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The father accused of killing his three young daughters near a campground in rural Washington state exhibited a series of bizarre and “unstable” behaviors before their deaths, the victims’ mother says.
Travis Decker, 32, was charged with three counts of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree murder on Tuesday after the bodies of Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia Decker, 5, were found by his truck near the Rock Island Campground in Chelan County on Monday.
Months before the tragic incident, the girls’ mom, Whitney Decker, warned of her ex-husband’s alleged declining cognitive state.
Over two years, Whitney Decker documented several troubling incidents allegedly involving Decker, a military veteran who was still at large Thursday morning, according to court documents first obtained by KIRO 7 News.
“Travis just keeps getting more and more unstable. He has made huge sacrifices to serve our country and loves his girls very much but he has got to get better for our girls,” Whitney Decker said.
The mom-of-three stated that Decker’s “lack of stability” led to “negative impact on our children.”
Whitney Decker first filed a petition for divorce in November 2022 in Chelan County Court, without requesting a restraining order or protection order.
The divorce was finalized in September 2024 with Whitney Decker citing “emotional/mental health issues that were the primary catalyst.” That month, her attorney filed a parental schedule that listed the murder suspect as “transient.”
“Since our separation, it has become increasingly clear that Travis has been struggling to maintain stability in his life,” Whitney Decker wrote in a declaration filed last September.
In one incident, the mom alleged that Decker “had some outbursts where he has burst into my home against my objections and yelled for the girls.”
In another, less than a week before Christmas in 2023, she wrote that “Olivia FaceTimed me screaming, crying, Travis was nowhere in sight.”
Whitney Decker alleged that in a separate instance, the suspect “hitchhiked to my house and asked to stay in the basement with the girls.”
Decker enlisted in the Army in 2013 as an 11 Bravo infantryman. His military commendations include badges for expert infantry and parachuting. In 2021, he was stationed in Walla Walla, Washington. He has filed paperwork for an “administration separation” but it is yet to be completed.
The three girls were first reported missing by their mother on Friday at about 9.45 p.m. after they had not returned from a scheduled custody visit with Decker.
A GoFundMe page titled “Support Whitney Decker” set up to support the victims’ mother with expenses and legal costs surpassed $750,000 Thursday morning.
During the search for the girls, police said that Decker was homeless and living in and out of a white GMC Sierra pickup as well as staying at various hotels and campgrounds.
The suspect’s cell phone activity revealed he drove to Rock Island Campground a day before the kidnapping, according to court documents.
Days before the killings, Decker was spotted on doorbell footage released by the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office sliding his hand up and down the door of an unidentified home. It is believed to be the most recent image of the suspect.
Police said the father’s visitation with the girls was “part of a parenting plan, but he has since gone outside the parameters of it, which is not normal and a cause for the alarm.”
While the EMPA was issued, not an AMBER alert, law enforcement scoured the area by land and air and came across the vehicle.
Two bloody handprints were found on the truck, while car seats, a wallet, and other personal items were found inside, reports Fox Seattle.
The young girls’ bodies were found with plastic bags over their heads and zip ties around their wrists, according to the Wenatchee Police Department. Preliminary investigations indicate the victims likely died from asphyxiation.
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