or he is a veteran who could not get mental help him and his wife tried years to get him.
this story makes zero sense if you read this article:
6/9/25
https://idahonews.com/news/local/bereaved-mother-of-girls-ex-wife-of-suspect-travis-loved-those-girls-and-jesus
WENATCHEE, Washington (CBS2) — Hundreds of law enforcement personnel continue their search for Travis Decker, the man accused of killing his three daughters. Decker's former wife and mother to those daughters allowed her lawyer, Ariana Cozart, to release a statement to CBS2:
Whitney and Travis were married for a little over 7 years. When they met, Travis had just gotten back from a tour in Afghanistan as an Army Ranger. He seemed to suffer from mental health issues from the very beginning- assumably related to PTSD (complex) as a result of combat. Travis was not a violent man with Whitney or the girls ever. His mental health struggles led to the crumbling of their marriage in 2022. Travis attempted at times to get help through the VA but could not jump through all of the hoops they required to actually get help.
When talking with law enforcement about the things that Travis cared about she said “Travis loved those girls and Jesus”. 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. He always answered his phone, always communicated if he was on his way or if they were going to be a few minutes late, and always responded to her texts. Until Friday night. Law enforcement has reported that his phone was turned off around 6 p.m. on Friday evening. As far as I’m aware that has never happened before with Travis.
Travis was exhibiting some questionable parental judgment around the end of 2023/beginning of 2024. That prompted Whitney to seek limitations on his parenting time and she was granted her requests.
Information has come to light since the girls’ abduction that Travis exhibited concerning behavior at work on Friday and had been trying to utilize emergency veteran’s services to no avail. Please see the letters from our local veteran’s counseling office for more details as to the state of those services here in the Wenatchee Valley. Unfortunately this knowledge was not conveyed to Whitney until after the girls went missing or she never would have allowed the girls to go with him.
What many do not seem to understand (or perhaps care to believe) is that there were no “red flags” that would have led Whitney to have any concerns with Travis taking the girls for his short visitation, limited to our region. 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. It is also cruel and does nothing to help Whitney or our community.
Whitney has three things pushing her forward at this moment: (1) she wants the memories of her sweet baby girls honored; (2) she wants the Amber Alert system fixed in Washington State to prevent further tragedies such as this one; and (3) she wants the mental health resources for veterans to be fixed. As Whitney has said “the system failed us all”- referencing the services for veterans and the Amber Alert system.