The three young sisters found dead at a campsite in Washington were likely suffocated by their father. Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia Decker, 5, went missing after a scheduled three-hour visit with their father, Travis Decker, prompting a multi-day manhunt before their bodies were found on Monday, while Decker remains on the run.
Cops swarmed around Rock Island Campground in Leavenworth after locating Decker's truck around 3:45 p.m. Monday, redirecting traffic and closing off access to the area. The girls' bodies were found roughly 75 to 100 yards from Decker's truck, each with a plastic bag over her head and zip ties binding their wrists, the Seattle Times reported.
Grim Discovery
Investigators also found two bloody handprints on the truck's tailgate. Inside the vehicle were several personal belongings, including blankets, food, car seats, and a wallet resting on the center console.
Fox 13 reported that the campsite showed evidence of recent use, with a tent and cooler located nearby — though Decker himself was nowhere to be found.
A report submitted to the Chelan County Superior Court suggests the likely cause of death for all three children was asphyxiation.
Decker, 32, is now facing three counts each of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. Authorities warn he may be highly dangerous due to his extensive combat training and noted it's currently unknown whether he is armed.
Police said that Decker does not have a stable permanent housing and is known to stay in hotels and at campgrounds. His ex-wife, Whitney, the mother of the three girls, had expressed concern over his well-being, noting that he had been "really struggling since leaving the military."
"His mental health can be hard at times," Whitney told KIRO 7.
She told authorities that Decker had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, but she believed he was not taking any prescribed medicines for it, according to court records.
Decker was supposed to undergo mental health treatment and attend anger management classes, but the documents indicate there's no evidence he ever followed through — and he had refused to sign the agreement, as outlined in a parenting plan.
Despite these concerns, Whitney told police she didn't consider Decker to be a threat and believed he loved his daughters deeply.
Never safe in father's Custody
Whitney said that the girls had a "good relationship" with their father and enjoyed spending time with him, adding that he had always returned them after visits — until now, according to a police affidavit.
However, she mentioned that when Decker picked the girls up for a scheduled three-hour visit on Friday, he appeared "quieter than usual," which was unlike him.
He had also reportedly mentioned possibly giving up his dog due to financial difficulties and housing instability.
When Decker failed to bring the girls back that evening, Whitney reported them missing. She said her repeated call to him to arrange their return went unanswered, with her calls going straight to voicemail.
The Wenatchee Police Department stated that the Washington State Patrol was contacted about issuing an AMBER Alert, but it wasn't approved because the situation did not meet the necessary criteria.
Instead, an Endangered and Missing Persons Alert (EMPA) was issued on Saturday after police received "additional information," according to the department.
There had already been signs that Decker was having difficulty caring for his three daughters.
In a declaration filed during their divorce proceedings in September, Whitney wrote that Decker had been "struggling to maintain stability" since their separation, and it was beginning to impact the children.
According to the Seattle Times, she mentioned that he would sometimes have the girls sleep at the armory while he was on duty with the National Guard — something she objected to.
Whitney also said that Decker was prone to "outbursts" and would occasionally barge into her home, shouting for the girls. He would sometimes fail to show up for visits he had previously agreed to.
In one incident, she recalled that their youngest daughter, Olivia, called her in tears during a visit, saying she couldn't locate her father. Later, Evelyn returned home with marks between her legs, Whitney wrote.
"I do not want to keep Travis from the girls at all," Whitney wrote in the 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 and unknown areas for their safety."
