A neighbor of the dad who allegedly murdered his three daughters has opened up about the final words they exchanged before the tragedy.
Travis Decker, 32, is now the subject of a massive, multi-agency manhunt after the bodies of Paityn, nine, Evelyn, eight, and Olivia, five, were found at a remote campground in Washington.
Their mother, Whitney Decker, had contacted police on May 30 after their father failed to return them on time.
“What prompted her to call us was that… he was late returning the girls and had not communicated to her that he was going to be late, which was his typical fashion and so this was out of the ordinary,” Capt. Brian Chance told NBC4 Washington.
One of the last people to see Travis Decker was his neighbor, Binh Nguyen, who shared disturbing observations from that final encounter.
"Decker had a 'sad look' as he was picking up his children on Friday," Nguyen told the Daily Mail.
What struck Nguyen was how Decker kept repeating himself. “What was strange was that he kept asking me the same question at different points in our conversation,” Nguyen said. “Like he wasn't remembering he already asked.”
Nguyen said that Decker kept asking "how are you doing" multiple times.
Nguyen, visibly shaken, now regrets not seeing the signs. “I simply couldn't understand how the man could have killed those beautiful children,” he said, speaking from his kitchen just a few yards from the Decker family’s home.
He recalled texts shared between Whitney and himself - heartbreaking messages that revealed her gradual realization that the girls weren’t coming back.
Nguyen referred to Whitney Decker as “the ideal mom” - juggling college, two jobs, and her daughters’ activities from sports to Disney World trips.
Her daughters, he said, were kind and thoughtful. Evelyn once gave him a friendship bracelet. Paityn handed Nguyen’s son a card with a crumpled dollar inside, saying she hoped to get better at writing.
But things at home weren’t perfect. Nguyen was aware of the conflict in the Decker marriage, noting that he had seen Decker with a battered face and Whitney with a broken arm in a sling. When asked about the bruising, Decker claimed it was from “allergies.”
Whitney had told others that Decker “became a lunatic” and their divorce was driven by his “tantrums”.
Court documents reveal that while their divorce was reportedly civil, Decker refused to sign the final parenting plan, which required mental health and anger management counseling services he never pursued.
By the time of the murders, Decker had reportedly been living out of his truck and was considered homeless.
Decker is described as 5'8", 190 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes, and multiple arm tattoos. In some images, he has a ponytail, bushy mustache, and goatee. He was last seen in a light-colored shirt and dark shorts.
Authorities stress: “It is unknown if he is armed at this time but he should be considered dangerous and should not be contacted or approached.”