Standing in front of reporters outside a courthouse in Wenatchee, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said Thursday he insisted on a second round of DNA testing so there would be no doubt Travis Decker is dead.
He got the results he wanted, he announced: The highly anticipated lab results positively linked Decker's DNA to human remains found less than a mile from where his daughters — Olivia, 5; Evelyn, 8; and Paityn, 9 — were found dead in June.
The news officially brought to an end a nearly four-month search through rugged terrain for the Army veteran accused of killing his three daughters outside of Leavenworth.
The announcement comes two days after federal prosecutors said in a court filing that they were advised by the U.S. Marshals Service that Decker was dead. Morrison said Wednesday that the prosecutors' declaration was a bit premature, given the test results had not come back.
Authorities discovered the remains a week earlier on a steep, densely vegetated slope.
The remains included feet, femurs, a finger, rib bones and parts of a spinal column, as well as clothing from the last outfit Travis Decker was seen wearing — a green shirt, Army pants and a bracelet, Morrison said last week. They had been there long enough to decompose.
Results from the Washington State Patrol crime lab linking DNA found on the clothing to Decker came back on Monday, but Morrison wanted to wait for results identifying the bones.
He had asked the lab to conduct separate tests on the bodily remains and clothing to dispel any rumors that Decker had killed another person and dressed the body in his clothes to throw off authorities.
I would say the biggest challenge to the results was me," Morrison said, acknowledging his request for additional testing was unusual. "I appreciate them humoring me on this but we also wanted to make sure we shut down conspiracy theories.
"Mr. Decker did not bring anyone else up there and leave the remains behind. This is Mr. Decker's remains," he said. "The clothing matches, the remains match. That is the end of the conversation."
The Chelan County coroner is still working to determine how Decker died and when, Morrison said, adding it is possible Decker went directly up Grindstone Mountain "shortly after the event or within that day."
Decker's remains, clothing and a can of chewing tobacco were spotted by a drone and found less than a mile away and 1,200 feet above where his daughters' bodies were located near the Rock Island Campground off Icicle Road, west of Leavenworth.
Morrison credited State Patrol operational psychologist Stacy Cecchet with directing searchers to that area, saying she "highlighted an area of interest" on Grindstone Mountain "and even guesstimated about what elevation we were looking at."
He apologized to Whitney Decker, the girls' mother, for the length of time it took to locate her ex-husband but said, "I hope you can rest easier at night knowing that Travis is accounted for."
He also gave credit to the FBI, which pulled behind-the-scenes strings to free up resources; the U.S. Marshals Service, which led the on-the-ground search; and the sheriff's offices in King, Snohomish and Spokane counties, which provided help from the air.
"We could not have done it by ourselves," Morrison said. "If we had not had the rappelling capabilities that we have from the helicopters, again, we would've struggled, they would have taken months longer."
He also thanked the Wenatchee and Chelan County communities for their patience and support, even as people were stressed and on edge as the search for Decker dragged on.
Detectives are now in the final stages of closing the criminal investigation, making sure all evidence is processed and documented and reports are completed, he said, adding that investigators do not believe there are any other suspects or leads to follow.
"This has been a very dark chapter," Morrison said. "You're looking at one of the largest manhunts in Chelan County history, one of the most horrific crimes we've seen in Chelan County, and we're glad to put it behind us.
Material from The Seattle Times archives was used in this report.
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