The mother of three girls who are thought to have been k!lled by their father has been seen in public for the first time since their terrible de@ths.
Travis Decker, 32, was missing when the bodies of his three children—9-year-old Paityn, 8-year-old Evelyn, and 5-year-old Olivia—were found on June 2 in a Washington camp near Leavenworth that had not been found before.
The daughters were with their father during a court appointment. He said he had used zip ties to tie them up and then put plastic bags over their heads. The autopsies showed that they died from asphyxia.
The remains were found between 75 and 100 yards down an embankment that was next to the former soldier’s abandoned vehicle. The vehicle, a 2017 GMC Sierra, had blankets, food, car seats, and his wallet in it. two bloodied fingerprints.
The police also found male DNA and a second blood sample nearby that they thought was not human. Someone found the dog and took it to the Humane Society.
A memorial event was organized on June 20 to memorialize the three little children. The sad mother talked to the people who came to pay their respects, crying as she remembered her three daughters for their generosity, compassion, and lively personalities.
In a video aired by King 5 Seattle, she said, “You all look beautiful.” She remarked, “I know Evelyn would have loved to ooh and aah over all your outfits,” and she sounded quite sad.
She told me that her oldest child, Paityn, never missed a chance to say anything nice about someone else, whether they were at the store, at school, or even at home. Whitney stated, “She was always saying, ‘You look beautiful, Mom.'”
The girls were in therapy and learning how to talk about their thoughts in a way that felt good while their parents were going through a divorce. Whitney talked about how the private talks they had at nighttime became an important part of their lives.
She remarked, “I’m so grateful for that time I had with the girls.” “When the world slowed down, I got to see how their day went.”
She also added that the debates that everyone could join let them “connect” on a deeper level. “I think that doing this with them helped them come into the world with open hearts and kindness.”
She ended her address with a thank you to the community for their great help: “I really hope that the remembrance of these girls’ lives will go on throughout the world. They were great.”
The police charged Decker with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of kidnapping, in addition to the charges of custodial interference that were already in place. Decker is still missing, even though there is a huge manhunt.
Whitney’s lawyer, Arianna Cozart, told PEOPLE on June 13 that the pair split up in 2022 because Decker had mental health problems and felt lonely and paranoid, as well as having BPD.
The suspect, a veteran of the army, was reported to have tried to get help for his mental health but was unable to do so. Cozart said she thinks he k!lled himself after the murders. She told the media source, “[Travis] probably k!lled himself up there somewhere.”
The Chelan Sheriff’s Office in Chelan County gave up its search for Decker on June 8 and turned it over to the federal government because they didn’t have enough resources. “We have reached a point where we need to rest our local resources,” the CCSO said in an official statement.
At this sad time, we are thinking of Whitney.