SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Seattle: Authorities have closed a wide section of popular campgrounds and backpacking areas in Washington as they search for a former Army soldier wanted in the deaths of his three young daughters.
Dozens of additional law enforcement officers from an array of agencies joined the investigation and search on Friday for Travis Caleb Decker, 32, four days after the bodies of nine-year-old Paityn Decker, eight-year-old Evelyn Decker and Olivia Decker, 5, were found dead at a remote campsite outside Leavenworth, in Washington State.
This undated photo provided by Whitney Decker shows Paityn, Olivia and Evelyn Decker.Credit: AP
The girls’ mother reported them missing the night of May 30 when Decker failed to return them to her home in Wenatchee, about 160 kilometres east of Seattle, after a scheduled visit.
Governor Bob Ferguson announced on Friday night that he was ordering the state’s National Guard to help with the search, saying “we will be providing helicopter transportation for law enforcement as they search in remote areas”.
The search for Travis Caleb Decker is continuing.Credit: AP
“The brutal murder of these young children has shocked our state,” he added in a statement on social media. “I’m committed to supporting law enforcement as they seek justice for Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia.”
Decker was an infantryman in the Army from March 2013 to July 2021 and deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2014, according to an Army spokesperson. From 2014 to 2016, he was an automatic rifleman with the 75th Ranger Regiment in Washington.
In September last year his ex-wife, Whitney Decker, wrote in a petition to modify their parenting plan, saying his mental health issues had worsened and that he had become increasingly unstable, often living out of his truck. She sought to restrict him from having overnight visits with the girls until he found housing.
“He has made huge sacrifices to serve our country and loves his girls very much, but he has got to get better,” she wrote. “I do not want to keep Travis from the girls at all … 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.”
Authorities warned people to be on the lookout for Decker and asked those with remote homes, cabins or outbuildings to keep them locked, to leave blinds open so law enforcement can see inside and to leave exterior lights on.
Pictures, flowers and candles mark a makeshift memorial for the three young girls.Credit: AP
It was unclear if Decker was armed, but the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said he should be considered dangerous. A reward of up to $US20,000 ($30,000) was offered for information leading to his arrest.
A family friend Amy Edwards, who taught the girls in a theatre program, said the trio were a delight and loved by many.
“Their laughter, curiosity and spirit left a mark on all of us,” Edwards said.
“They were the kind of children that everyone rooted for, looked forward to seeing and held close in their hearts.”
Edwards said Whitney Decker hopes the tragedy prompts changes to the state’s Amber Alert system as well as improvements in mental health care for veterans. The night the girls were reported missing, Wenatchee police asked the Washington State Patrol to issue an Amber Alert but it declined, saying that as a custody matter without an imminent threat, the case did not meet the criteria for one.
The patrol did issue an “endangered missing person alert” the next day, but those do not result in notifications being sent to mobile phones.
As searches expanded for the girls last weekend, a sheriff’s deputy found Decker’s pickup in a campground. There were two bloody handprints on the tailgate. The girls’ bodies were discovered down an embankment nearby with evidence that they had been bound with zip ties, according to an affidavit filed in support of murder and kidnapping charges against Decker.
County Coroner Wayne Harris said Friday that his office was awaiting pathology results to determine when and how the girls were killed.
