Travis Decker’s remains have been recovered, but officials say the exact cause of his death may never be determined.
Chelan County Coroner Wayne E. Harris told PEOPLE on Friday, Sept. 26, that he is unable to provide a definitive cause of death for the 32-year-old father of three, and it may be impossible to do so.
Decker’s identity was confirmed through DNA testing, and Harris acknowledged that the nationwide search for him “greatly impacted our community over the past several months.”
“An autopsy cannot be done,” Harris said.
He noted that many people are seeking answers about when and how Decker died.
“Based on the limited skeletal remains that were obtained, that answer will most likely never be known. The torso and cranium are yet to be located, and they may hold the clues necessary to prove a cause of death,” Harris explained.
“Because of the timeframe that has passed, the summer weather conditions, and animal activity in the area where the remains were found, no biological tissue or material have been obtained,” he added.
The remains were discovered across “five different areas, which were several hundred yards from each of the sites.”
Harris confirmed that the state anthropologist ruled out a fall as the cause of death, noting “there were no fractures in any of the bones that would indicate” such an incident.
Some details have been withheld from the public “out of respect for the Decker family.”
“I realize that this story has been of great interest to many, but in our field of work, answers we seek are occasionally not known,” Harris said. “The greatest hope is now that the Decker family and the community can begin to heal.”
Decker gained national attention over the summer after being accused of killing his daughters — Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5. The siblings disappeared on May 30, 2025, during a planned visitation with their father and were found dead three days later.
Decker and his ex-wife Whitney, the mother of the girls, had been married for just over seven years before separating in 2022, her attorney Arianna Cozart told PEOPLE in a June 6 statement. The split was reportedly due to “his mental health struggles, including his feelings of isolation, paranoia and Borderline Personality Disorder.”
When Decker failed to return the girls on May 30, Whitney contacted police. The following day, the Wenatchee Police Department issued an endangered missing persons alert, stating the young girls were “believed to be missing and unable to return home on their own.”
After the children were found dead on June 6, multiple agencies searched for Decker.
On Sept. 18, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office reported to PEOPLE that human remains, believed to belong to Decker, had been located in a remote wooded area south of Leavenworth, Wash.
Following the discovery, the U.S. Marshals declared Decker dead. However, Chelan County officials emphasized the need for DNA confirmation.
“Other agencies can speak about their investigation into Mr. Decker and locating human remains, and can state that based on circumstantial evidence that the remains located are his,” a statement from Chelan County Coroner Wayne Harris shared with PEOPLE read.
“The Chelan County Coroner’s Office does not have that luxury. We must rely on scientific methods to establish positive identification. Those methods include DNA, fingerprints, dental or skeletal radiographs, or visual identification.”
The Army veteran was officially confirmed dead by the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, Sept. 25.
