The mother of three young sisters allegedly mu*dered by their father has broken her silence, calling their deaths a “preventable tragedy” and placing the blame squarely on law enforcement for failing to act swiftly enough.
Whitney Decker, mother of 9-year-old Paityn, 8-year-old Evelyn, and 5-year-old Olivia, said she begged authorities to issue an alert after her ex-husband, Travis Decker, failed to return their daughters on time following a scheduled visitation last Friday.
Her pleas were allegedly dismissed.
The mother of the three young sisters allegedly murdered by their army veteran father broke her silence
Image credits: Whitney Decker
“They told her it didn’t meet the requirements,” said Whitney’s attorney, Arianna Cozart, in a public statement today (June 5).
“She knew something was wrong. She told them the girls were in substantial danger.”
Image credits: Whitney Decker
By Monday evening, the children were found lifeless at a remote campsite roughly 38 miles from their mother’s home in Wenatchee, Washington. Their wrists had been bound with zip ties, and they had been suffocated with plastic bags.
Travis Decker, a 32-year-old US Army veteran and former paratrooper, is now the subject of a statewide manhunt. He has not been seen since Friday and is considered armed and extremely dangerous due to his elite military training.
Image credits: Chelan County Sheriff’s Office
“This was a tragedy that could’ve been completely avoided,” Cozart said on the mother’s behalf.
“We may never know if it could’ve meant the difference between life and death for those girls, but it could’ve made a huge difference.”
Image credits: Chelan County Sheriff’s Office
Court documents show that Whitney reported her daughters missing the same day they failed to return.
She allegedly warned officers repeatedly about Travis’ declining mental state—a well-known risk factor that, as Bored Panda previously reported, had been described during their divorce proceedings.
Despite these red flags, police said they couldn’t issue an Amber Alert (also known as a child abduction emergency) because Decke hadn’t made an overt threat.
Whitney is calling for a reform to Washington’s Amber Alert system, as well as for better mental healthcare for veterans
In the wake of her daughters’ tragic deaths, Whitney Decker is calling for urgent changes to Washington’s Alert system.
“It’s very important to Whitney to get that fixed,” Cozart added. “Text alerts could have mobilized the community to look for the girls and Travis’ white GMC pickup.”
Image credits: Whitney Decker
According to the State Patrol, the case didn’t meet the legal threshold for an Amber Alert because there was no confirmed abduction or history of violence toward the children.
Cozart and the mother, on the other hand, argue those standards are outdated and insufficient in cases involving mental health red flags.
“She wants to make sure no other mother has to live through this kind of avoidable heartbreak,” Cozart added.
Whitney is also calling for better mental healthcare for veterans, believing that her former husband’s horrific act was the result of years of trauma getting the better of him.
Despite her husband’s deteriorating mental state, she never believed him to pose a danger to their daughters
Image credits: Whitney Decker
“He clearly had some sort of break, and everything that he had bottled up inside—years of trauma—just won out,” the mother said through her attorney to the Seattle Times. “He would not have done what he did if he was himself.”
Decker, once a decorated Ranger who joined the Army in 2012 and served in Afghanistan in 2014, transferred to the Washington National Guard in 2021.
However, according to the girls’ mother, his mental state started to deteriorate rapidly in 2024. This led to her filing for divorce, specifically citing mental instability as the reason; court paperwork shows.
At the time of the tragic incident, Decker was also facing a disciplinary discharge after he stopped attending drills over a year ago.
Image credits: Whitney Decker
Whitney cited his mental health as the primary reason for their divorce last September, calling his condition “the catalyst” that ended their marriage.
“He was in the Army for many years. Upon separation from the Army and transition into the reserves, his borderline personality disorder and narcissism became rampant,” she wrote in court documents.
As the manhunt continues, law enforcement is urging the public to stay vigilant and avoid approaching the suspect at all costs.
“Travis is a survivalist. He was a Ranger. He knows how to disappear,” said Undersheriff Dan Ozment. “But we will find him.”
“Those poor babies.” Netizens took to social media to share their thoughts on the mother’s words
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