The report confirms 5-year-old Olivia, 8-year-old Evelyn and 9-year-old Paityn Decker died from suffocation

Carleen Johnson
The Center Square Washington

As the manhunt continues for Travis Decker, suspected in the murders of his three young daughters more than a week ago, the Chelan County Coroner has released the autopsy report.

The report confirms 5-year-old Olivia, 8-year-old Evelyn and 9-year-old Paityn Decker died from suffocation.

Court documents obtained by The Center Square indicated there were plastic bags over the girls’ heads and zip ties on their wrists.

Decker, who was divorced from the children’s mother, picked up his girls for a regular visit last Friday, but never returned with them and has not been seen since.

The girls’ bodies were discovered June 2 near a campground in the Leavenworth area.

The Chelan County Sheriff’s office emailed the latest news release on the case to The Center Square Monday, as posted on X, indicating that federal officials have taken over the search for Decker, while local authorities are still handling the criminal investigation.

“Our investigators have begun to receive more analysis information back from evidence found at the crime scene. While this does assist in the investigation and later prosecution, it also creates more questions and information for investigators to continue to pursue,” read the release.

Among the new pieces of information coming out Monday is that blood collected at the scene came back positive for a male and another blood sample collected was not human blood.

“The suspect’s dog was recovered and turned over to the humane society for safe care,” according to the release.

On Sunday evening, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office turned over command for the search effort to federal authorities.

“We had reached a point where we need to rest our local resources. Our command staff continues to be engaged with the search command while we give our teams time off to rest and recuperate and be ready to rejoin the search for, and capture of, the suspect,” read the release.

Meantime, a national expert in advocacy for children in complicated family court cases tells The Center Square, the courts are not putting children first.

“The kids are being murdered, and we’re losing the women too,” said Maralee McLean, author of “Prosecuted But Not Silenced.” “We’ve passed some laws here in Colorado, and I’m passing them all across the nation right now. And the first law that got passed here was Julie’s law, which is named after my daughter.”

McLean explained that after learning her daughter, now 38, was being sexually abused by her then husband, she tried to get the courts to strictly limit his visitation, but ended up having her own rights taken away.

“I lost my daughter and was reduced to supervised visits for eight years. I was treated as a hardened criminal, and I watched her hair fall out, her eyes go into a trance-like state, and she was like dying inside, really dying,” said McLean who finally regained custody of her daughter at age 12.

McLean said she makes no judgments in the Decker case about the mother’s decision to allow her ex-husband to be involved in his daughters’ lives, despite his documented mental health issues related to PTSD as a result of military service, and the fact he was homeless and living in his vehicle.

“This is the father of your kids, and you want to believe that he’s a good guy and he’s just having problems,” said McLean.

Whitney Decker’s attorney Arianna Cozart told The Center Square there were no signs from the girls’ father that he could do the unthinkable.

“Travis was a present and active father up until the end – still attending the girls’ soccer games, dance, and theater productions. Although Travis was struggling with his own mental health, he was a good co-parent, always communicating frequently with Whitney up until Friday evening when the girls went missing,” wrote Cozart.

She noted Travis was exhibiting some “questionable parental judgment” around the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024, which prompted Whitney to seek limitations on his parenting time. She was granted those requests,which prevented Travis from having the girls overnight or taking them out of the Wenatchee area.

McLean said she’s hopeful the tragic Decker case will shine new light on the important role family courts – from judges to lawyers to social workers – play in life-and-death decisions involving children.

“It’s epidemic numbers. This is not just one case and how horrific it is. There are children that are being murdered, like what happened in this case of the three little beautiful angels, and there’s other little angels out here being murdered across the country in the same kind of cases,” she said. “It’s going to take a lot more mainstream media to cover this heavily and for the public to be aware of what’s going on because our courts are not protecting our children or our women.”

Cozart, Whitney Decker’s attorney, said they hope people understand there were no “red flags” that would have led Whitney to have any concerns with Travis taking the girls for his short visitation. 

“There was no domestic violence, ever. Travis did not yell at the girls or abuse them in any way. He was an active and loving father until he wasn’t, and no one knows when that changed. To blame Whitney, the courts, or the state children’s protective services is folly,” said Cozart. “It is also cruel and does nothing to help Whitney or our community.”

In Monday’s news release from the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office, officials asked the public for patience.

“We understand the frustration many citizens have in not having all of the details of this investigation. During any criminal investigation, including this one, there is law enforcement sensitive information that is not shared with the public in order to protect the integrity of the investigation. We appreciate the public’s patience, understanding and cooperation during this complex and emotional investigation.”

A Go Fund Me account set up to help Whitney Decker and her family has garnered nearly $1.2 million in donations as of midday Monday.

This report was first published by The Center Square Washington.