Whitney Decker, Wenatchee, Washington state mom blames Amber alert failure & system letting down military ex vet husband, Travis leading to murder of 3 daughters, in ‘tragedy that could’ve been averted.’
A Washington state mother whose three daughters were found slain at the hands of her ex military vet husband has issued a statement saying her daughters’ deaths could have been averted and were the result of ‘multiple system failures.’
Whitney Decker, in a release through her lawyer, Arianna Cozart, blamed police for ‘failing’ to issue an Amber alert after her 3 daughters were initially reported missing along with ‘red tape’ preempting her ‘mentally unstable’ ex from obtaining critical support and resources from Veteran Affairs.
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Arianna Cozart, speaking on behalf of the mom claimed the childrens’ deaths ‘could’ve been completely averted’ had officials intervened.
‘She believes ‘something broke inside’ of Decker and that he ‘would not have done what he did if he was himself’, Cozart revealed in a statement, released Thursday morning.
‘He clearly had some sort of break and everything that he had been living with, everything that had been bottled up inside of him for so long as far as trauma, just won out,’ Cozart told the Seattle Times.
Decker was diagnosed with complex PTSD and borderline personality disorder after leaving active military service, Cozart said.
The attorney, speaking on behalf of Whitney, also noted that it was uncharacteristic of Decker not to return his daughters after a scheduled visitation.
Law enforcement refused to issue Amber Alert
His ‘declining mental health’ and ‘out-of-character behavior’ should have prompted ‘enough concern’ for an Amber Alert, Cozart argued.
She believes authorities should have acknowledged the sisters were ‘missing’ and in ‘substantial danger’, even though Decker ‘didn’t issue an overt threat’.
‘We may never know if it could’ve meant the difference between life and death for those girls … but it could’ve made a huge difference,’ Cozart told the outlet.
Law enforcement officials stated that they did not see Travis Decker as an immediate danger to his children, declining to issue an AMBER Alert.
The attorney said the mother thinks that was a deadly mistake.
‘They did not see him as an immediate physical danger to his children, despite the fact that he had a well-established history of mental health issues,’ Cozart said. ‘Had they seen it that way, those children might still be alive, and that’s the thing that is so brutal, and the one thing she [the mom] is really hoping can be changed in this tragedy.’
Whitney told police Decker was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and believes he did not take medication for the condition, according to court documents.
The father-of-three was supposed to seek mental health treatment and anger management counseling as part of a parenting plan, but there was no sign he had followed through, the documents show.
Whitney stated in September divorce proceedings that he had been ‘struggling to maintain stability’ since they separated and it was beginning to affect their daughters.
‘He was an engaged father. He did have some limitations on his parenting time due to his mental illness,’ Cozart said.
Travis Decker reportedly had trouble holding down a job ever since. He worked a couple of minimum wage jobs, and at one point, he was talking to the Carpenter’s Union about possible work.
‘He was struggling with isolation,’ Cozart said.
Why hadn’t Washington state mom demanded supervised custodial visits?
Cozart said his diagnosis was most likely related to his combat. She said that he tried to get help, but there was too much red tape to get veteran services.
The attorney said Whitney Decker believes the system let her family down.
‘She really feels that the system let her children down. It was the inadequacies in the services for our veterans that killed those children. That’s it,’ Cozart reiterated.
Nevertheless, the mom cognizant that her former husband was increasingly behaving erratic, homeless and in the throes of mental health woes, the mom continued to allow Travis Decker to have unsupervised visits. Had the mom not considered notifying Child Protection Services or the courts and demanded all future custodial visits be supervised?
Travis Decker who continued to remain missing was now wanted on three counts of first-degree murder and kidnapping charges.
Authorities expressed concerns that the wanted military vet dad may have scoped the area prior to the slayings in anticipation that police would seek to arrest him and that as a highly trained combat man who had served in Afghanistan was adept at surviving in the wilderness for long periods of time.
Decker is described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing 190 lbs., with black hair in a ponytail and brown eyes. Police have advised the public, in the event they see the wanted man, not to approach the ‘trained military vet’ for safety reasons and to call 911.
