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Speaker 1: Crime Alart hourly update, breaking crime news Now. I'm Jennifer Gould.

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Speaker 1: The punishing hunt for Travis Decker, the thirty three year

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Speaker 1: old ex soldier accused of the horrific triple murder of

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Speaker 1: his three young daughters, has reached a grim three month

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Speaker 1: milestone with a renewed desperate search. The rigorous two day

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Speaker 1: search of the remote Washington campground has concluded as nearly

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Speaker 1: one hundred FBI agents and local law enforcement personnel finished

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Speaker 1: bushwhacking through the dense, heavily wooded terrain. The teams meticulously

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Speaker 1: combed a quarter mile radius near the remote Washington campground

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Speaker 1: where the bodies of Peyton nine, Evelyn eight, and Olivia

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Speaker 1: five were found. Dive teams also navigated a previously inaccessible

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Speaker 1: part of the adjacent Icicle Creek. Officials explained at a

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Speaker 1: news conference that the intensified effort was not prompt by

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Speaker 1: a new lead, but was an act of due diligence

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Speaker 1: to ensure no stone was left unturned.

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Speaker 2: Listen, you can't be too thorough in a search like this.

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Speaker 2: Like I said, it is such incredibly dense vegetation that

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Speaker 2: anybody who walks down these one of these trails could

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Speaker 2: walk ten meters off the trail, and no one would

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Speaker 2: ever know they're there.

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Speaker 1: The brutal tragedy unfolded on May thirtieth, when Decker, on

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Speaker 1: a planned custody visit, vanished with the girls their mom, Whitney.

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Speaker 1: Decker reported them missing when they were not returned. Three

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Speaker 1: days later, on June second, a search party found the

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Speaker 1: girl's bodies at Rock Island Campground, each with plastic bags

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Speaker 1: over their heads and cable ties nearby. Autopsies confirmed they

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Speaker 1: died of asphyxiation. New DNA evidence confirmed that Decker was

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Speaker 1: the only person at the crime scene. His DNA was

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Speaker 1: found on the bags and ties. No other profiles were detected.

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Speaker 1: This grim certainty intensifies the manhunt, which has been a

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Speaker 1: grueling test of endurance, hindered by Decker's military background. His

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Speaker 1: extensive training from twenty thirteen to twenty twenty one as

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Speaker 1: a soldier specializing in survival skills and evading capture has

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Speaker 1: likely aided his flight. The search has been further complicated

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Speaker 1: by false leads, including a debunked sighting in July in

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Speaker 1: Idaho's Sawtooth National Forest that consumed considerable resources. Here's Sheland

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Speaker 1: County Sheriff Mike Morrison at the news conference. We don't

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Speaker 1: get frustrated, though, we're not going to give up.

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Speaker 2: We understand this could take years.

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Speaker 1: The multi agency pursuit involving the Shelan County Sheriff's Office, FBI,

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Speaker 1: and US Marshall Service has already cost more than six

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Speaker 1: million dollars in counting. As the FBI's two day renewed

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Speaker 1: search came and went, authorities warned that finding him will

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Speaker 1: only get harder as time and the elements erode evidence. Still,

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Speaker 1: though the search for the fugitive father remains a top priority.

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Speaker 1: Decker is described as a five foot nine inch white

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Speaker 1: male weighing one hundred and ninety pounds with brown hair

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Speaker 1: and blue eyes. If cited, do not approach. He is

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Speaker 1: considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information is urged to

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Speaker 1: call nine one one immediately. The US Marshall Service is

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Speaker 1: offering a twenty thousand dollars reward for information leading to

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Speaker 1: his arressed more Crime and Justice news After this, the

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Speaker 1: grief of a mother receiving her dead daughter's remains was

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Speaker 1: compounded by a horrific final indignity. The body of Angela

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Speaker 1: Petra Rasendez, a twenty one year old culinary specialist for

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Speaker 1: the US Navy was returned to her family in Texas

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Speaker 1: in a deplorable state, a growth tesque culmination of a

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Speaker 1: case marked by a series of devastating failures. Here's as

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Speaker 1: Marelda Castle at the June news conference in Washington, d C.

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Speaker 2: I wanted to see her. You know, how do you

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Speaker 2: know what to expect her body? You know she has

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Speaker 2: covered just invested with maggots, who bugs and the king

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Speaker 2: preserve her body.

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Speaker 1: Now, as the Medical Examiner's Office has formally ruled her

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Speaker 1: cause of death undetermined, her family's anguish has transformed into

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Speaker 1: a relentless crusade for justice, refusing to accept a conclusion

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Speaker 1: that offers no resolution for the loss of their daughter.

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Speaker 1: The agonizing saga began in late May when the Texas

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Speaker 1: Natives stationed at Naval Station Norfolk vanished without a trace.

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Speaker 1: The family's agonizing quest for answers was initially stonewalt, with

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Speaker 1: Rassindez his mother as Morelda, claiming a Navy command official

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Speaker 1: misled her by stating her daughter was safe and just

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Speaker 1: in another room, when in reality it was a close

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Speaker 1: friend who first alerted authorities to her disappearance. Not the Navy,

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Speaker 1: and a crucial missing person's alert was not issued until

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Speaker 1: several days had passed. This agonizing delay was compounded by

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Speaker 1: a cruel discovery in June. After an extensive search, Rassindas's

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Speaker 1: body was found in a remote, heavily wooded area off

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Speaker 1: base near Naval Station Norfolk. The remains were in such

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Speaker 1: an advanced state of decomposition that a definitive forensic determination

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Speaker 1: was rendered impossible, leading to that frustrating undetermined ruling that

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Speaker 1: now stands. The family's attorneys, though, have vowed to continue

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Speaker 1: to fight, demanding a comprehensive investigation and full accounting of

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Speaker 1: the circumstances surrounding her death. In the meantime, at the

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Speaker 1: center of the military's investigation is Jeremiah Copeland, a fellow

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Speaker 1: Navy sailor who is currently held in pre trial confinement

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Speaker 1: at the Naval Consolidated brig in Chesapeake, Virginia. Copeland is

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Speaker 1: facing charges of murder and kidnapping under the Uniform Code

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Speaker 1: of Military Justice, though the details of his upcoming court

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Speaker 1: martial remain sealed. And finally, this is one that's gone

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Speaker 1: from earnbelievable to unbelievable. Federal Officials with the Bureau of

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Speaker 1: Land Management are investigating after a hiker found an eerie

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Speaker 1: scene and search light Nevada, where a jaw dropping seventy

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Speaker 1: piles of cremated human remains were found dumped by the highway.

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Speaker 1: We're talking mounds of burn flesh and pulverized bone. The

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Speaker 1: grizzly discovery has investigators wondering if this was a rogue

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Speaker 1: act or a massive violation of the law. While Nevada

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Speaker 1: law allows for scattering ashes on public land, this large

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Speaker 1: scale commercial dumping may be a major crime. No suspects

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Speaker 1: have been named, so no charges have been announced just yet.

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Speaker 1: With the FEDS on the case, though, this story is

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Speaker 1: bound to be a bonfire of details. Stay tuned for

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Speaker 1: the latest crime and justice news. Follow the Crime Alert

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Speaker 1: hourly update on your favorite podcast app with this Crime Alert.

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Speaker 1: I'm Jennifer gool