The disappearance last week of
three young sisters who were found dead Monday
after their father failed to return them to their mother has raised questions about why Washington authorities didn’t issue an Amber Alert.
Their father, 32-year-old Travis Decker, is suspected of kidnapping and asphyxiating the girls, ages 5, 8 and 9, near a campground 40 miles northwest of Wenatchee.
He is still at large.
Officials warn people not to contact or approach Travis Decker if they see him and to instead call 911 immediately.
Wenatchee Police
On the night the girls were reported missing, Wenatchee police said they contacted Washington State Patrol to request an Amber Alert.
However, Washington State Patrol authorities denied the request, saying it did not meet the strict criteria of the program:
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The person(s) must be 17-years-old or younger.
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The incident must be investigated by a law enforcement agency, and the subject must be entered into the National Crime Information Center.
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There must be enough descriptive information that activating the alert will assist in the recovery.
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There must be reason to believe the person has been abducted.
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The missing person must be known to be in danger of imminent serious bodily injury or death.
In this instance, the father had legal custody of the girls and authorities could not automatically presume he had abducted them. Additionally, law enforcement did not have a clear indication the children were in imminent danger, according to Washington State Patrol spokesperson Chris Loftis.
Washington State Patrol instead issued an Endangered Missing Person Alert on Saturday. The bodies of the three girls were recovered Monday, when police found Decker’s unoccupied 2017 GMC Sierra pickup near the Rock Island Campground outside Leavenworth.
The girls’ bodies were found down a small embankment 75 to 100 yards from the truck, along with plastic bags and zip ties, court documents say.
A
GoFundMe
fundraiser has collected half a million dollars for the mother of the three girls.
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Why case of missing Wenatchee girls didn’t trigger Amber Alert
Why case of missing Wenatchee girls didn’t trigger Amber Alert
Why case of missing Wenatchee girls didn’t trigger Amber Alert