The search for murder suspect Travis Decker ended in a remote state of the state of Washington, but the mystery of how he died can never be resolved.
Almost four months after the 32-year-old veteran of the US Army, it is said that his three young daughters at a campsite killed and disappeared in the Cascade Wildernis, researchers finally found what was left of him: spread bones, a shirt, a bracelet and chewing tabo on Grindstone Mountain, less than a mile of the crime scene.
DNA confirmed that the remains were of him – but the discovery did not bring any answers about his last moments.
Chelan County Coroner Wayne Harris told Rent newsradio This week those details about his death will probably never be known.
“It is impossible to determine how murder suspect and fugitive, Travis Decker, died or when,” said Harris.
Decker was accused of kidnapping and killing his daughters nine-year-old Paiten, eight-year-old Evelyn and the five-year-old Olivia-Wiens killed bodies were found on the Rock Island Campground on 2 June.
The tragic murders took place after Decker had received a visit approved by the court with his daughters. When he had not brought them back to their mother, she reported that the girls were missing and activated a hectic search. She told law enforcement rather that Decker’s psychological problems had worsened and that he had become increasingly unstable.
His disappearance launched an intensive manhunt that stretched out through the summer and in the early fall. That search ended on September 18, when a team came across the partial remains at an altitude of 4,200 feet.
Bones were spread over five different locations.
“There were a few leg bones, a few bricks, some vertebrae, some ribs and a foot, and they were spread at about five different locations, at an altitude of about 4,200 feet,” Harris said. “Unless another walker finds a skull and the forensic anthropologist can investigate it and determine that he may have fallen, or if there is a bullet hole in his skull.”
Decker’s skull and torso are still missing, making it impossible to exclude suicide, a fall or another cause. Without soft tissue, testing toxicology is also off the table, according to Harris.
Speculation about Decker’s death has been played since researchers found bloody handprints on his truck in the original crime scene. Some wondered if he had been attacked by his own dog, which was later saved and brought to a hiding place.
But Harris said that the anthropologist found no evidence of fractures or bite marks.
“The anthropologist looked at the few bones he had, and he could not see any fractures, saw no animal activity, such as teeth markings in the bones,” Harris explained.
The search that eventually discovered the remains of Decker was led by the forensic psychologist Dr. Stacy Cecchet from Washington, who identified Grindstone Mountain as a likely location.
Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said during an earlier press conference that Decker may have fled along the mountain within a few hours of killing his daughters.
“Based on the information we have, it seems that he would go directly to Grindstone Mountain immediately after the event or within that day, would be pretty consistent,” he said. He added that Decker seemed to have been injured after the murders.
“He succumbed to those injuries, whatever those injuries,” said Morrison. “We go back from our coroner’s office if they are able to get a cause of death or a time of death.”
But Harris now says that there is no way to determine whether Decker has sustained injuries that led to his death.
“Not without further bone parts that we can look at, no, we have no idea,” he added.
Although the discovery of Decker’s remains has officially closed the matter, questions still arise about how he died on the mountain and what happened in his last hours.
“The greatest hope is now the Decker family and the community can start to heal,” said Harris.
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