A manhunt continues for a father who brutally murdered his three daughters during a court-ordered unsupervised visit last week in Washington State.
Travis Decker had been granted unsupervised visitation by a Family Court judge, despite the mother saying the children should never be alone with him due to his anger issues, abuse, neglect and violence.
The girls’ bodies were found Monday near Travis’ truck at a remote campground in central Washington, about an hour from their home in Wenatchee. He had asphyxiated them with plastic bags over their heads. Their hands had been bound with zip-ties and there were bloody handprints on his truck, so it was quite violent.
During their marriage, Travis subjected Whitney to physical and emotional abuse. He would randomly wake her up at night by screaming at her. He would disappear for long periods of time.
They separated and filed for divorce in 2022. It was finalized in 2023 and they shared custody.
In the fall of 2024, Travis began living out of his truck. Whitney returned to Family Court for a custody modification. She claimed he should not have overnights due to his homelessness, nor should he ever be alone with the children—and certainly never overnight.
She cited his neglect of the children and emotional problems, including anger issues.
…There was a substantial change in circumstances as to the Father’s ability to parent the children safely, and she described an incident where the Father had the children sleep at the armory around dozens of other men.
Whitney detailed many concerning incidents, including a time when one of their daughters was passed out with a bathrobe tied around her neck. Another incident involved one of the girls injuring her fingers, with Travis absent and unresponsive. In another, one of them was injured by a falling weight in the armory’s gym, where he often took the girls.
Olivia once called Whitney crying and said she could not find her father. Shortly after that, Evelyn then came home with welts between her legs. This sounds suspiciously like sexual abuse although there were no reports made to our knowledge. [This may be because when mothers report sexual abuse, they often lose custody.]
Travis argued there should be no modification whatsoever. He contended that it was important his children understand “the reality of how the world works” and they should learn from his homelessness.
Despite all the evidence showing Travis should not have unsupervised visitation, a Chelan County Family Court judge gave Travis just that: three hours on Friday evenings and eight hours every other Saturday and Sunday—but no overnight visits. Travis was ordered to get mental health treatment and attend anger management courses.
Whitney’s story, and all similar ones, can also be used to support our position that mothers should automatically get primary custody and have the power to keep children safe.
Source: (8) Manhunt Continues for Father Who Murdered 3 Daughters