An image of Travis Decker.
The Decker sisters from left, Evelyn, 8; Olivia, 5; and Paityn, 9. They were found dead near Rock Island Campground in Washington state on June 2, 2025, three days after they were reported missing by their mother after failing to return from a planned visitation with their father, Travis Decker. Authorities found their bodies near their father's unoccupied vehicle near the campground.

New details released by a Washington sheriff show how authorities used drones and canine teams to find ribs, feet and other skeletal remains presumably belonging to Travis Decker, the father suspected of killing his three daughters.

While authorities await DNA confirmation the bones are indeed Decker's, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison on Sept. 22 told USA TODAY authorities found other evidence near the remains that links the discovery to the suspect.

Morrison said crews found remains including ribs, feet and a femur on Thursday, Sept. 18, south of Leavenworth, a village in the Cascade Mountains of central Washington state. Officials also found clothing and other items belonging to Decker, including a green T-shirt he was last seen wearing when he disappeared, Morrison said.

The discoveries came after a more than three-month search for Decker, who vanished after the late May kidnapping and deaths of his daughters, Paityn Decker, 9; Evelyn Decker, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5, according to the Wenatchee Police Department.

A sheriff's office forest deputy found the girls' bodies June 2 at a campground, just south of Grindstone Mountain, part of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest on the slopes of the Cascade Mountain Range.

Divers searched creek, found key fob likely belonging to Decker's truck

Last week's findings came four days after U.S. Marshals, in collaboration with the sheriff’s office, on Sept. 15 expanded the search of the forest in Leavenworth. Their effort focused on the Rock Island Campground areas as part of the ongoing investigation.

"Based on psychological profile and the known search void in the area, ground and air teams focused on the south face of Grindstone Mountain, north of the crime scene," Morrison told USA TODAY.

At one point, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office marine dive units searched Icicle Creek, near the crime scene extending several hundred yards downstream. During the search, divers "recovered a key fob consistent with the key fob that would belong to Decker’s truck."

Not long after, Border Patrol agents "spotted a green object" across a ravine, the sheriff said, and troopers deployed a drone to take photographs of the object. Border Patrol search dogs visited the scene and alerted teams to a body decomposing there.

Agents walked across the ravine and located clothing and skeletal remains including a finger, femur, ribs, feet and other bones, Morrison said.

Decker's T-shirt also found in woods near remains

After the remains were found last week, Morrison said a DNA analysis was sent to a lab for analysis.

"The shirt on the scene is a match for what Travis was last seen wearing, in addition to shorts, which were U.S. Rangers' shorts," Morrison told reporters during a Friday, Sept. 19, news conference.

Morrison said officials found chewing tobacco and a bracelet that were "consistent" with what they knew about Decker.

Officials waiting on DNA test results

Morrison told USA TODAY on Monday, Sept. 22, his office was still waiting for Decker's DNA comparison results.

“This operation underscores the value of collaboration and teamwork,” said Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Washington Gavin Duffy. “By maximizing the resources available across the public safety community, we were able to support the Chelan County Sherriff’s Office and bring some closure to this unspeakable tragedy.”

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the nearest U.S. Marshals office, the U.S. Marshals Service Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102, or USMS Tips.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Green T-shirt linked to Travis Decker found near remains, sheriff says

Reporting by Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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