Investigators in Washington State said Thursday that they had found what are believed to be the remains of Travis Decker, who they say killed his three young daughters in June and left their bodies near a campground.
The killings spawned an intense manhunt for Mr. Decker, 33, a former member of the military whom the police said had suffocated his three daughters — Olivia Decker, 5; Evelyn, 8; and Paityn, 9 — during a planned visit from which they never returned.
Three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of kidnapping had been filed against him.
In a news release on Thursday night, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said that a search team had recovered human remains from a remote wooded area south of the town of Leavenworth, Wash., which is about 120 miles east of Seattle.
While the remains were being sent for DNA testing to confirm that they were those of Mr. Decker, the sheriff’s office said that preliminary indications were that they were his. Officials did not say how he had died.
The authorities said that they had found the bodies of Mr. Decker’s three daughters near a campground in Chelan County on June 2 with plastic bags over their heads, and that their wrists had been zip-tied. That area is about 70 miles east of Seattle.
The girls’ mother, who is divorced from Mr. Decker, reported them missing about three days earlier after they did not come home from a planned visit with their father. Investigators said that Mr. Decker’s ex-wife told them that he had been “experiencing some mental health issues” and was not taking medication that he had been prescribed to treat a borderline personality disorder.
The authorities combed the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest during the initial stages of their manhunt for Mr. Decker, who had been living out of his pickup truck and, at times, in hotels and motels.
A wanted poster released by the sheriff’s office described Mr. Decker, a U.S. Army veteran, as dangerous and potentially armed.
The National Guard took part in the search for him, which also used helicopters. Residents in the remote parts of several counties in Washington State were advised to keep their doors locked when the manhunt began.
Mr. Decker served in the Army from March 2013 to July 2021, deploying to Afghanistan for a four-month tour in 2014. He received training in navigation, survival and other skills, the authorities said.
Claire Fahy and Alexandra E. Petri contributed reporting.
Neil Vigdor covers breaking news for The Times, with a focus on politics.
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