In court documents filed Wednesday, the U.S. Marshals Service has advised District Court of Eastern District of Washington that Travis Decker is dead.
The documents were a motion to dismiss the federal murder charges against Decker because the “United States Marshals Service has advised the Defendant TRAVIS CALEB DECKER is deceased.”
However, according to the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshals “jumped the gun.”
KIRO 7 News has been told the DNA results the U.S. Marshals got back was for the clothing found on the bones that were found last week.
DNA results for the bones are still expected Wednesday afternoon or Wednesday night.
Later Wednesday afternoon United States Magistrate Judge James A. Goeke signed a motion to dismiss the complaint and quash the warrant for Decker, dismissing without prejudice.
He also ordered the file to be closed.
On Sept. 19, skeletal and decomposed remains believed to be Travis Decker were found in a remote wooded area west of Leavenworth.
According to the U.S. Marshals Service, a dive team with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office also found a key fob in Icicle Creek, hundreds of yards downstream from the campground where the girls bodies were found.
Investigators said the key fob was consistent with the key fob that would belong to Decker’s truck.
KIRO 7 News confirmed the possible remains were found just 0.74 miles away from the Rock Island campground, where the bodies of Paityn, Evelyn, and Olivia were found.
Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison told KIRO 7 that the possible Decker remains were found on Grindstone Mountain, off Icicle Road.
Crews had to be dropped in via a Spokane County helicopter due to the rough terrain.
Drones and cadaver dogs helped locate the remains.
While the remains will still need to be positively identified, preliminary findings suggest that the remains belong to Decker, the sheriff’s office said.
Morrison told KIRO 7 that some items found near the remains, like clothing, were similar to what Decker was wearing when he left. Crews also found “personal items” but did not specify what those were.
Law enforcement says Decker kidnapped and killed his three young daughters-- Paityn (9), Evelyn (8), and Olivia (5)-- on May 30 during a scheduled custody visit.
He has been wanted locally and federally ever since.
On June 2, Decker’s truck was found unoccupied near the Rock Island Campground.
The bodies of girls were found nearby.
During the search for Decker, law enforcement warned that he had military survival training and was likely in remote areas. Several areas in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest were closed as crews scoured the terrain for Decker.
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