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New audio from a family court hearing shows Travis Decker pleading with a judge to let him spend more time with his three daughters, who he’s accused of killing.
The bodies of Decker’s three daughters, Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, were found in a wooded area approximately 30 miles from Rock Island Campground in Washington, according to the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office in a statement. Federal authorities took over the search on June 8 after local officials said they needed assistance. Decker is a former Army soldier with “extensive” training.
“We had reached a point where we need to rest our local resources,” the statement said. “However, CCSO leadership remains closely involved in search coordination and continues their lead with the criminal investigation.”
According to Fox 13, Decker’s visitation time with the three girls had been reduced in recent years. Whitney, Decker’s ex-wife, and her lawyer cited alleged endangerment of the three children, declining mental health and lack of communication in their request to decrease Travis’ visitation time.
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Travis Decker, left, was wanted on three counts of murder and kidnapping after his three young daughters were found dead. (Wenatchee Police Department)
During a family court hearing in September 2024, a family court judge allowed Whitney to take near-full custody of the girls, alleging neglect and emotional distress. Travis was allowed to visit the children every other weekend for a set number of hours.
Decker expressed frustration with the parenting plan and told the family court judge he’d like to see his daughters more.
“I already only get a day and a half, two days, with my daughters, and it’s two nights. It’s a Friday night, Saturday night, and because of my current job and the current location, I’m in Idaho working. I am in the U.S. [Carpenter’s Union], so where I go, where the work is, is where I come, and through the new parenting plan, it takes away basically all my opportunities to be around the girls when I’m not at work. If I have the opportunity to be there for my daughters, I feel like I should be able to be there for them and not have to find my way to be around my daughters,” Decker said.
Decker’s children were allegedly heard crying over the phone with their mother during an overnight trip with their father at the Wenatchee armory, according to court records. The incident was cited with others as reasons why Decker shouldn’t be allowed to keep the kids overnight.
“I don’t believe that my weekends should be completely taken away since I have been gone. Every time I’ve had the girls, we have been in campsites, in national forests and paid campsites that have campers. We’ve never done anything that was unsafe or anything I wouldn’t want to put myself in,” Decker told the judge.
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Travis Decker (Courtesy of Chelan County Sheriff’s Office)
After the judge signed off on the parenting plan that reduced the time Decker would spend with his daughters, he continued to ask for a different outcome.
“And then nothing can change that? Nothing, my signature doesn’t matter anyway, right? So if I don’t sign it, then …” Decker said.
When Decker didn’t drop the girls off by the 8 p.m. curfew on May 30, Whitney tried calling him, but he didn’t pick up, according to an affidavit. According to the court document, Decker had never missed a curfew to return the children.
The court documents indicated Decker had mental health issues and borderline personality disorder, adding he is homeless and lives in campgrounds and motels.
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Travis Decker was believed to be living out of his pickup truck. (Wenatchee Police Department)
Decker was charged with three counts of aggravated first-degree murder and kidnapping.
Fox News Digital’s Julia Bonavita and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.