Travis Decker - Manhunt /// Part 2 /// 851

Summary

True Crime Garage: Episode 851 - Travis Decker - Manhunt (Part 2)

Release Date: June 17, 2025
Hosts: Nick and the Captain

In the gripping second part of the Travis Decker manhunt series, hosts Nick and the Captain delve deeper into the harrowing case surrounding the disappearance and subsequent tragic discovery of three young girls. This episode meticulously dissects the evolving investigation, the psychological dimensions of Decker's actions, and the extensive manhunt underway to apprehend him.

Case Update: Discovery and Evidence Analysis

The episode picks up with the grim news that the three missing girls have been located, but their discovery has only intensified the urgency of the ongoing manhunt for their father, Travis Caleb Decker, a 32-year-old military veteran.

Nick outlines the latest evidence gathered from the crime scene:

• Blood Samples and Handprints: “Blood samples were taken from the crime scene. These include both human and non-human blood...” (05:50). Notably, two handprints on the tailgate of Decker’s truck appear to be male, suggesting a personal involvement.

Captain adds, “They believe the handprints are adult size. I don't know if they came out and said if they believe if it was a male handprint or a female handprint.” (06:02)

The hosts discuss the implications of these findings, emphasizing that the presence of male human blood on Decker's truck raises serious questions about his direct involvement in the crimes.

Psychological Insights and Behavioral Analysis

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around Decker's mental state and the possible motivations behind his actions.

Nick expresses frustration with attempts to shift blame:
“If you talk about things like Sandy Hook, Columbine, any of these cases... the evidence says one man killed these three little girls. One man did this...” (09:15). He underscores that while external factors and mental health issues are relevant, the core responsibility lies with Decker himself.

Captain contributes his perspective on human nature and the instinct to assign blame:
“People get so angry about the situation that they start looking for every... it's human to blame.” (10:15). He reflects on the complexity of mental instability and personal accountability.

The hosts explore the possibility that Decker may have planned the abduction and murders, contrasting it with impulsive acts by other perpetrators who are quickly apprehended.

Decker’s Background and Motivations

Delving into Decker's personal history, Nick and the Captain uncover critical details that shed light on his present circumstances.

Divorce and Financial Struggles:
Decker was married to Whitney for seven years before their divorce, which was finalized in September 2024. The Court Document reveals that Whitney cited “emotional mental health issues” as the primary reason for the divorce. Post-divorce, Decker faced financial hardships, including a judgment for over $13,000, which may have exacerbated his instability.

Mental Health Concerns:
Whitney reported that Decker was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and believed he was not adhering to prescribed medication. This lack of treatment may have contributed to his deteriorating mental state.

Military Service:
Decker served as an infantryman in the Army from March 2013 to July 2021, including a deployment to Afghanistan. His military background suggests he possesses survival and tracking skills, which complicate the manhunt efforts.

Manhunt Efforts and Challenges

The podcast provides an in-depth look at the extensive search operations mobilized to locate Decker.

Search Strategies:
Governor Bob Ferguson of Washington State has authorized the deployment of the National Guard to assist in the search. Nick explains, “They’ve closed down numerous trails, campgrounds, and forest service roads across parts of the North Cascades...” (36:45). This comprehensive approach aims to contain Decker within the region and prevent his escape across borders.

Terrain and Difficulties:
The rugged landscape of the North Cascades and surrounding areas presents significant challenges for search teams. The hosts compare navigating wilderness terrain to urban searches, highlighting how vast and inaccessible areas can hinder quick apprehension.

Potential Sightings:
While there have been several unverified sightings of Decker, Nick emphasizes the importance of not bypassing official channels:
“Don’t bother police... information is not great. It’s not led them to the end goal...” (28:00).

Identifying Travis Decker: Tattoos as Key Identifiers

A pivotal moment in the episode is the detailed analysis of Decker's tattoos, which serve as crucial identifiers in the absence of more consistent visual markers.

Tattoo Descriptions:
Nick provides a thorough breakdown of Decker's tattoos, including:

• A black fish above the elbow on his right bicep.
• A skull with possible embellishments on his forearm.
• Tribal symbols and parallel black lines wrapping around his forearm.
• A woman with long hair on his ankle.
• Additional tattoos covering his calf muscles.

These permanent markings are highlighted as reliable means for identification, contrasting with more easily altered features like hairstyles or facial hair.

Community Impact and True Crime Discourse

The hosts reflect on the broader implications of such cases within the true crime community.

Public Reaction and Media Influence:
Nick and the Captain discuss how public and media narratives can shape perceptions of guilt or innocence before legal proceedings conclude. They note discrepancies in community reactions between different cases, pondering why some garner unanimous support while others foster significant doubt about law enforcement's conclusions.

Comparison with Other Cases:
Referencing the Gilgo Beach murders, the hosts ponder the varying degrees of evidence and community engagement across different high-profile cases, suggesting that the strength of evidence plays a crucial role in public consensus.

Conclusion: The Ongoing Hunt and Community Vigilance

As the episode wraps up, Nick and the Captain reiterate the gravity of the situation and the collective effort required to apprehend Travis Decker.

Final Thoughts:
“We wish you obviously the very, very best of luck and Godspeed with all of you...” (29:24). The hosts underscore the importance of community participation in the search, urging listeners to remain vigilant and report any credible information to authorities.

Safety Reminders:
They emphasize that public safety remains the top priority and caution against taking matters into one’s own hands, advising listeners to contact official channels if they have information.

Recommendations

Before concluding, Nick recommends "Unlikely Angel: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Hostage Hero" by Ashley Smith with Stacy Mattingly, highlighting its inspirational account of survival and resilience.

Closing Remarks

The episode closes with expressions of solidarity for those affected by the case and a reminder to support the ongoing search efforts through official means.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Nick (05:50): “Blood samples were taken from the crime scene. These include both human and non-human blood...”
• Captain (06:02): “They believe the handprints are adult size. I don't know if they came out and said if they believe if it was a male handprint or a female handprint.”
• Nick (09:15): “Point as many fingers as you want... it appears there was some planning involved.”
• Captain (10:15): “People get so angry about the situation that they start looking for every... it's human to blame.”
• Nick (28:00): “Don't bother police... it’s not led them to the end goal...”

This episode of True Crime Garage offers a comprehensive and nuanced examination of the Travis Decker manhunt, blending factual analysis with thoughtful discussion on the psychological and societal facets of such a tragic case.

Transcript

[Captain]

Sa.

[Nick]

Welcome to True Crime Garage wherever you are, whatever you're doing. Thanks for listening. I'm your host, Nick and with me as always is a man who even when he's stumbling, he don't play a bad guitar. Here is the captain.

[Captain]

It's good to be seen and good to see you. Thanks for listening. Thanks for telling a friend.

[Nick]

This week we are drinking Tower Station India Pale Ale by the good folks over at Mother Road Brewing Company in beautiful Flagstaff, Arizona. If you've never been, I highly recommend that's one of my favorite cities out there in Arizona. And want to give a special shout out to the awesome folks, the staff and owners over at Mother Road Brewing Company because they we are drinking this beer today in the garage because they gave some of this beer, their great beer to our mother. So shout out to Barbara Jean who brought this back from one of her trips very recently. And this is delicious stuff here. This is great beer. Check out their beer, Tower Station India Pale Ale ABV 7.3% garage grade, 4 and 3 quarter bottle caps out of 5. And let's give some thanks to our great folks who helped us out as well. We have Christina in Americus, Georgia.

[Captain]

And a big we like your jib goes out to Britney Black and Monroe, Washington.

[Nick]

Here's a cheers captain that we're sending out to Katie Lockman from Milwaukee, Milwaukee.

[Captain]

And a big tall cans in the air to Marissa, Marissa bank in Columbia.

[Nick]

S.C. and last but certainly not least, Captain, we have Pete and Repeat up in Calgary. And everybody we just mentioned went to truecrimegarage.com and helped us out with this week's beer run. And for that we thank you.

[Captain]

Yeah, BWWRU and beer run. Hey, you want a discount on some merchandise? You want 25% off? Then go to truecrimegarage.com Click on the store page, pick yourself something up nice and use our promo code, Garage 2025 for 25 off. That's Garage 2025 and that will be good for the next week or so. So make sure you pick up some swag in the TCG store. And that's enough of the business.

[Nick]

I highly recommend the sunglasses. Alrighty, everybody gather around, grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk some true crime. When we left off, captain, unfortunately the three girls had been located and it was not the news, not the situation that anybody had wanted. It was not good news at all. But the news that we are left with is now a crime scene. And also the news that we have a manhunt to search for the man that is believed to be responsible for taking those three lives. And that man is their father, 32 year old Travis Caleb Decker. And we talked about Travis quite a bit in episode one. We're going to learn a bit, a little bit more about him today in our follow up episode. Some of the evidence we went through what was listed on one of the affidavits, some evidence that was listed on different articles, news articles online that have come out. And folks, if you are not aware of this case and you want to learn more beyond this episode today, you want to see some of the pictures of the wanted man. There are plenty available on the Internet if you have time. Some of the evidence and some of the observations of this crime scene that made their way to Internet news articles are. Here's some right here. Captain, this is from the county sheriff's office that was saying that they collected a large amount of evidence which consisted much of the suspect's personal items from his truck. Through the analysis of some of this evidence, they stated this just creates more questions than it does information for investigators to continue to pursue and look for for this man and look for additional evidence and comb through the evidence that they collected. They stated that blood samples were taken from the crime scene. These blood samples do include both human and non human blood that was found at the scene. Authorities had previously said in court documents that the tailgate of the truck had what appeared to be two handprints of blood on them. Now from my understanding regarding these two handprints, the information I've reviewed states that it was human blood, male human blood that left those handprints on the tailgate of his truck.

[Captain]

Well, yeah. And they believe they're the handprints are adult size. I don't know if they came out and said if they believe if it was a male handprint or a female handprint.

[Nick]

Yeah, so the there are a couple places not saying that it's 100% confirmed, but a couple places did state that it would was male. Then if it were to be that, of course obviously you would suspect that it was in fact Travis's blood that would make the most sense on his truck. Handprint, male human blood that was found. And they go on to say that further DNA and fingerprint analysis would be conducted. And these reports are reports though that we're coming out. By the time we are recording this here in the garage, it will be about a week since these reports came out. And by the time it hits your guys's earballs, it's still yet a couple of days, days away. So there could be breaking news at any moment in this case. The only, the only thing good of any part of this story is that the dog, his dog, Travis's dog was recovered and turned over to the Humane Society.

[Captain]

Yeah, but again, that's, that's why I, I, I look at these cases and go, this is insane. This is insanity. Yes, you, you kill your three daughters. But, but he let his dog live. I mean, it's just, it's so bizarre.

[Nick]

Well, and here's the other part of it, too. Like, and I, I'm having a big problem with portions of this case because there are people, and I don't know if defending Travis is the right statement to put forward, because I don't know if that's their intention. But, however, when I read the news articles, it sounds like there's some people defending him that he, he was not receiving the, like, level of care that he should be receiving, that he was not. And look, I agree with that. However, there appears to be a certain level of planning involved with these actions. And so I'm, I'm, I'm not going to go down that road. I don't know who. This is horrible. This is, this is horrible. Goddamn horrible. There's no nice way to put this. There's no clean, good way to put any of this. When you talk about things like Sandy Hook, when you talk about Columbine, when you talk about any of these cases that we cover, what could have prevented it, who could have stopped it, People very quickly want to point a lot of fingers. This agency, this entity, this person, this family, this community didn't do enough. Here's the thing. I can agree with those statements, but they pale in comparison to this statement. The evidence says one man killed these three little girls. One man did this. So point as many fingers as you want, have as many opinions as you want, but understand that at the crux of everything is this one man who did this, who made this choice. And again, it appears there was some planning involved.

[Captain]

Yeah, and like we were talking about in episode one, when people were saying it's almost they're putting some blame on, on law enforcement. Well, they didn't issue a Amber Alert. It's like, again, after, afterwards, we can sit there and nitpick every little thing that somebody should have done or could have done, you know, or there could be somebody going, well, if, if Whitney was really concerned, then she should have went against the law and not allowed them to, to have any visitation with their father. Nobody you can't foresee this. You know, like I said, I, I think there's some situations, Chris Watts, Scott Peterson, Columbine, so many other cases, that it's. There's just an element of evil. And, and, and I think what happens, and rightfully so, is people get so angry about the situation that they start looking for every. It's human to blame.

[Nick]

That's human nature. But the captain, I believe. Dude, you are spot on, my friend. The more and more I looked at this case, the more. And really didn't have to very long. But my concern wavered quickly from his mental state to this guy just may be a cold blooded killer. And again, he's at the center of all this. There appears to be some planning involved. Captain points out something that is very intriguing. If this guy was completely off the rails, the dog wasn't killed. And here's where my mind goes. That blood on the tailgate. You ever see a situation where a husband and wife, they're together many years, maybe they live together, they were engaged for a period of time, then they're married for a couple years before they have a kid. And, and they've had this dog, this wonderful dog, was a part of their family for the entire time that they were together or very long with one of the wife or the, the husband. But then the little baby comes along and the dog is so protective of that child, even though that dog had a father or mother or family member prior to the little baby coming along, sometimes these dogs understand this is a child. This, this little baby needs to be protected no matter what, protected from everything. I, There's. I wonder if that blood, if. And if it's corrected. It's adult male blood. Is there a chance he started hurting one of these kids? And this dog did. Yeah, did something to Travis and injured him in the process.

[Captain]

Now, and, and I want to also state, though we can only view these cases through the lenses that we have and through our experiences. So I do have issues. And you have. And so many people out there in Listener land have had issues with mental instability. And I can tell you for a fact I didn't have homicidal thoughts, but I had suicidal thoughts. But you have to put some onus on the individual as well. And this is my opinion and through my experiences. But if I would have took my own life, that would have been partly on me because I had people saying, hey, well, why don't you get this help? Or why don't you talk to somebody or, or whatever it was. Right. And, and so at some point I had to make a decision to say, I'm not good at this. I'm not figuring this out. I'm not winning these battles in my own head. Maybe somebody can help me out with this. And so again, and I think your point is a valid one, and you're probably spot on. This dog probably tried to protect these little girls. But even if he has mental instability, that comes and goes with waves. So there was moments that had suicidal thoughts, and then there are moments that I didn't have suicidal thoughts. And in those moments I wasn't having a suicidal thought, was those were my chances to get help and start trying to get my life back onto a better path. And so you can't tell me since May 30, whatever mental instability, there's waves of it. And there, there had to be a wave of him knowing what he did. Even if he was off his rocker when all this stuff happened, there's a moment of clarity. He, at any point, he could turn himself in. At any point, he could make. Try to make contact. But that, that's not what happened, you know, so this, this, like I said, this is evil, you know?

[Nick]

Well, and shout out to, to one of my favorite rock and rollers of old, of. Of old Ozzy Osbourne. But if this dude was full on going off the rails of a crazy train. We've reviewed cases like that. I've. I've reviewed cases like that. You see them in the news and you see, you see them in the newspaper, unfortunately, with a good amount of frequency. Guess where they find the perpetrator. Still at the crime scene, still at the. They. They usually don't flee. And when they do flee, the egress makes no sense. And they're easily apprehended. They're quickly caught. We sit here today and he's not. And I tell you the fir. The more we go through this, the more you're going to see that there was some level of planning and involved. Let's, let's start here. Let's start here. Dog. Dog was unharmed. Now, was that just happenstance? Possibly. That could very be very likely be happenstance. But cell phone, his cell phone was left at the scene. That was a choice that this man made. It. Could it be happenstance? Yes. I put the percentage of that probability at very little. I think he chose not to leave, not to bring his cell phone with him because he chose to flee. And when he chose to flee, given his background in the military, he understands at some point it's human nature. I'M going to be compelled to check my phone or turn it on or do something with this phone at some point. The longer on the. On a long enough timeline. I'm human and I will. I will turn on this phone and then they will find me. They will hone in on me. So he had the wherewithal to go. You know what? I'm not going to bring that temptation with me. I'm going to leave that behind.

[Captain]

You know, one of the things I find fascinating in the true crime world, and I haven't. This is just a thought that just popped into my head, so prepare yourself.

[Nick]

You've not explored it.

[Captain]

Yeah, but it seems to me with certain cases, like, you know, I was watching that documentary last night on the Gilgo beach murders, and you have somebody like Rex Herman where we don't know the full details, we don't have a ton of information about Rex, but it seems like the true crime world is just kind of went, okay, well, they must have a bunch of evidence on him. And there, there's not this groundswell of, well, he's probably not the killer. But in other cases, like the Delphi case, you then get a. A ground swell of people doing the opposite where they go, well, I don't know if we can trust law enforcement. And, and maybe he's innocent. It. It's weird that in some cases, the whole true crime community just kind of goes, okay, this guy's probably guilty, and then we're going to learn more about it. And as we learn more about it, we're probably going to still agree with law enforcement. But in other cases, it's. It's almost like we start disagreeing for almost no reason. I wonder, somebody should look into why that happens in some cases and why it doesn't happen in other cases.

[Nick]

Sometimes it's just because there's dumb people out there.

[Captain]

Well, right. Right.

[Nick]

There is. I mean, every community has them. And this community is not. Is not above that. It definitely is not.

[Captain]

Well, like I said, it's not something I, I really have thought about. It just popped into my head. But it's also. Then I guess maybe in some cases, I guess the weight of the evidence would. Would matter more.

[Nick]

Absolutely. And I'll tell you what we. This is a conversation we should probably be having in the garage off the record or in the garage, no mics turned on at all. But I did want to mention, you know, just popped into your head. Just popped into my head. We could do an entire episode just on the Peaches. The Peaches victim Information that, that I've reviewed in the past couple of months. There is so much information and thought because that one, that particular victim is significantly different than all of the other victims in the Lisk case. But.

[Captain]

All right, we went down go beach murders.

[Nick]

Yeah, we got sidetracked here. We mentioned the cell phone. My thoughts on the cell phone. Again, we got to remind the listeners here that this is a complicated area. Like we already said earlier, this is a very complicated area to try to locate someone. So very quickly, just looking at an aerial view map, very nearby, you have the Cashmere Mountain. You have Dragon Tail Peak. Very cool name. Mount Stewart Dragon, not such a cool name. And you have the Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest. Nailed it. Now that you can hear the mountains national forest. That implies lots of places for someone to hide, especially given his background. And again, he's making moves. I don't care what anybody says about his level of stability or instability. He is making moves. That's what my eye sees. He left the cell phone there on purpose. The zip ties, the. The bags that were found on the victims. These items could. Yes, he's living out of his truck. Living in a tent maybe. Were these items there? Yes, but he had those items. And these items were used in the commission of these murders. Let's be clear about that now. Full on right from the get. We have. We're finding the victims, we're finding the truck. We have a full on manhunt because this dude appears to me to just straight up leave the cell phone. Drop the cell phone and leave. We have an arrest warrant that we went through for triple homicide and kidnapping. The description of this man, if you're not familiar with this story. Travis Decker is described as being 5 foot 8 inches tall with black hair and brown eyes. Many of the images that have been shared online by the sheriff's department show him with his hair in a ponytail and facial hair. And authorities have said this time and time again in the coverage of the story, reminding everybody that he is considered to be dangerous, should be considered to be dangerous going forward. And he may be armed. He should not be approached by any civilian out there. Call 911 if you believe that you have seen Travis Decker. Why do I. Why am I saying you in that weird way? In my weird colonel way here? That's because if you are at the salon and somebody tells you that their cousin thinks they spotted him on some road yesterday, right, don't bother police. They're getting a lot of information coming in and they've not located this man yet. So that tells me that while people have good intentions, the information is not great. It's not led them to the end goal, which everyone's goal here should be to apprehend this man as quickly as possible. Travis Decker was last seen wearing either a tan or green T shirt. And why would you say tan or green? That's two completely different colors. I've seen these images, and I know you have as well, Captain. And. And I will back this statement of tan or green T shirt because I've seen some pictures where the same shirt appears to be a neon green. Like, like what you would see a road worker or maybe a construction worker or landscaper wearing to be bright and vibrant. So that. So there's no accident. But I've seen other images from different angles, and maybe he's in the shade or in the light. And the same shirt appears to be more of a tan color. So Decker was last seen wearing either a tan or green T shirt as well as dark colored shorts and identifiers. Right, identifiers. We're talking about his clothing here. We mentioned his hair in a ponytail. Longer hair and a ponytail, but in facial hair. Facial hair can be changed like that. A ponytail, you can cut that baby off like that. All right. Don't consume yourself with the ponytail and the facial hair. What's a great identifier when you have no phone, no vehicle, a dude on the run, that can change his look quickly. I will also say I've seen probably a dozen to 15 different pictures of Travis Decker recently.

[Captain]

He can look a lot different. Yes.

[Nick]

Thank you for saying that.

[Captain]

Facial hair or his actual hair.

[Nick]

There's. There's one picture that they recently released of him. He's shirtless, like where he looks like he's wearing swim trunks. And the purpose of that picture was to. So that people could view his tattoos. And I want to go through the tattoo information because those are identifiers that are not easily changed. Right. Can't change the tattoos. Not easily while you're on the run. And in that picture, in particular, Captain, shirtless swim trunks. If you've seen the different images, you'll know what I'm talking about. I was like, this isn't even Travis Decker. Why did they release this? And then I read all the information. I'm like, oh, it is him. Now let's review the tattoo. So he's got multiple looks, has looked differently throughout the last most recent years, according to the pictures that are easily viewed online. Going off the swim trunk picture to describe some of These tattoos looking at the picture itself. So when I say it's left hand side, this would be his right hand side. The outside of the bicep appears to have like a black fish tattoo just above the elbow with a thick black line next to it on the inner elbow. Then on his, the inside of the forearm, there's like a black skull with maybe a parachute or maybe a cigar out of the side of the mouth and some kind of smoke coming up, but some kind of black wording is, is there as well. He's got a bunch of tattoos on the right side. Shoulder, bicep area. There's two lines of black lettering, drops into black and purple. Maybe these are clouds or something. But this looks like a rather big tattoo. It covers up the nearly the entire bicep, if not the whole bicep, but it's, it's a little too blurry for me to tell exactly what it's supposed to be. And then it goes into a flag on the inside of the bar bicep under the his armpit area. On the one side, there's a black tribal symbol tattoo that appears to me to be wrapping around to his back. And on his forearm there's two black parallel lines that wrap around. He also has a tattoo on his ankle which appears to be a woman. It's a picture of a woman with long hair. And then on his calf muscle, on one of the calf muscles he has, it's a black tattoo. I can't tell what it is, but it covers up most of the back of, of his shin area, lower leg area. And Captain, when we get back from our quick little beer break, we'll review a little bit more of Travis Decker's background and where he possibly could be.

[Captain]

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[Nick]

Cheers to you, Captain. Cheers to all the, the folks out there in Washington state looking for this individual and being tasked and stressed and saddened by the case and what they've had to see and experience in the last week or so.

[Captain]

Well, what's tough is, you know, we get bombarded by people and look, it's, it's our job and, and we love it. We're obsessed, right? So we get bombarded by people saying, hey, was it what's going on with this Travis Decker guy? And the whole time we're recording these episodes I'm googling to, to see if there's any updates because obviously this is one that I think we'll have an update soon on. I don't think it's going to end well as far as them arresting him. If I had a better Franklin on it, I'd say they just find his remains.

[Nick]

Well, and as of this recording there's been a lot of air quotes, potential sightings.

[Captain]

Yeah.

[Nick]

Of Decker. But of course, you know, I was having a conversation with somebody last night and, and said, you know, that there's some suspected sightings of this dude. And they said, well, does that mean they're closing in? I go, well, I mean who knows right where we sit now? Who truly knows? And they said, well what's the level? Is there any level of confirmation? Are these confirmed sightings? Well, it won't be a confirmed sighting until you arrest the guy. Confront the guy, arrest the guy or find his body, obviously. So.

[Captain]

Well, there was one sighting that I think is pretty interesting. So they, they see this hiker out in the wilderness. He's alone, but they called him the ill prepared hiker. And this, this, he was spotted by a helicopter. And see, and this is what I was talking about about this terrain is so hard to search for an individual. Look, when you're out in the city and the ghetto bird gets you, right, the ghetto bird locks in with their spotlight. Most people don't get away from that, right? They can run and hide, but that ghetto bird's got him. But in this wilderness, this helicopter sees this individual, tries to track them and loses them. So it's. We don't even have confirmation that this ill prepared hiker is Travis Decker. We can just assume, yeah, it's difficult.

[Nick]

Because you can go, well, it's probably not him because you think they would be able to hone in on him quickly. But the flip of that coin is saying, well, it probably is him. Because if it was just some rando person that was walking around, they would be able to confront them and confirm that it was not him. So look, good luck to everybody out there looking for him. We wish you obviously the very, very best of luck and Godspeed with all of you. Now I was curious about Travis Decker. Let's dive into his background here a bit. Wanted to know if he had had any previous run ins with the law, if he had a history of violence. I run in a background check on this guy. He does not. He doesn't have anything that, that says he's been arrested or charged for anything violent. He. The one thing that I did call into question there was a judgment in May of 2024 for over $13,000 here. I don't know if that has anything to do with the divorce or with the child support, but that, that certainly is something to, to consider when you factor in he was having what's reported by many people as financial troubles. He had no real place to live, he did have a job. But this dudes, whether he's mentally there feeling good or not, his world is crumbling. And could that be because of his mental state? Very likely. But his world is kind of crumbling and falling apart. And that's why I had said in, in the first episode on Travis Decker that this is reminding me a lot of the List case and the Bishop case from one of the arrest affidavits. It does go into some of the marriage information, some of the background here. And if you allow me, I'll go ahead and read portions of this. This is from his ex wife, Whitney. It says Whitney explained that she and Decker were married for about seven years, but have since been divorced for a few years. And while this document says they've since been divorced for a few years, just keep in mind that sometimes these divorce proceedings can be lengthy. And we have Other information that says that it may have been just that. It goes on to say, she explained the divorce was civil and initially Travis had housing and was allowed overnight visits. However, when he lost housing, the parenting plan was readdressed to accommodate accordingly. Whitney denied any domestic violence during their marriage, but did mention moments of power or control that he used. She provided the examples of randomly leaving or waking her up by screaming at her in the middle of the night. She also said near the end of the marriage, he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, and she believes he currently does not take medication for this diagnosis. All right, taking a break from the document here. Just briefly.

[Captain]

Yeah.

[Nick]

One thing I want to point out, and again, we can't say with 1000% certainty, but from everything we're seeing and everything we're reading on this case, what complicates matters about what's going on with Travis and what plans he may have had, it gets very complicated and very difficult because I would describe him very much as a solitary man. Okay, where are we getting the most information about this guy on a personal level? We're getting it from his ex wife who he doesn't live with. We're getting it from his boss, who only knows him when he shows up for his nine to five. Both of them saying, we have mental health concerns with this guy. He doesn't have a stable place to live, meaning he doesn't. We don't. We're not hearing from his family. We're not hearing from neighbors. We're not hearing from people that hung out with this guy. A lot that know about this guy, that know him. At his core, he's a solitary man. We don't really know what is going on with this guy. There's so little to report on him because he's. He's kind of removed from everybody.

[Captain]

Well, and saying that my heart is broken is probably an understatement for Whitney. But what I like about what she is saying or the statements that she's making and the statements that she has made to law enforcement from the beginning, is that she's not trying to sugarcoat anything, but she's also. She hasn't lied to paint him in a negative picture, if that makes any sense. Like when. When she goes to report this to the cops, they say, she says, well, look, this is not normal. He's normally on time. And. And so again, I think whatever she's stating has been very truthful, and she's not trying to just paint him in. In the worst light.

[Nick]

Exactly. And. And I feel like with her that we are getting the just the fact spam. And I think that that can be helpful and you'll see that as, as this report continues. So this is where she is talking about after the divorce. Okay. We talked a little bit about when they were still married, when they were still together. She's telling law enforcement that they have a good relationship. The overall relationship is reported to be good and the children enjoy spending time with Travis with their father. Whitney also reported no issues with recent visitations and stated her and Travis are communicative with issues surrounding them and if either would ever be late for any reason, this is something that is discussed. There's, there's communication. They reach out to one another. So she's saying there's never been any problems. She's not also saying he's always been incredibly punctual, but when in the past when he wasn't or if there was going to be a delay that he is, he's notifying her. It goes on to state that the parenting plan provided by Whitney specifies the visitation hours which we went through. It also touches upon considerations for holidays and for birthdays that we did not go through.

[Captain]

I still can't imagine what she's going through.

[Nick]

She does point out notable concerns here and she does state that as far as the parenting goes, Travis has neglected his parent parental duties in the past and has a long term emotional or physical problem that gets in the way of his ability to parent. The plan also notes details about access to the children and the ability to talk with them via cell phone when needed. Whitney said they agreed to the plan. So the plan that we discussed on the first part, she says they agreed to it verbally. But she stated the signature line on this, the court document for that parenting plan that Travis refused to sign it, but it appears he was adhering to it.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

She goes on to state that Travis Decker is also supposed to seek mental health treatment and domestic violence anger management counseling under that parenting plan. She states to her knowledge, he has not done so on either regard. She also mentioned to police recent, a recent ticket being a financial burden for him along with garnished wages due to back child support. Okay, recent ticket. I did a little digging on what, what could that mean? So one of the things that the officers found, remember when they, they were, she says, hey, he drives a white pickup truck, but I don't know what kind of truck it is. Right. Well then when, when they looked into his registration and found that he was registered and for the make and model of that truck, that GMC Sierra 2017 white that they found at the crime scene. They quickly figured out that on the Tuesday before he abducted the children, on that Friday, on that Tuesday, he was in some kind of collision, some kind of car accident, that he was. I don't know if he was deemed to be responsible for the accident, but the officers reported that at the time he, he didn't have any insurance. So it's what I could find here, Captain, was that he was cited for multiple infractions. So ticketed for multiple infractions. Though the one that seems to stand out, I couldn't get the particulars of them, with the exception of one of those infractions, was driving without insurance. Unfortunately, Travis had recently been talking about getting rid of his dog due to his housing problem and further financial concerns. And she does state to the officers, look, his children and his dog are the two big positives in his life. He's got, as we said earlier, a lot of stuff crumbling around him. Life's not going good for this guy. But the positive she states were his dog and the children. She also says that in the past there have been overnight camping trips that were allowed by her for Travis and the kids. But she says in those scenarios, it was agreed upon well in advance. It was discussed well at length to put in a plan for that. And the kids were sent with the proper provisions for an overnight trip, where they were sent with additional clothing and whatnot. And she says in this case, this was not communicated to her ever. There was no discussion of an overnight trip. And the kids, when they left my home, they left with the clothes they had on their backs. More information on the divorce. I found that in some of this is a little. Without having a complete roadmap of their court situation, it might seem like this is a little divergent or maybe even contradictory to what we've already stated. But there are reports that she, Whitney, first filed a petition for divorce in November of 2022 without requesting a restraining order or any type of protection order. The divorce was finalized, according to a couple of news outlets, in September of 2024, with Whitney Decker citing, quote, emotional mental health issues that were the primary catalyst of the divorce. As we know, it was later that year, short time after that, the parental schedule parenting plan was put together and issued. As the captain has informed us, Travis Decker was an infantryman in the army from March 2013 to July of 2021. An army spokesperson. This is Major Travis Shaw, confirmed to NPR that Travis served in Afghanistan for March20 to July of 2014 and left active duty as a staff sergeant. He is a military veteran, and other reports state that he has extensive training, but it is unknown whether he is currently armed while he's on the run. I've seen other reports out there, and I'm a little hesitant to go down this road, but. But let's just do it anyway. To err on the side of giving out too. Information, too much information, and maybe some of it not being 100% factual. I've seen reports that say that he. That he was a Ranger, but it seems like the. The spokesperson from the army information that's being put out there doesn't cite any of that.

[Captain]

Well, no. And, you know, I had a friend for a while that was. Was a Marine. And then after he was a Marine for a time period, when he went back into service, he went into the Army. So maybe it's one of those situations. But again, I just think it's silly on this idea of like, well, he has extensive knowledge about survival. Okay, well, he can survive. But the guy, when he had resources and people couldn't have a. He didn't have a home. He was living out of a vehicle.

[Nick]

Yeah.

[Captain]

He then wrecked that vehicle. He didn't have any money. So even if he's able to survive in the woods for a while, he doesn't have the skills to go start a new life somewhere.

[Nick]

Well, I. I would say Ranger or no Ranger, and, And maybe there was some movement towards that or some goal of becoming a Ranger. Who knows? When we covered Timothy McVeigh, we know that he spent time in the army and then couldn't cut it to become a Ranger when he went back and attempted to do so. I will say this, Ranger or no Ranger infantryman, you. It does give you a level of expertise and training on how to move about undetected because that's what you would have to do in battle conditions. Right. And for him right now, if he is still on the run and not dead, not dead somewhere that we're later going to find him, he. He is in battle conditions, and, and so he is moving and attempting to do that the best he can undetected. I would push a little bit back on the idea that he might not be able to set up shop elsewhere. Just because I keep. I can't get away from the idea that this is the Decker is what I keep referring to as a solitary man. We don't know much about him. So I have to believe that he has lived a little bit off of the grid. And I think there's Some evidence to suggest that he has during his lifetime with his kids and when he was still showing up to work, that he was somewhat off the grid as we don't have a lot of people talking about who he is and what kind of person he was. Now some information that has come out recently as to what, what his plans were. This goes back to the, the part that I get so damn aggravated about because this again shows a level of planning and again what, what is the order of the motivating factors here was what's the psychology? Was he planning on leaving and starting a new life and then decided because I'm doing that I have to, I have to eliminate the kids or was it eliminate the kids and then move on? But what we do know that is fact is that on May 26th, according to law enforcement, this is from the U.S. marshals Service. And the U.S. marshals service has a whole lot of Jensen's working there. They don't play around. Okay, so this is legit information here. And it's, they're stating that when they checked into his phone, into his search engine history, that on May 26th, and I've seen the document that has the printout here, Captain, and it is rapid fire, my friend. He is searching in about a 20 minute period. He does a search of jobs in Canada, how to relocate to Canada, how does a person move to Canada. And, and that's it's all Canada, it's all fleeing to Canada type of searches. So that will tell you where he, he at least at one point had some consideration in that being where he would go. On the 6th of June, we got more information. This was coming from the Governor Bob Ferguson. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson called in the National Guard to help aid in this search for wanted fugitive manhunt fugitive Travis Decker. Several reports coming out saying that during this ongoing search that it's believed by the media that authorities have closed in on him maybe a time or two, but have certainly closed in attempts to locate him or pin him in. They've closed down numerous trails, they've closed down campgrounds and forest service roads across parts of the North Cascades. In surrounding areas, parts of the Pacific Crest Trail have all also been shut down as an effort to keep him inside this country. Okay, so if he were to leave, my understanding of this area, the, if you wanted to do it on the up and up and you weren't trying to, to hide that this Pacific Crest area is a natural part to, to leave the United States and go into Canada, I don't know how well that's monitored? It sounds like it's somewhat monitored. But look, if you're on foot and you're in the woods, there's a way around everything. All you have to do is figure it out. One thing, we mentioned a lot of these different agencies and. And I don't want to. I'm not putting any of these agencies down. All of these agencies are absolutely great. Calling in the National National Guard is a great idea here. It can only help. I don't think it can hurt in any regard, the National Guard, due to the current situation in America. If anybody's got eyes on LA and California, there are certainly people out there that are calling into question, what is the National Guard used for? What are they supposed to be used for? When are they. Who has the authority to call them in? Well, if you can go to the National Guard's website and it states very clearly what the purpose of the National Guard is for. And they simply states the National Guard is often the first to respond to natural disasters, which we all know. We've seen that on TV many times with things like hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, wildfire, fires. But they're also called in for things like civil unrest and other domestic emergencies. They can also provide assistance with search and rescue missions, traffic control and maintaining public order. This here is a search mission, not necessarily search and rescue, but it is a search mission for this man. Now, another agency that I don't know if they are involved or not, but could certainly be helpful here is. Look, just last week we were discussing another manhunt, completely separate, on the other side of the country, down in Arkansas. They were. Yes.

[Captain]

Theme in the garage.

[Nick]

Well, hopefully, hopefully not. Hopefully not a theme, but it feels a bit like one. But down in Arkansas, they were looking for a prison escapee, murderer, rapist, former police chief Grant Harden. If you haven't done so already, check out last week's episode, Devil in the Ozarks. And this is a quote from after they apprehended and found Grant Harden says quote, that was one of the most frustrating things that they were able to track him, but then they lost him because of the rain. So the rain really slowed down finding this guy because of. They're trying to track him using dogs. Now, ultimately, it was a group effort amongst many agencies there in Arkansas that led to the apprehension of this very, very horrible evil man. But in particular, it was the elite and highly trained U.S. border Patrol team that joined the search. The Border Patrol Tactical team provided advanced search capabilities and operational support. And its members are experienced in navigating complex terrain. The agency said that their team tracked Grant Harden through the region known for its rocky and rugged landscape, the thick forest and extensive cave network. The U.S. customs and Border Patrol shared photos on Facebook of Grant Hardin shirtless and covered in mud, lying face down with his hands tied behind his back. The Post said that Grant Hardin was, quote, turned over to Arkansas State Police unharmed, end quote, by the federal agency. And that is the conclusion that we want here as well. We want him, we want Travis Decker to be found, located, apprehended, unharmed and turned over to the state police so that he can face a judge, so that he can stand in court and so he can pay for these horrible, horrific crimes. Again, we continue to get regular updates on this as to where he may be or potential sightings, but every one of them is reminding people in this local area to please secure their homes and vehicles, stay alert and report any suspicious activity to 91 1. We don't need to give out a specific agency number here to you today for this particular case, call 91 1. And all of the agencies involved in searching for this man and figuring out what happened here in this case are reminding the public that their safety, everyone's the general public, safety remains the top priority. But if you see something, say something.

[Captain]

Want to thank you all so much for joining us here in the garage for everything. True crime, check out true crime garage.com Remember we have a promo code going on right now for 25% off and the store page, that's garage 2025. Garage 2025. A little recommended viewing if you haven't seen on the Peacock Network they have a new documentary called the Gilgo Beach Killer, House of Secrets. And they talked to Rex Herman's wife and his daughter. I thought it was fascinating. So give that a watch if you have the time or if you're looking for something good in the true crime world to watch. Colonel. Do we have any recommended reading from the Colonel this week?

[Nick]

Yes. This week I'm recommending Unlikely angel the Untold Story of the Atlanta Hostage Hero by Ashley Smith with Stacy mattingly. Back in 2005, Ashley Smith made headlines around the globe when she miraculously talked her way out of the hands of alleged courthouse killer Brian Nichols after he took her hostage for seven hours in her apartment. In this moving inspirational account, the 27 year old widowed mother of a 6 year old girl shares the little known details of her traumatic ordeal and expands on how her faith in the best selling book the Purpose Driven Life helped her survive and bring the the killer's murderous rampage to a peaceful end. Again, that recommendation is unlikely. Angel the Untold Story of the Atlanta Hostage Hero by Ashley Smith. You don't have to write that great title down right now because you can go to our website, truecrimegarage.com, click on the recommended page, and there you shall find all of our recommendations, whether they be podcasts, books or documentaries. Please go there and check that out.

[Captain]

And again, garage 2025 for 25 off. Cheers, mates. And until next week.

[Nick]

And get you some sunglasses. Be good, be kind, and don't let it. Sam.