Gerrard Kaonga
Police have given an update in the case that saw the remains of three children discovered.
Travis Decker, the father of the three children, was suspected to have killed them following the discovery of their bodies.
The 32-year-old has been suspected to have murdered the children in Washington's Rock Island Campground back in June.
The girls' mother, Whitney Decker, called police on May 30 after Travis failed to return the three daughters Olivia, five, Evelyn, eight, and Paityn, nine home after a scheduled visit.
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Their bodies were found with plastic bags on their heads and their wrists zip-tied according to the Chelan County Sheriff's Office.
Following the discovery a massive manhunt got underway to find Decker. Earlier this month, police confirmed that they thought they had discovered his body but were yet to confirm.
On Thursday September 25 Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison held a press conference and gave the public an update on the investigation. He explained that the remains found had came back as a positive match for Travis Decker.
He said: “It's a big day for the Chelan County Sheriff's Office, all of our federal partners that we can finally bring a close to this dark chapter of Chelan County [and] certainly pay respects to the deaths of Paityn, Evelyn, Olivia.
“We wanted to show honor to them. Let them know that we never forgot about them. We haven't forgotten about their family.”
Travis Decker's remains were located 'about 0.74 miles away from the initial crime scene and this is reportedly where the killings were committed.
A drone carried out a planned search of the Leavenworth area and encountered an 'anomaly', which was later confirmed to be a shirt matching what Decker is thought to have worn.
Morrison also spoke to the mother of the three daughters directly during his press conference and apologized to her.
He said: “To Whitney, we apologize that it's taken this long to get the closeness and the closure that we're looking for in this case, but I hope that you can rest easier at night knowing that Travis is accounted for.
“He is deceased. Our DNA results confirm that, and this will bring a close to our case."
Despite this, he added that the coroner’s office is looking to confirm how Travis died and getting these results could take ‘months’. He also clarified that there are no other suspects.