No response returned

The cause of death of , the man accused of killing his three young daughters earlier this year in Washington state before disappearing and sparking a , "may never be known," the local county coroner told Autos News on Friday.  

Chelan County Coroner Wayne Harris told Autos News that Decker's "cause and manner" of death, along with the time of death, couldn't be determined.

Harris said the coroner's office received only "minimal skeletal remains," and with so much time having passed since the death, "there is nothing to autopsy."

"The only examination done at this point was by a forensic anthropologist," Harris said in an email Friday. 

Local law enforcement confirmed Thursday that the human remains that were last week came back as a match for Decker after DNA testing.

The 32-year-old, a former Army soldier with extensive survival skills, was the suspect in the May , 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker. DNA testing confirmed he was the only suspect in the murders, police have said.

The search for Decker began May 30, after the girls' mother reported he failed to return them to her Wenatchee, Washington, home, about 100 miles east of Seattle, following a scheduled visit.

Three days later, authorities discovered the girls' bodies down an embankment at a Cascade Mountains campsite, their wrists bound with zip ties. Autopsies revealed the girls had suffocated, authorities have said.