Three young sisters are dead and police are searching for their father who authorities in Washington say is the killer.
On Friday, the mother of the three girls — Paityn Decker, 9, Evelyn Decker, 8, and Olivia Decker, 5 — told authorities that her daughters had not returned after a planned visitation with their father, Travis Decker, 32, according to a press release from the Wenatchee Police Department.
After days of searching, on Monday, police found the girls dead near their father’s pickup truck that was parked near the Rock Island Campground in Chelan County, over an hour’s drive northwest of Wenatchee, Washington.
Police say Decker, a former military member with “extensive training,” was nowhere to be found.
He is now wanted for thre counts of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree murder.
“We want to express our sincere and deep heartfelt condolences to the family at this time,” Wenatchee police said.
During the search for the girls, police said on Facebook that Decker “is homeless and living in his vehicle or at various hotels/motels or at campgrounds in the area.”
His visitation with the girls was “part of a parenting plan, but he has since gone outside the parameters of it which is not normal and cause for the alarm,” authorities said. The girls’ mother, Whitney Decker, had told KIRO 7 that there were no previous issues with the visitations.
She told ABC News amid the search, “This is an unimaginable situation. I am pleading for everyone to look out for them.”
In a Facebook group titled “Remembering Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia,” people whose lives were touched by the girls paid tribute to them.
“My daughter loved playing with Olivia on the playground at school. She called Olivia her school bestie,” Tina Arias wrote on the page.
Andy Jones wrote, “I coached Paityn in baseball and basketball. She was such an athlete and I was looking forward to watching her play FC soccer with my daughter this summer.”
“We went to church together and I got to play with Paityn & Evelyn at the nursery! I loved seeing the girls on Sundays with their matching outfits!” Paulene Stewart wrote.
A GoFundMe page titled “Support Whitney Decker” has already raised over $100,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
The page was created to help the mother with “expenses and legal costs” during the search for her girls.
In an update post Tuesday, the fundraiser organizer, Amy Edwards, wrote, “It is with a very heavy heart that I share the passing of Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia. These girls were true light in this world and and it is a darker place without them. I will miss seeing their sweet little faces.
“I am upping the goal amount of this fundraiser so Whitney can take time off, care for herself and cover the final expenses of the girls without taking a financial hit. “
