for the case, according to the FBI’s Seattle field office.
The news release said authorities are in communication with family, and will provide more updates when available.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Remains found in Washington believed to be Travis Decker, authorities say