Authorities in Washington state revealed new details on Monday about the killing of three young girls who were found dead after going to visit their father in late May.
According to an autopsy completed Friday, Paityn Decker, 9; Evelyn Decker, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5, died from suffocation. The manner of death is homicide, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said.
The girls’ father, Travis Decker, 32, remained wanted Monday on three counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping.
Chelan County Sheriff’s Office
The girls were found dead on June 2 with plastic bags over their heads and their hands zip-tied together. Their bodies were located near their father’s truck, which had been abandoned at a campground in the North Cascades.
Authorities recovered “a large amount of evidence” from Decker’s vehicle, including blood samples and “many of the suspect’s personal items.” Decker’s dog was also found and taken to the Humane Society for care, the sheriff’s office said in a statement Monday.
“Blood samples taken from the scene have come back positive for belonging to a male, and another was not human blood. Further DNA and fingerprint analyses are still being conducted,” authorities said, while acknowledging that the new information “creates more questions and information for investigators to continue to pursue.”
Federal authorities took over the investigation on Sunday to give local teams “time off to rest and recuperate and be ready to rejoin the search for, and capture of, the suspect,” the sheriff’s office said.
On Saturday, the sheriff’s office released new photos of Decker showing him standing at various angles and with tattoos on his left ankle, right calf and arms.
It’s not clear when the photos, which appear to have been captured by surveillance cameras, were taken. A sheriff’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment Monday.
Decker was last seen wearing a light-colored shirt and dark shorts. Anyone who sees him should call 911 or submit information to the CCSO tip line at 509-667-6845 or https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/sheriff/forms/submit-a-tip.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
