() Travis Decker’s ex-wife hopes he’ll be found “dead or alive,” as authorities in Washington state signal doubt the Army veteran is still living after allegedly murdering his three young daughters.
A manhunt has been underway since police found the asphyxiated bodies of the children, aged 5, 8, and 9, near a campsite June 2 along with Decker’s abandoned vehicle. The 32-year-old father picked up the girls May 30 for a court-mandated parental visit but did not return them to the Wenatchee home of their mother, Whitney.
The bereaved mother spoke this week at a public memorial for her daughters. Whitney Decker’s attorney, Arianna Cozart, said she’s doing as well as can be expected.
“She’s just trying to cherish the memories of her babies and do what she can to advocate for change,” Cozart told “Banfield” on Thursday.
She said Whitney Decker wants to change the way Amber Alerts are issued to avoid future tragedies. She also wants to preserve services for veterans, like Travis Decker, who struggle with mental health problems, Cozart added.
Above all, Whitney Decker wants a conclusion to the search for her ex-husband “that he’s found, dead or alive,” the attorney said.
“Either way, it’s hard,” Cozart said. “She knows that if he is found alive, he’ll never be able to answer the questions that she might have to a point where it would give her any peace.”
Although authorities initially suggested Decker, a former infantryman, could be evading capture using survival skills he learned in the service, more recently they are expressing doubt he’s still alive. The Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office this week pledged to continue looking for him but noted, “Some search resources are being redirected to find and recover Decker if he died in the rugged wilderness … a possibility that increases every day.”
