Found Deceased Olivia 5, Evelyn 8 & Paityn Decker 9, Endangered Alert, visitation w/ homeless dad Travis Decker 32, wh 2017 GMC Sierra PU, Wenatchee, 30 May 2025

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LucyOso said:
I do have to say, being unhoused or homeless, especially after a divorce and the pandemic does not make someone categorically unfit to be a parent. Having PTSD, anxiety, depression and other treatable mental health conditions also does not categorically exclude someone from having parental rights. This mother really did work within parameters of the legal system to maintain parental contact, dignity, and also protect her children. The court systems did exactly what they are designed to do.

We must remember that not too many decades ago, women with postpartum depression or men with men with PTSD literally were instuitionalized losing all rights. There are laws in place to protect people now. In hindsight we can be like OMG how could a homeless guy with PTSD have visitation, and broadly label millions and millions of people who are stable, who are down on their luck, who fit under that umbrella. But the reality is, losing housing or having a mental health diagnosis does not mean you will kill or harm your children. These generalizations are harmful to society.
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Thank you. I've been thinking similar thoughts, but was afraid of wording them, you did it so very well!

I'm not sure if ATM he is on the run or dead somewhere, but I lean towards on the run. However, if he took off from the immediate area, I'm afraid it might be harder to find a dead person than an alive one. If he is not found and the mother cannot be sure if he is alive or dead, my gosh, the anxiety this would cause.
 
Trino said:
What I don't understand is his extensive military record. Shouldn't such persons be required to undergo a mental evaluation before being awarded these positions. But, things change. He's out of the military. No idea what happened to him.
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I think it was probably the other way around - the extensive military service caused (or worsened) his mental illness.
 
NuttMegg said:
Well, the sheriff said they located the dog, not that lt was or wasn"t dead. But maybe it was killed too, or it would have followed Travis if he left on foot. I went back to re-listen to that as I hadn't heard him say the dog was dead. But maybe some other source stated that.
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While there was still an active search, someone posted a picture of the dog on the FB group site that was started by the family. Shortly after it was posted, a local person posted a picture of a dog that had been found off Icicle Rd. Someone had posted a picture of the found dog on a local site, looking for the owner. It was obviously the same dog; the markings were identical.

I'll post the link to the family group, but they have removed most of the earlier posts, so the pictures of the dog are no longer there.

The mom's aunt, who is one of admins, said that the mom would love to read about reasons why people loved the girls, and she would love to read happy stories and memories about them. Posts on any other topic are being removed.

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Just tuned in expecting to learn that the girls had been found safe and sound, but instead- horror, those poor little darlings, how could he, what a miserable coward!
news.sky.com

Manhunt for former soldier suspected of murdering his three daughters in Washington state

The public have been warned not to approach the suspect, who has years of military experience and could be hiding out in a national forest east of Seattle.
news.sky.com news.sky.com
''Officers said Travis Decker, 32, has "extensive" military training and could pose a "significant risk" but they aren't sure if he's armed.
Police, the FBI and US marshals are all involved, with drones and aircraft deployed to scour remote forested areas.''
''The public have been warned to not approach Decker and to call 911 immediately.''
1749034605274.webp


Jun 3, 2025 #komo #komonews #komo4
''WATCH: Wenatchee police and the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office provided an update Tuesday evening during a joint press conference about the ongoing investigation and manhunt for Travis Decker, who is accused of kidnapping and killing his three daughters. The sheriff’s office said 9-year-old Paityn, 8-year-old Evelyn, and 5-year-old Olivia Decker were found dead Monday after a CCSO Forest Service deputy on patrol spotted Decker’s unoccupied 2017 GMC Sierra pickup truck near a campground in Leavenworth. The girls were found after a search of the area, but Decker was nowhere to be found.Decker is wanted for three counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping in connection with the girls' deaths. The sheriff’s office said Decker is “former military with extensive training.” The reward for any information that leads to Decker's capture is now up to $20,000.''
 
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jp156 said:
Actually there was a divorce record for Washington that I located and a parenting plan appeared to be in place. I'm not going to link the court records because I don't know of that is allowed or not.

This just broke my heart when I read the news this morning (WA resident). The alert was all over my social media pages yesterday so to read this outcome is just the worst.
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Yes you can link to court records. When you state something as fact like you did here our rules require that you post your source. This will be very interesting to see. I appreciate you posting the court records
 
I think it's very telling that the mother noted that TD was exhibiting "screaming/crying" when he had to return the girls in the past or when getting off the phone with them, and also noted no physical abuse but increasing controlling behaviors and narcissism - it's referenced in several MSM articles that have been linked here.

This is the same behavior pattern we see from many male family annihilators. IMO JMO, TD felt he was losing control and his ego could not handle that.
 
azure said:
I just can't agree that the courts did the right thing.

I think the courts need to stop giving unstable, undeserving, unpredictable parents unsupervised visitation. Supervised visitation was completely appropriate until he was competent enough to attend all required evaluations and classes and participate in his case (signing the papers). It's not about "keeping the children from the parent". It's about keeping the children safe.
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Sjöberg said:
Thank you. I've been thinking similar thoughts, but was afraid of wording them, you did it so very well!

I'm not sure if ATM he is on the run or dead somewhere, but I lean towards on the run. However, if he took off from the immediate area, I'm afraid it might be harder to find a dead person than an alive one. If he is not found and the mother cannot be sure if he is alive or dead, my gosh, the anxiety this would cause.
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I agree somewhat, but from a previous post, the father did not follow the court’s directive about having evaluations.

As an example, most people, IMO, wouldn’t have left five children alone with Andrea Yates. Rational people would not blame Andrea Yates for what happened, but she should not have been the sole caretaker of children as she had PPP. Just my thoughts.
 
sunflowermomma said:
I think it's very telling that the mother noted that TD was exhibiting "screaming/crying" when he had to return the girls in the past or when getting off the phone with them, and also noted no physical abuse but increasing controlling behaviors and narcissism - it's referenced in several MSM articles that have been linked here.

This is the same behavior pattern we see from many male family annihilators. IMO JMO, TD felt he was losing control and his ego could not handle that.
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I don't think that he was the one with those behaviors, but rather the girls. I took it to mean they were screaming/crying when having to leave her (or maybe him, but more likely her) and when having to get off the phone with her (while in his care).

Here's the article quote about this, and it indeed doesn't say who was screaming and crying, but I'm taking it as WD describing some of the "negative impacts" on the kids:

"In a declaration, filed Sept. 20, 2024, Whitney said ‘Since our separation, it has become increasingly clear that Travis has been struggling to maintain stability in his life.’ The ‘lack of stability’ led to a ‘negative impact on our children.’ She said they were ‘deeply affected’ which led to ‘heightened emotional stress.’

‘This is demonstrated through screaming/crying bouts at drop off or when they get off a phone call,’ she wrote."
( ‘He keeps getting more unstable’: Wenatchee mother raised alarms before daughters found dead )
 
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vls12345 said:
I sure hope the mom & her family members are being protected. This murderer might go after her or her remaining loved ones next. Imo.
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I considered this too and then changed my mind. He preplanned it, according to what we've been told. He didn't include the mom in those plans. I think he purposely left her alive to live with what he has done and I will not be surprised to read that he's killed himself. This was no snap decision, it was orchestrated and carried out, unimaginable cruel murders. All JMO.
Sjöberg said:
Thank you. I've been thinking similar thoughts, but was afraid of wording them, you did it so very well!

I'm not sure if ATM he is on the run or dead somewhere, but I lean towards on the run. However, if he took off from the immediate area, I'm afraid it might be harder to find a dead person than an alive one. If he is not found and the mother cannot be sure if he is alive or dead, my gosh, the anxiety this would cause.
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I don't know how she copes with this. It's horrific. Three precious daughters
 
bestill said:
I considered this too and then changed my mind. He preplanned it, according to what we've been told. He didn't include the mom in those plans. I think he purposely left her alive to live with what he has done and I will not be surprised to read that he's killed himself. This was no snap decision, it was orchestrated and carried out, unimaginable cruel murders. All JMO.

I don't know how she copes with this. It's horrific. Three precious daughters
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Yes I agree. He could have easily killed the mother too. But he didn't because then she wouldn't be alive to suffer the loss of her daughters. He wanted her to suffer IMO.

I can't imagine how anyone can carry on after losing all their children, especially in such a horrific way. I hope she has tons of help and support.
 
after reading the details about the custody/visitation arrangements my heart hurts even more for mama. She tried so hard to walk that line between protecting her girls while not alienating their father from their lives.

As his mental state and living arrangements deteriorated, she attempted to walk that tightrope, following the new modified parenting plan, while he, chose not to fulfill the expectations of the court to be evaluated and to complete anger management.

I cannot imagine how difficult navigating all this was for her for the last several years. For it to end this way is so very unfair.
 
LucyOso said:
This is awful and horrible. RIP girls.

I do have to say, being unhoused or homeless, especially after a divorce and the pandemic does not make someone categorically unfit to be a parent. Having PTSD, anxiety, depression and other treatable mental health conditions also does not categorically exclude someone from having parental rights. This mother really did work within parameters of the legal system to maintain parental contact, dignity, and also protect her children. The court systems did exactly what they are designed to do.

We must remember that not too many decades ago, women with postpartum depression or men with men with PTSD literally were instuitionalized losing all rights. There are laws in place to protect people now. In hindsight we can be like OMG how could a homeless guy with PTSD have visitation, and broadly label millions and millions of people who are stable, who are down on their luck, who fit under that umbrella. But the reality is, losing housing or having a mental health diagnosis does not mean you will kill or harm your children. These generalizations are harmful to society.

In this situation, even an Amber Alert was not issued because based on factual history, there was nothing that could could predict this outcome. There was no history of violence or harm. Sure there was a down-hill trajectory, but predicting such a massive change to be violent is literally guessing. And we can't use guessing to take away peoples rights these days.

Again, horrible outcome. This is terrible. I am so sad for them all. Horrible. Also, I am not supporting the perp at all...This is unfathomable.
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The Court ordered an evaluation of the father & he refused to sign. IMO, this should have stopped any visitation. The father also had poor judgment in leaving his children around men @ the Armory when he was not with them.
 
tlcya said:
after reading the details about the custody/visitation arrangements my heart hurts even more for mama. She tried so hard to walk that line between protecting her girls while not alienating their father from their lives.

As his mental state and living arrangements deteriorated, she attempted to walk that tightrope, following the new modified parenting plan, while he, chose not to fulfill the expectations of the court to be evaluated and to complete anger management.

I cannot imagine how difficult navigating all this was for her for the last several years. For it to end this way is so very unfair.
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Yes, I think the Mom gave the Court enough information about the Dad’s decline, along with him not signing the evaluation papers, his visitation should have been supervised or stopped. I don’t blame the Mom as she is not a psychiatrist & I think in her own way, she told the court about the instability.
 
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