A manhunt for a 33-year-old man suspected of killing his three young daughters met a potential dead end as police found bones where the bodies were found.
On Friday, August 29, authorities found the remains near a Cascade Mountains campground, near Leavenworth, Washington, where Travis Decker's three daughters, Paityn, 9, Evelynn, 8, and Olivia, 5, were discovered in early June.
The FBI Seattle rep Ted Halla shared that the bones are being analysed before the investigation could be moved any further.
Earlier this month, the authorities said that the DNA from plastic bags found on the girls' heads matched that of the father, and no other human DNA besides the girls' own was found.
The county medical examiner concluded the girls died by suffocation and are the victims of homicide, the sheriff's office said.
Following the discovery of their bodies, local, state and federal authorities launched an extensive manhunt for Decker, fearing he could use his military background and outdoors experience to vanish.
Decker was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping and is the subject of an arrest warrant.
Notably, on May 30, his ex-wife reported Travis Decker did not return the girls after a planned visit, authorities said.
The report was not enough to trigger an Amber Alert, Washington State Patrol said, noting that a late return is not necessarily an abduction and that there was no imminent threat of violence.
