Authorities that are hunting down Travis Decker share a grim new theory.
Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8 and Olivia Decker, 5 went missing after a 3 hour visit with their father, Travis Decker.
This prompted a huge manhunt that lasted days before their bodies were tragically found. The children are believed to have been suffocated by their father, who cops now believe may be dead.
Police had found his truck at around 3.45pm on 2 June near Rock Island Campground in Leavenworth.
The three bodies were tragically found around 100 yards from the truck and each girl had a plastic bag over her head with zip ties around her wrists.
Two bloody handprints were also found on the back of the truck, as well as blankets, food car seats and a wallet.
A police report stated that the girls’ cause of death was likely asphyxiation.
The 32-year-old has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and authorities share that he may ‘pose a significant risk if approached’ due to having combat training.
However, authorities believe he may be dead. The Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office shared the following statement on Monday: “At this time, there is no certain evidence that Decker remains alive or in this area,”, “Seemingly strong early leads gave way to less convincing proofs over the last two weeks of searching. Still, we can’t and won’t quit this search; Paityn, Evelyn, and Olivia Decker deserve justice. And Decker remains a danger to the public as long as he’s at large,” the statement continued.
The search continues.
His ex and the girls’ mother Whitney, previously shared that she had been worried about him as he ‘really struggled since he left the military.’
‘His mental health can be hard sometimes,’ she shared, adding that he had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and she thinks he did not take any medication.
Despite concerns, the mother shared that she didn’t think he was dangerous and claimed that he loved his children.
She also shared that he had allegedly giving his dog away as he had housing and money struggles.
‘I do not want to keep Travis from the girls at all,’ Whitney wrote in a court filing. ‘To the contrary, I have bent over backwards to facilitate that relationship.
‘But I cannot have our girls staying in what is essentially a homeless shelter, at times unsupervised, with dozens of strange men or staying in a tent or living in his truck with him, both in extreme temperatures.”
Police later revealed his chilling internet search history. According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Decker searched “how to relocate to Canada” and “how does a person move to Canada” on May 26, only days before the children went missing.
The affidavit also revealed: “The location of the victims’ remains is relatively close to the Canadian border and approximately 11 miles from the Pacific Crest Trail, a well-established trail that leads directly to Canada,”.
A GoFundMe has been set up for the mother, which at the time of writing, has raised over $1.2 million. The bio reads: ‘These girls were true light in this world and and it is a darker place without them. I will miss seeing their sweet little faces,’,
‘Send Whitney all of your prayers, love and support. Take some time to today to tell someone you love them.’
Decker has been described by police as 5’8″, 190 pounds with black hair and brown eyes – last seen wearing dark shorts and a light colored shirt.
His brother Thomas Decker has shared that his brother’s actions are unrecognizable from who they were are kids and he has asked him to ‘stop this evil’ and give himself over to the police.
When asked if he thought his brother would turn himself in, he shared: “I honestly do not know,’ , ‘We have been so disconnected for the last three years.
‘I hope it is over soon. You know, there’s a lot of people – not just within the family, but outside the family – that wants closure with this.’
‘We did everything together [growing up], we hunted, fished, camped and fought with each other. We were best friends as kids.’
They also both joined the army: ‘At times we were stationed at opposite ends of the world, but we stayed in touch with phone calls and emails. We rarely saw each other because of our military careers.’
Later in life, they ended up both living in Washington with their families. Thomas said: ‘Initially, Travis was excited about the news that we were going to be finally living in the same state after all of these years.
‘I was excited, I have young kids, and Travis had three young girls. I thought we all could reconnect… with our wives and kids.
‘Then, after I moved out, I called Travis on the phone, he appeared distant and uninterested, I was taken back by his demeanor.
‘Months later I found out that Travis and Whitney were getting a divorce. He was still living at the house, but every time I spoke with him… it’s hard to explain, but you couldn’t communicate with him.
‘He listened but wasn’t listening.” he shared.
He later found out Travis was beginning to desert his family:
‘I told him, ‘You can’t leave your family like this. People get divorced all the time, if you are not happy in your marriage, that’s okay.’
”But your kids do not deserve this, just because you are getting a divorce doesn’t allow you to forgo your parental obligations.”
Thomas shared that he and their father staged an ‘intervention’ at Travis’ house. His ex had taken the children away so they could talk to him:
‘We were trying to help him. We had hoped to have a good conversation with him – to ask him if he needed anything, any help, financial or otherwise. We are family, we want to help him and see what we could do to get him back on track.
‘But things did not go well, he tried to resort to violence, because we were not supposed to be there and we just showed up unannounced,’ said Thomas. He did not go into detail but claimed there had been no physical violence at that point.
In 2023, after their mother passed away, Thomas claimed he reached out to his brother as a sign of support and to offer him some of their mother’s personal items: ‘Again, whatever I said fell on deaf ears. By this time, he and Whitney were divorced, and he wasn’t paying child support, nor fulfilling his parental obligations.’
He later had to cut his brother off: ‘He was spreading lies about me and I just no longer wanted to deal with it.
‘I have worked hard for what I have accomplished, and I did not want his lies to ruin my career or anything else. So I told myself I would not communicate with him anymore.
‘And to cut him off was tough. We grew up together, he is my baby brother, we did a lot of things together, and I thought we were going to be a big happy family, take our kids on trips, be uncles and dads.
‘It’s tough now knowing that will never be the case.’
Thomas saw the children only the week before they died:
‘We were being transferred again, and we were going to be driving near where they lived so we spent a night in Wenatchee. We got a hotel and Whit, the girls came swimming, and we had a little pizza party. We laughed and played and just caught up on conversation, normal family stuff.
‘Whitney told my wife that she still wanted Travis to find help. But she never mentioned that she was concerned about her and her daughters’ safety around Travis.
‘Travis was still attending the girls’ sporting events, but he still was not financially providing for his girls.’
Thomas added that if he ‘knew of any potential danger we would have acted upon it. We did not get any vibe Whitney had any concern of potential violence.’
When asked if he believed his brother was suffering with PTSD, he shared: ‘I don’t know. I mean, everybody gets affected from different things differently.
‘There are people in the military that can see the worst things and they’re fine. And there’s people that go to the office every day and they are out.’
‘The guy on the wanted poster for murdering my three nieces is not the brother I know,’ said Thomas. ‘I can’t even comprehend what is going on.
‘I am in complete shock that he would do something like this. He loves his daughters – at least I thought he did. And Whitney is devastated beyond belief.’
He shared that if he was able to talk to his brother, he ‘wants to ask Travis why? Why did you do this?’ However, added ‘Can you trust somebody that did something like this to give you an honest answer?’.
Heartbreaking.
