Overview

• Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said DNA from both the clothing and human remains found Sept. 18 near Leavenworth positively matched Travis Decker.
• The remains were located less than a mile from the Rock Island Campground crime scene in steep terrain near Grindstone Mountain after drone and grid searches.
• Days earlier, the U.S. Marshals Service advised a federal court that Decker was deceased, prompting prosecutors to seek dismissal of the unlawful-flight case and quash the warrant.
• Earlier Washington State Crime Lab results found only Decker’s DNA on plastic bags and cable ties used in the killings; the medical examiner ruled the girls died by suffocation.
• Local officials had criticized the timing of the federal declaration as premature; with the DNA match now confirmed, investigators continue processing evidence and examining motive.