Travis Decker's autopsy 'cannot be done,' coroner says

Lauren Girgis, The Seattle Times on Sep 26, 2025

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SEATTLE — How Travis Decker died will likely never be known, the Chelan County Coroner said Friday.

DNA lab results on Thursday confirmed that Decker, accused of killing his three daughters outside of Leavenworth, is dead. Decker’s remains were found less than a mile from where the girls— Olivia, 5; Evelyn, 8; and Paityn, 9 — were found dead in early June.

The news officially brought to an end a nearly four-month search through rugged terrain for the Army veteran.

But an autopsy to determine time and manner of death is not possible on the remains, according to Chelan County Coroner Wayne E. Harris.

The few skeletal bones authorities found were damaged by summer heat and animal activity in the area, Harris wrote in an email. The remains were found in five different areas, hundreds of yards away from each other, likely scattered by animals.

Although geographically close, thick vegetation, dense woods and the steep slopes of Grindstone Mountain stood between the two sites.

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, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said last week. They had been there long enough to decompose.

Decker’s torso and cranium, which “may hold the clues necessary to prove a cause of death,” have not been recovered, Harris wrote.

“An autopsy cannot be done,” Harris stated.

Harris also said the remains were examined by a state anthropologist who determined there were no fractures in the bones indicating a fall.

“I realize that this story has been of great interest to many,” Harris wrote, adding that in this field of work, answers are not always known. “The greatest hope is now the Decker family and the community can begin to heal.”

The Decker sisters were reported missing May 30 after their father failed to return them to their mother’s Wenatchee home per a court-ordered custody agreement. The girls were found a couple days later, fatally suffocated with their wrists bound, near Decker’s 2017 GMC Sierra pickup. Decker was charged with their murder and kidnapping.

“This has been a very dark chapter,” Morrison said Thursday. “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 archive was included in this report.)