The grief-stricken mother of the three Washington girls who were allegedly killed by their homeless father said their deaths could have been prevented if police had listened to her pleas to issue an Amber Alert when they first went missing.
Whitney Decker said she knew her daughters — Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5 — were in “substantial danger” when their father, Travis Decker, did not return home within a court-ordered deadline following his visitation on Friday night, The Seattle Times reported.
“As soon as he didn’t bring those girls back at 8 o’clock, she knew something was going on,” said Whitney’s attorney, Arianna Cozart.
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“There should be enough concern for the police to say, ‘These children are missing, they are in substantial danger, even though he didn’t issue an overt threat,’” Cozart added.
The lawyer alleges that Wenatchee police had wanted to issue the Amber Alert, but the local officers were told by the State Patrol that the case didn’t meet the requirements.
Instead, the State Patrol put out an Endangered Missing Persons Advisory for the three girls, which, unlike an Amber Alert, does not send out cellphone alerts to the public.
