Mom of 3 Young Sisters Allegedly Killed by Their Dad, Travis Decker, Tearfully Breaks Her Silence: 'They Were Incredible'

Whitney Decker, the mother of three daughters allegedly killed by their father, Travis Decker, in Washington, is speaking out on their deaths.

At a memorial service for Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, held on June 20, Whitney addressed the crowd, saying, “You all look beautiful,” in a video published by NBC affiliate King 5 Seattle.

“I know Evelyn would have loved to ooh and aah over all your outfits,” she tearfully added, noting that Paityn liked to give compliments to others, whether it was at the grocery store, at school or with me. She was always telling me, ‘You look beautiful, Mom.’ ”

After revealing that her daughters were all in therapy and learning to discuss their feelings openly amid their parents’ divorce, she broke down sobbing. “I’m so thankful for that time I had with the girls,” she said. She then added that the family’s conversations about their feelings allowed them to “connect” to one another. “When the world slowed down, it gave me an inside look at their day,” she revealed of discussing their feelings during the girls’ bedtime routine.

“I believe doing this with them allowed them to come into the world with open hearts and kindness,” Whitney also said.

She concluded by thanking mourners for their “outpouring of love.”

“I truly hope that the legacy of the girls’ lives lives on in everyone’s heart forever. They were incredible.”

Whitney recalled that her daughters’ “warm and open hearts” helped her through her divorce from Travis.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE via email on June 13, attorney Arianna Cozart, who represents Whitney, revealed the couple split in 2022 as a result of “his alleged mental health struggles, including his feelings of isolation, paranoia, and Borderline Personality Disorder.”

Cozart noted that Travis, who was an Army veteran, was seeking mental health care but was unable to obtain it. The Decker sisters were last seen on Friday, May 30, after leaving their Washington home for a “planned visitation” with their father.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.          

According to Wenatchee Police Department’s statement, the “visitation was part of a parenting plan,” noting that he had “gone outside the parameters of it, which is not normal and cause for alarm.”

Their mother reported them missing on May 30 around 9:45 p.m., per The New York Times. Travis was supposed to drop them off back home by 8 p.m. that night, but they never returned. In a press release, the Wenatchee Police Department shared that authorities located their father’s car near the Rock Island Campground in Chelan County, Washington, and found Paityn, Evelyn, and Olivia dead at 3:45 p.m. on June 2. Travis, however, was not located at the scene. Their cause of death was subsequently confirmed to be suffocation.

After the girls’ death was announced on June 3, police said in a press conference that Travis had been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of kidnapping, on top of the custodial interference charges he was already facing — and the search for him continued.

Related Stories

Travis Decker Manhunt Timeline: Inside the Search for the Missing Washington Dad Accused of Killing His 3 Daughters

Father Accused of Murdering His 3 Daughters Allegedly Made These Chilling Online Searches Days Before They Went Missing

In Cozart’s emailed statement to PEOPLE, the attorney said she thinks Travis likely died by suicide.

“[Travis] probably killed himself up there somewhere,” she said.

On the evening of June 8, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office transferred the search efforts for Travis to federal authorities, while noting that they would continue to lead the criminal investigation.

“We have reached a point where we need to rest our local resources,” the CCSO wrote in a statement shared to their Facebook page.

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.