Found Deceased Olivia 5, Evelyn 8 & Paityn Decker 9, found dead, manhunt on for father, Travis Decker 32, wh 2017 GMC Sierra PU, Wenatchee, 30 May 2025 #2

[branmuffin]

Good question. I'd say he brought them in their plastic packages because it was easier.

I think some survivalists use zip ties as snares for hunting small game like rabbits, etc. Being homeless with limited money I could see him doing that.

 

[LooksSusToMe]

PTSD is no joke. Obviously he needs to be captured and brought to justice, but if he already was diagnosed with BPD, the experiences in the military could exasperate delusion and violence. Things spiraled with no mental health help.

Maybe he thought someone was after him, and he had to run away to Canada. Perhaps the delusions got so bad he thought taking the lives of his kids would somehow save them.

My friend was a gunner in the Marines, and he served in Afghanistan. He’s told me some horror stories. It’s really hard for them to transition back to civilian life after that.

This is one of the saddest cases I’ve seen in awhile.

 

[Charlot123]

The thing is TD recognized he had issues and sought mental health intervention through the VA. He was put on a waiting list and did not have an advocate. We (in US and Canada) need to do more for our veterans. This includes but not limited to mental health, housing and financial guidance.
More money needs to be allotted to the VA.

And in both countries, I feel we need to address and modify the Amber Alert System. Hopefully, Whitney Decker will help in advocating for these changes in the future.

Edited to add: I am in no way sticking up for TD’s actions. But, had he received the help he requested, perhaps the scenario would have been different.

Call for compassion, love, and action from Whitney Decker’s friends and family

According to Whitney’s friends and family, she’s hoping that energy can be channeled into changing the systems she believes failed her daughters.

www.yahoo.com

I guess to understand what was going on, we have to look at his high whole life story, including the one before the army. Perhaps even grades in HS. I suspect it is a long story.

Agree with your opinion about the Amber Alert.

I do not believe he is at all ill prepared. The man was in the habit of spending up to a month out there off grid and may have caches of food and supplies placed in areas convenient to him. He has military mountain survival training.

Also, one doesn't plan/premeditate murder in the midst of a psychotic episode (my own opinion). reports say his GPS on his truck says he went to the area the girls' bodies were found the day prior to him picking them up. He planned this. JMO no psychosis. That is not to say I believe TD didn't have serious mental health issues. His ex-wife claims he had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and she and a former friend of his both describe him as narcissistic.

He may be ill-prepared, but it is our state that helps him. In Eastern Washington people seem to buy "acres" of land. So the population density is low. The same applies to the East of BC or Alberta.

Remember the "spider man", the Brazilian prison escapee in PA? MOO - he had better skills than Travis, and maybe some of the locals were even supportive of him, yet he was caught in a week. PA is more populous, that's all.

And now the guardsmen are looking for him, and it is so hot in here. The terrain is horrible. Wishing luck to the people who are now looking for him. I hope the locals take a good care of them, bring them water, etc.

 

[Brooklyn127]

The Amber Alert thing is so darned tricky. We have heard it both ways.
Too many alerts, people start to ignore. Too few, something very critical gets missed (mostly in hindsight, but still!).
How to fine-tune it? I don't know.

 

[Charlot123]

The Amber Alert thing is so darned tricky. We have heard it both ways.
Too many alerts, people start to ignore. Too few, something very critical gets missed (mostly in hindsight, but still!).
How to fine-tune it? I don't know.

Yes, a mixed bag, and 90% of times, AA is a loud signal with the message about the car type. And, to be fair, this very situation is an extreme outlier as compared to most AAs. The most common first thought is, “the heck do I know how GMC Sierra even looks like? It is a pickup truck”. Perhaps in Eastern WA, the locals would have recognized the car, but there is another problem there: off the main roads, the chance to encounter the car would have been slim.

I just think that given how many AAs we get, this case merited one.

 

[Brooklyn127]

Yes, a mixed bag, and 90% of times, AA is a loud signal with the message about the car type. And, to be fair, this very situation is an extreme outlier as compared to most AAs. The most common first thought is, “the heck do I know how GMC Sierra even looks like? It is a pickup truck”. Perhaps in Eastern WA, the locals would have recognized the car, but there is another problem there: off the main roads, the chance to encounter the car would have been slim.

I just think that given how many AAs we get, this case merited one.

Agreed. It might not have saved them, but as others have said, would have given him less of a head start.
How tragic.

 

[girlhasnoname]

I can't even imagine the paranoia he must be having out there. Every single noise spooks him, he's probably not sleeping or eating well, dehydrated, the memories of his daughters haunting him, realizing he's gonna have to make the decision soon to either end his life (and this is it. this is what his life adds up.) or get caught, face what he did, take accountability, and everyone see him as a failure (in many ways) for the rest of his life... Hell on earth.

I'm more than fine with this, but I hope it's sooner rather than later. JMO

 

[girlhasnoname]

Lone hiker tip received from other hikers near Blewett Pass WA

The way his appearance changes (as evidenced by your photos) is unreal.

 

[girlhasnoname]

I do not believe he is at all ill prepared. The man was in the habit of spending up to a month out there off grid and may have caches of food and supplies placed in areas convenient to him. He has military mountain survival training.

Also, one doesn't plan/premeditate murder in the midst of a psychotic episode (my own opinion). reports say his GPS on his truck says he went to the area the girls' bodies were found the day prior to him picking them up. He planned this. JMO no psychosis. That is not to say I believe TD didn't have serious mental health issues. His ex-wife claims he had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and she and a former friend of his both describe him as narcissistic.

Thank you for putting into words exactly how I feel. I believe TD planned this, had supplies, ie clothing, food water, etc. to get through his escape from the area. He could have easily changed into proper hiking gear which he had in the truck. IMO

I come from a family with a long line of military members, and there has never been a physically violent act committed by any one of them. I'm not saying TD didn't have some PTSD or other MH issues, but he sure had enough faculties about himself to plan and murder, in a most heinous way, his own 3 beautiful daughters and is now successfully evading LE.

My sympathy lies with the mother and the loved ones of these precious little girls. TD should have never been able to have unsupervised visitation after he pulled the last stunt which resulted in a new parental custody agreement, no overnight visitation.

He was homeless, the event which led to this new custodial agreement. He took the girls to a homeless shelter and allowed them to walk to a convenience store alone. There were signs.

JMO

 

[Rosiebones]

Have Canadian authorities been put on alert?

 

[Arven]

While I agree that there needs to be more mental health assistance available etc I believe those aspects are a little beside the point here. TD had medication but he stopped taking it. He refused the court mandated mental health evaluation. He stopped the counselling sessions he had. What was desperately needed here was more flexibility within the family court system to pivot and amend parenting agreements when there are (imo extremely obvious) red flags. No one who refused their evaluation and stopped taking their meds should have been allowed continued unsupervised visitation, and the courts should have acted when Whitney applied to amend the agreement due to these changes.

A lot of things here indicate the known symptoms of family annihilator behaviour before the act is carried out. With the account of his brother added to the mix, even more so. By his brother's account, TD withdrew from his family and avoided child support and parenting obligations. He was looking into starting a new life elsewhere (looking for a 'clean slate', as these types of people are wont to fantasise about). He threatened violence when his own family attempted intervention. He had financial problems that were compounded by his child support obligations (I have known absent fathers who have purposefully left jobs and moved around a lot specifically to keep evading the child support garnish). By multiple accounts he was self-pitying and by the grandfather's account, he was the type of person to avoid taking responsibility for his issues. He attempted reconciliation with Whitney and was rebuked, and stopped seeking any help for any mental health issues he may or may not have had. The signs were there.

And not all family annihilators also kill themselves; studies detail that on many occasions, the perpetrator does plan on suicide, but then finds that after committing the initial acts of violence the urge (or rage) they felt is sated, and they find themselves wanting to stay alive and suddenly have to run or turn themselves in instead. In my opinion, that's also what happened here, and why the running aspect seems strangely unplanned in comparison to the careful, systematic consideration of the method of death for the poor girls.

 

[girlhasnoname]

While I agree that there needs to be more mental health assistance available etc I believe those aspects are a little beside the point here. TD had medication but he stopped taking it. He refused the court mandated mental health evaluation. He stopped the counselling sessions he had. What was desperately needed here was more flexibility within the family court system to pivot and amend parenting agreements when there are (imo extremely obvious) red flags. No one who refused their evaluation and stopped taking their meds should have been allowed continued unsupervised visitation, and the courts should have acted when Whitney applied to amend the agreement due to these changes.

A lot of things here indicate the known symptoms of family annihilator behaviour before the act is carried out. With the account of his brother added to the mix, even more so. By his brother's account, TD withdrew from his family and avoided child support and parenting obligations. He was looking into starting a new life elsewhere (looking for a 'clean slate', as these types of people are wont to fantasise about). He threatened violence when his own family attempted intervention. He had financial problems that were compounded by his child support obligations (I have known absent fathers who have purposefully left jobs and moved around a lot specifically to keep evading the child support garnish). By multiple accounts he was self-pitying and by the grandfather's account, he was the type of person to avoid taking responsibility for his issues. He attempted reconciliation with Whitney and was rebuked, and stopped seeking any help for any mental health issues he may or may not have had. The signs were there.

And not all family annihilators also kill themselves; studies detail that on many occasions, the perpetrator does plan on suicide, but then finds that after committing the initial acts of violence the urge (or rage) they felt is sated, and they find themselves wanting to stay alive and suddenly have to run or turn themselves in instead. In my opinion, that's also what happened here, and why the running aspect seems strangely unplanned in comparison to the careful, systematic consideration of the method of death for the poor girls.

 

[Nikynoo]

While I agree that there needs to be more mental health assistance available etc I believe those aspects are a little beside the point here. TD had medication but he stopped taking it. He refused the court mandated mental health evaluation. He stopped the counselling sessions he had. What was desperately needed here was more flexibility within the family court system to pivot and amend parenting agreements when there are (imo extremely obvious) red flags. No one who refused their evaluation and stopped taking their meds should have been allowed continued unsupervised visitation, and the courts should have acted when Whitney applied to amend the agreement due to these changes.

A lot of things here indicate the known symptoms of family annihilator behaviour before the act is carried out. With the account of his brother added to the mix, even more so. By his brother's account, TD withdrew from his family and avoided child support and parenting obligations. He was looking into starting a new life elsewhere (looking for a 'clean slate', as these types of people are wont to fantasise about). He threatened violence when his own family attempted intervention. He had financial problems that were compounded by his child support obligations (I have known absent fathers who have purposefully left jobs and moved around a lot specifically to keep evading the child support garnish). By multiple accounts he was self-pitying and by the grandfather's account, he was the type of person to avoid taking responsibility for his issues. He attempted reconciliation with Whitney and was rebuked, and stopped seeking any help for any mental health issues he may or may not have had. The signs were there.

And not all family annihilators also kill themselves; studies detail that on many occasions, the perpetrator does plan on suicide, but then finds that after committing the initial acts of violence the urge (or rage) they felt is sated, and they find themselves wanting to stay alive and suddenly have to run or turn themselves in instead. In my opinion, that's also what happened here, and why the running aspect seems strangely unplanned in comparison to the careful, systematic consideration of the method of death for the poor girls.

Respectfully, I disagree with your post. Can you provide sources for the BBM?

 

[Nikynoo]

the state Patrol is back up searching N305DK.

 

[girlhasnoname]

A small list of FA...stay away from dudes named Chris Only 33% killed themselves also

John List - Accountant - Started a new life because of financial crisis - Gunshot
Chris Watts - Engineer - Wanted to start a new life with another woman - Strangling, Drowning
Josh Powell - Business Mgr. - Murdered wife first and later 2 sons and himself in explosion
Chris Benoit - Pro Wrestler - 3 Day double murder/suicide - Asphyxiation
Chris Coleman - Head of Security for Televangelist - Affair - Strangulation
Christian Longo - Starbucks - Financial problems - Fled to Mexico - Asphyxiation
Andrea Yates - Stay at home Mom - murdered all five children - Mental Health issues - Drowning
Humistan - 15 yo boy - Murdered parents and 3 siblings (one sibling escaped) - Gunshot
Jennifer and Sarah Hart - Murdered 6 adopted children and themselves driving off a cliff

JMO/FYI

Added by Me: Only 2 used guns here = 22%

 

[Snoop Sister]

the state Patrol is back up searching N305DK.

Yes, it was going in circles north of Wenatchee and just west of Cashmere. Now it looks like it is going a slight bit more west and south. I don’t think they really have a clue where he is. And, although they found evidence from some lone hiker, it doesn’t mean it was definitively TD.

 

[Nikynoo]

Yes, it was going in circles north of Wenatchee and just west of Cashmere. Now it looks like it is going a slight bit more west and north. I don’t think they really have a clue where he is. And, although they found evidence from some lone hiker, it doesn’t mean it was definitively TD.

circling Snow Lakes atm.

 

[Snoop Sister]

circling Snow Lakes atm.

How are you getting that specific info? All I can see is the plane is north of Wenatchee and west of Cashmere. What am I doing wrong in the search?

ETA are you looking up the longitude and latitude?

 

[Nikynoo]

How are you getting that specific info? All I can see is the plane is north of Wenatchee and west of Cashmere. What am I doing wrong in the search?

ETA are you looking up the longitude and latitude?

use the + function on the right hand side of the page. It zooms in, showing the name of landmarks/places etc

 

[tlcya]

Respectfully, I disagree with your post. Can you provide sources for the BBM?

I am not the OP but
----------------------------
According to an affidavit filed last week in Chelan County Superior Court
[snip]
She said Decker was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder toward the end of their marriage and did not believe he was taking medication for it.
https://www.npr.org/2025/06/10/nx-s1-5429550/travis-decker-daughters-murder-manhunt-washington
Whitney told police that near the end of their marriage, her ex-husband was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, and she did not think he was taking his medication, according to the police affidavit.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/08/us/travis-decker-daughters-washington-manhunt

Around a month before the murders, the accused killer abruptly ended his daily counseling calls he had been holding with a Georgia pastor — some of which included conversations which lasted several hours, the documents reveal.
https://nypost.com/2025/06/07/us-news/travis-decker-was-on-brink-in-weeks-before-murders-docs/

The document reveals Decker had received daily counseling from a Georgia pastor for months, speaking several hours each day.

Four weeks before the murders, he abruptly ended these phone calls.
https://www.kxly.com/news/wenatchee...cle_99427a8d-8561-4c59-9108-c804ed0dce21.html

Judge grants motion, but Travis Decker refuses psychiatric evaluations
At the end of the almost 30-minute hearing, Judge Jourdan granted Whitney Decker’s motion and temporarily amended the couple’s parenting plan. However, Travis Decker refused to sign any court documents.

The judge told Travis Decker signing the documents was up to him, but his order would be legally binding with or without his signature. Travis Decker also refused to attend any domestic violence psychiatric evaluations and assessments. Seven months later, Chelan County deputies found the bodies of his children at a campground 18 miles west of Leavenworth.
https://mynorthwest.com/crime_blotter/custody-issues-travis-decker/4095731