Mother of three slain sisters says authorities made one deadly mistake

Whitney Decker’s life was shattered in a way no parent should ever endure. Her three daughters—Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5—were found murdered near a secluded campsite in Washington, turning a routine visitation with their father into a national tragedy. Now, Whitney is not only grieving but demanding justice, convinced that the system failed her children at every turn.

The girls were discovered near their father’s white GMC Sierra at Rock Island Campground. Each child had a plastic bag over her head and zip ties binding her wrists. Blood-streaked handprints marked the truck’s tailgate, while zip ties and bags lay scattered nearby—a haunting scene of calculated violence. Thirty-two-year-old Travis Decker, the girls’ father, has since vanished and is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and kidnapping.

Whitney last saw her daughters on May 30. Travis had picked them up for a short, court-approved visit. When he didn’t return by 10 p.m. and stopped responding to calls, Whitney contacted the police. Though he’d never disappeared with the children before, she warned authorities of his growing instability and mental health struggles. He’d been living out of his truck, drifting between motels and remote campsites. That alone, she believed, should’ve triggered a crisis response.

Once celebrated as an Army Ranger, Travis had left the military just 18 months prior. Civilian life proved unforgiving. He spiraled into homelessness, isolation, and untreated mental illness. Whitney’s attorney, Greg Joyce, said Travis had tried to seek help through veterans services but was met with delays and indifference. “He asked for help, and the system failed him,” Joyce stated. “And in failing him, it failed those little girls.”

Whitney is consumed with sorrow—but also with anger. Not only at Travis, but at the institutions that ignored the red flags. One of her most painful questions: why wasn’t an AMBER Alert issued when her daughters went missing? Police requested it twice that night, but the Washington State Patrol declined, citing that the situation didn’t meet strict federal criteria. Instead, they issued an Endangered Missing Person Alert—an EMPA—which doesn’t trigger phone notifications.

“The AMBER Alert would’ve lit up every phone in the area,” said WSP’s Chris Loftis. “The EMPA doesn’t do that.” For Whitney, the lack of urgency may have cost her children their lives.

She’s now calling for sweeping reform. She wants policy changes that recognize the danger of military-trained parents with unstable mental health histories. She believes that supervised visitation should never mean relaxed vigilance, especially when a parent shows signs of emotional volatility and refusal to comply with court-ordered therapy.

Meanwhile, the search for Travis Decker continues. Authorities believe he may have meticulously planned his disappearance. With survival training and knowledge of remote areas, he’s suspected to be living off-grid, possibly with stashed supplies. Sheriff Mike Morrison acknowledged that Decker had previously vanished into the wilderness for months at a time. That same skillset now hinders the manhunt.

Back home, Whitney is supported by family—including Travis’s own father, who traveled from the Midwest to stand by her. Yet nothing can fill the unbearable silence left by her daughters. Their laughter, their presence, their futures—all stolen.

“She believes the system didn’t just miss something—it abandoned them,” Joyce said. “That’s what haunts her. That’s what killed those girls.”

Whitney isn’t staying silent. She’s speaking out so no other mother suffers the same horror. She wants her daughters remembered not just as victims, but as the reason real change begins.