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

[LucyOso]

here is the original.
I have seen this before, I think its important and very much a factor.

Yes, I saw that as well. I have posted this multiple times inn the previous thread.


Many people get mental health issues from the military. Often, what holds people "together" is the structure, lack of choices, and fear of stigma while serving. When people separate, they feel lost and adrift, no longer have that prescriptive lifestyle, and slowly become more and more decompensated. The fact that he was in the National Guard until recently, demonstrates he was able to kind of hold it together enough to stay off the radar.

Found Deceased Post in thread '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'

Jun 3, 2025

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.

Every single person alive has the potential to have some form of anxiety, depression, mental health issues. Sometimes it is extremely obvious very early on due to body/chemical issues. Sometimes the potential is there, then a series of events, like war, rape, victimization by systems, create major issues. Most can be treated with therapy and meds...

• LucyOso

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[LucyOso]

I guess what I am not understanding is what do we know FOR SURE, about what his stress was about.
for him to zip tie 3 of his daughters hands together and place plastic bags over their heads and let them suffocate to death,.
To hear what we assume was his problem is not a good enough answer for me,
Sorry I just feel like Im trying to uderstand something and grabbing theories that are no more a possibility than him being someone who cant handle being an adult because everything was placed in a perfect row for him his whole life. Coping skills, resiliency. Im sure he learned that somewhere along the way.
I dont always think everything needs to be pathologized.
he asked for a divorce when he probably didnt want one. he was probably hoping for a different result when he asked , not thinking about the consequences,.
yes he had PTSD, and BPD, but was he taking care of himself?

In no means do I condone or am I making excuses for his actions. It is unconscionable. These girls deserve justice. It is horrific. If captured, I don't even think the insanity defense should apply.

I am going to respectfully agree to disagree that this was a person with normal capacity acting in a strategically calculating way.

I do think, using a Macro view of society as a whole, we have seen more and more situations such as this. Some cases in MSM really are humans driven by extreme selfishness and FOMO. In other cases there are very gray areas of what is occurring. These situations can painfully point out areas where society can do better to make certain supports and safety nets are in place for people trying (albeit flailing) to reduce situations such as this. To recognize how stigma, generalizations, labels, and categorizing people with mental health disorders can further create barriers for getting help. Trying to understand, by no means means making excuses.

 

[Boxer]

Is it normal stress for a young father who is working but yet can’t afford a rental spot and is homeless. No place to take his kids on visits or no money or insure his vehicle, or even to be able to feed his dog as was in the case with Decker? That’s significant stress in my opinion for a 32 year old. For any age, I would think. Imoo

Just a different perspective not sticking up for him. Just saying…
What he did was horrific. No excuses.

MOO the stress and ill luck of poverty is terrible, but all that still didn't make him a killer, that was solely his own personal choice to blame or use his children.

 

[ttjo]

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed> ... for me I think every case is individual and I feel like we dont have enough info to know what happened here. This was Horrific and deserves a good answer.
a contributing piece coud be that he had a a life of high achievement , but a combination of mental health, lack of coping skills, made that impossible to maintain, probably didnt have the insight to see what role he played, and blamed everyone else instead of taking care of himself and it just snowballed into this.
and that is a bare bones possibility, there is so much more to know. .

 

[Queen of the Winter Night]

If he was at a place mentally where he wanted to be done with the life he had, why didn't he just run away and leave his children with the ex-wife, alive but never to be contacted again? Men do it all the time, and honestly women do too. It sucks but it's better than KILLING THE CHILDREN. Like just go. What made him specifically kill them and to do it in such a premeditated, thought out, and brutal way? Like sorry for the gruesomeness but it's not like he snapped while giving them a bath or something....he had to make such a series of multiple choices over a long enough span of time. He didn't just "snap" in a moment's heat of passion. I struggle with cPTSD which I don't mind sharing, and I've never ever thought about physically harming other people in my life. The first thing you are told in therapy is that what you've experienced in your life and your diagnoses are unfair but your treatment and behavior are your own responsibility, end of story, period. So I don't know what his excuse "should" be.

 

[Boxer]

MOO No excuse at all, a MH personality disorder has nothing to do with murder.
If anything he should have been more cautious about himself being around his children.

 

[sunflowermomma]

Where is this guy?!?!

 

[Gemmie]

Where is this guy?!?!

Doing a really good job at evading authorities, if he's even still alive.

 

[ttjo]

If he is not alive, ,would someone like him try to hide himself? would there be a reason for that? or is it just that noone knows where to look for him, because its a huge area.

 

[Boxer]

If he is not alive, ,would someone like him try to hide himself? would there be a reason for that? or is it just that noone knows where to look for him, because its a huge area.

Truly anywhere from the campsite out.

 

[Gemmie]

If he is not alive, ,would someone like him try to hide himself? would there be a reason for that? or is it just that noone knows where to look for him, because its a huge area.

I didn't mean that if he's deceased that he hid himself. It's just probably harder to find a body not moving, leaving clues (footsteps, broken branches, etc.) or emitting heat for tools to capture.

 

[ttjo]

I didn't mean that if he's deceased that he hid himself. It's just probably harder to find a body not moving, leaving clues (footsteps, broken branches, etc.) or emitting heat for tools to capture.

I know you didnt ,I am really asking that question, He left that campsite for all we know he could have ended it right there, he is nowhere . so I wondered if that was a thing, or if there was any psychology behind hiding yourself and ending it, Has anyone else done that?
why is there no trace ... of anything.

 

[spittenkitten]

MOO No excuse at all, a MH personality disorder has nothing to do with murder.
If anything he should have been more cautious about himself being around his children.

I highly doubt that anyone is excusing his horrific actions. I would certainly hope not. But his mental health diagnoses are another piece of the puzzle. We're all just sleuthing and speculating here.

 

[spittenkitten]

Please remove if this has already been posted: Audio of Decker from one of the custody hearings.

 

[RedHaus]

Where is this guy?!?!

Good question. I think there are 6 options, building on OPs' responses.

1. TD has died outside of his control (e.g. died from hypothermia while sleeping).

2. TD has died by his own hands and either:

a is out in the open and may some day be found, or

b. will not be found because he obscured his body (e.g. in mine, under water, etc.)

3. TD is alive and hiding in place

4. TD is alive and moving, skillfully evading capture in the search area(s) with ample supplies

5. TD is alive and evading capture having left the search area to another state or Canada?

6. TD was never in the search area and evaded capture by escaping from his campsite before search started (e.g. ATV or car he towed to the campsite the day before; hitchhiked).

I am personally haunted by the possibility of #6 because, IIRC, LE has not shared how they know TD went into the woods.

ET: add clarity

 

[Charlot123]

@Done&done hope this helps!​

Police called to collision involving triple-murder suspect Travis Decker two days before kidnapping​

Shawn Garrett
Fri, June 6, 2025 at 11:48 AM PDT
1 min read

According to the Wenatchee Police Department, on that Wednesday morning, the non-injury collision happened when Decker in his GMC was stopped at a red light behind another car.

When the light turned green, both vehicles began to move. The car then slowed for traffic ahead of it, and Decker rear-ended the car.

<snip>

When Decker was interviewed, police say he admitted to not having car insurance.

The officer cited Decker $196 for following too closely and $559 for operating his truck without insurance.​

Police called to collision involving triple-murder suspect Travis Decker two days before kidnapping

Triple-murder suspect Travis Decker was involved in a rear-end collision just two days before police say he kidnapped and murdered his three children in Wenatchee.

www.yahoo.com

Thank you! Interesting.

The way I understand it. A car collision is stressful even if you have insurance. But if a person is already in a paranoid mode, he may view himself as a bigger criminal. Maybe he felt he was going to be jailed for a failure to pay, who knows? He was probably googling Canada as “where can I escape when charged?”

I personally feel that he totally exaggerated the consequences of the collision because he was so paranoid and out of his mind. I suspect that stopping his medication didn’t help. But it is all MOO.

 

[huckleberryhound]

I know you didnt ,I am really asking that question, He left that campsite for all we know he could have ended it right there, he is nowhere . so I wondered if that was a thing, or if there was any psychology behind hiding yourself and ending it, Has anyone else done that?
why is there no trace ... of anything.

I've thought about that question as well, and IMO if he "hid" his own body that would be one last way to hurt his ex-wife. She would spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder, wondering if he is still out there-

 

[BreakingNews]

If he tried to get help, this shows some degree of self awareness. So why did he stop his medication which might have stabilised him?
What he did to his 3 little daughters was heinous. Absolutely nothing can justify that.
Mental illness is far too common in murder cases throughout the world. Here in Australia we had 6 people stabbed to death in a shopping centre by a man with mental health issues. His own family had been crying out for help for him prior to this horrific incident.
It seems to me that the mental health authorities need all the available resources plus more to prevent such tragedies. MOO

 

[CJnashy]

Maybe I’m just missing it but I’m shocked by the lack of national media attention I’ve seen for this case. I mean I know, we’ve got a thing or 2 going on right now… but an active manhunt going into its THIRD WEEK for this military trained father who kidnapped and murdered his 3 young daughters?! Who could very possibly be a public threat?? Im in Tennessee so no where near the PNW but I haven’t seen anything other than a little blurb here & there and no one I’ve talked to has much knowledge about it at all outside of hearing about the girls missing initially.

I’m sure it’s getting a ton more coverage regionally but still really surprised I haven’t seen his face plastered *everywhere*

 

[Queen of the Winter Night]

Please remove if this has already been posted: Audio of Decker from one of the custody hearings.

This makes it sound like things needed to be his way or the highway.