Latest news with #childmurder
CTV News
3 days ago
- CTV News
Search expands for former Army soldier accused of killing his 3 young daughters in Washington state
Pictures, flowers and candles mark a makeshift memorial Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Wenatchee, Wash., in honor of Olivia, Paityn and Evelyn Decker, who were found dead near Leavenworth after their father Travis Decker failed to return them after a scheduled visitation. (Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times via AP) SEATTLE — Authorities have closed a wide swath of popular campgrounds and backpacking areas along the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington as they search for a former Army soldier wanted in the deaths of his three young daughters. Dozens of additional law enforcement officers from an array of agencies joined the investigation and search Friday for Travis Caleb Decker, 32, four days after the girls - 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker - were found dead at a remote campsite outside Leavenworth. The girls' mother reported them missing the night of May 30 when Decker failed to return them to her home in Wenatchee, about 100 miles (160 kilometres) east of Seattle, after a scheduled visit. Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Friday night that he was ordering the state's National Guard to help with the search, saying 'we will be providing helicopter transportation for law enforcement as they search in remote areas.' 'The brutal murder of these young children has shocked our state,' he added in a statement on social media. 'I'm committed to supporting law enforcement as they seek justice for Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia.' The Chelan County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that there were more than 100 officers involved in the search, which covered rugged terrain in the Cascade Mountains of central Washington, and more than 500 tips had poured in from the public. 'Out of an abundance of caution, we have been given notice to, and are working in conjunction with our surrounding counties in the event Mr. Decker moves through the forest into their jurisdiction,' the statement said. Decker was an infantryman in the Army from March 2013 to July 2021 and deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2014, according to Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro. From 2014 to 2016, he was an automatic rifleman with the 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. Last September his ex-wife, Whitney Decker, wrote in a petition to modify their parenting plan that his mental health issues had worsened and that he had become increasingly unstable, often living out of his truck. She sought to restrict him from having overnight visits with the girls until he found housing. 'He has made huge sacrifices to serve our country and loves his girls very much but he has got to get better,' she wrote. 'I do not want to keep Travis from the girls at all. ... But I cannot have our girls staying in what is essentially a homeless shelter, at times unsupervised, with dozens of strange men, or staying in a tent or living in his truck with him both in extreme temperatures and unknown areas for their safety.' Authorities warned people to be on the lookout for Decker and asked those with remote homes, cabins or outbuildings to keep them locked, to leave blinds open so law enforcement can see inside and to leave exterior lights on. It was unclear if Decker was armed, but the Chelan County Sheriff's Office said he should be considered dangerous. A reward of up to $20,000 was offered for information leading to his arrest. An online fundraiser for Whitney Decker raised more than $1 million, and friends Amy Edwards, who taught the girls in a theater program called 'Short Shakespeareans,' and Mark Belton thanked supporters during a news conference Thursday. 'Their laughter, curiosity and spirit left a mark on all of us,' Edwards said. 'They were the kind of children that everyone rooted for, looked forward to seeing and held close in their hearts.' Edwards and Belton said Whitney Decker hopes the tragedy prompts changes to the state's Amber Alert system as well as improvements in mental health care for veterans. The night the girls were reported missing, Wenatchee police asked the Washington State Patrol to issue an Amber Alert but it declined, saying that as a custody matter without an imminent threat, the case did not meet the criteria for one. The patrol did issue an 'endangered missing person alert' the next day, but those do not result in notifications being sent to mobile phones. As searches expanded for the girls last weekend, a sheriff's deputy found Decker's pickup in the area of Rock Island Campground, northwest of Leavenworth. There were two bloody handprints on the tailgate. The girls' bodies were discovered down an embankment nearby with evidence that they had been bound with zip ties, according to an affidavit filed in support of murder and kidnapping charges against Decker. County Coroner Wayne Harris said Friday that his office was awaiting pathology results to determine when and how the girls were killed. Authorities issued closure notices the previous day for that camping area, which lies in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, as well as for a large swath of rugged territory to the north. That included trails and campgrounds along the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from the Canadian border to Mexico, and around Stehekin, at the northern end of Lake Chelan. Gene Johnson, The Associated Press
Daily Mail
03-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Mother is accused of SELLING two-year-old daughter to 'shaman' after corpse is found - as it's feared she was murdered for body parts in second witch doctor case to rock South Africa
A mother has been accused of selling her two-year-old daughter to a 'witch doctor' after her child's corpse was found buried in a shallow grave. Kuneuwe Shalaba appeared alongside 'shaman' Sebokoana Khounyana in court yesterday, charged with the brutal murder of her toddler, who she allegedly sold for £3,100. Many fear the pair killed the child for her body parts in what could be the second witch doctor case to rock South Africa. It comes after evil Racquel 'Kelly' Smith, 35, was jailed for life last week for selling her daughter, Joshlin, for just £800. The 6-year-old schoolgirl vanished outside her home in Saldanha Bay, near Cape Town, in February last year and was never seen again. However, in this latest case, a body was recovered, and an alleged accomplice to the killing arrested. Details emerging from the latest case have sparked fears that up to a third of the over 1000 children murdered each year in South Africa may be being targeted for body parts. A major search effort was launched after Kuneuwe Shalaba, 33, reported her child missing. At first Shalaba claimed the child, Kutlwano, was a boy but later admitted she was a girl. She said the toddler was snatched from her by three kidnappers who sped off in a VW Golf near Johannesburg. Police had been searching for the child for 6 months before investigators discovered that just two hours before they received the report a large amount of money was paid into Shalaba's bank. Mother-of-five Shalaba - who was struggling to make ends meet and feed her kids – received a year's money from a mystery man which she could not explain when detectives confronted her. Magistrates heard that she then not only confessed that she made up the kidnap story but had in fact led the police to believe they were trying to find her 'son' when the missing toddler was in fact a girl. Shalaba of Boipatong township, 55 miles south of Johannesburg, had her phone calls analysed which led police to a sangoma or 'witch doctor' working out of a nearby taxi rank. National Police Authority spokesman Lumka Mahanjana said in a statement that when arrested the sangoma confessed his part in the disappearance of the girl and led officers to an abandoned mine. After digging with shovels police discovered a skeleton which is currently undergoing a post-mortem to determine the exact cause of death and if any of her body parts had been harvested. So called muti killings – the taking of body parts from murdered children by a small number of sangoma's to make 'black magic' potions for the rich – claim 50 to 300 victims every year in South Africa. Sangoma is a Zulu term that is colloquially used to describe all types of Southern African traditional healers. Shalaba – who had been charged with human trafficking, conspiracy to commit robbery and making a false statement to police – was charged with premeditated murder when the body was discovered. NPA spokeswoman Miss Mahanjana confirmed that the sangoma named as Sebokoana Khounyana, 50, had also been charged with premeditated murder and human trafficking along with the girl's mother. Yesterday's media statement on Facebook said that on November 10 last year the mother took the toddler to see the sangoma and 'requested that he kill her' because she was not happy with its gender. It continued: 'She was tired of hiding the gender from her family that the child was a girl. The mother then allegedly fed the baby poison and after that the baby died and the two buried her in a shallow grave. 'After investigations by the police the sangoma was arrested on 29 May, 2025, and he subsequently made a confession and pointed out to the police the place where the body of the child had been buried. 'In court today the matter was postponed to 05 June 2025 for legal representation to be found for the sangoma. The state intends to oppose his release on bail and previously denied the mother's release on bail'. In February pleading for bail Shalaba said she was 9 months pregnant with twins – which she has since given birth to behind bars – and would not abscond but a magistrate ordered her to remain in jail. The alleged child killer is separated from her husband and is known as a loan shark to locals who trades in buying and selling clothes and has two other children aged 6 and 9 being cared for by relatives. The prosecution believes Kutlwano – who was dressed as a boy and introduced to family and friends as a boy – was murdered on November 10 and that the mother reported her kidnapped on November 13. She was arrested on November 19 at home in Boipatong 40 miles south of Johannesburg and her daughter's body was found on May 29 buried in a shallow grave in the nearby town of Randfontein. Both the mother and the sangoma were brought to Vanderbijlpark Magistrates Court south of Johannesburg where locals who knew them both packed the court to watch the proceedings. Magistrate Michael Tlale was taken by surprise when the sangoma was brought before him for the first time and insisted he did not need a lawyer as he said he was guilty of the charges he was accused of. Mr Tlale said he would have to ignore his plea until proceedings reached a stage when he could take it. The pair had the charges of human trafficking and premeditated murder formally put to them. Mother Shalaba is also accused of conspiracy to commit robbery and making a false statement to the police. A South African Police source said: 'The money trail is being followed from the accused mother's bank account to discover who paid her such a substantial amount of money and why they did. 'For a person in the accused's position that is an awful lot of money and it is only fair to reason that whoever was paying that amount would have expected something in return', he said. NPA spokesman Miss Mahanjana confirmed a post-mortem was underway to ascertain 'exactly what was done to the child' before death and whether any body parts were harvested from it. The shocking sale of little Kutlwano appears to be a chilling copycat case of that of an evil mother who was jailed for life last week for selling her six-year-old daughter for just £800 allegedly into slavery. Racquel 'Kelly' Smith, 35, was said to have been sought out by a traditional healer who wanted her daughter Joshlin for her 'light eyes and skin' who 'vanished' from her township and never seen again. Last Thursday the mother-of-three was sentenced to life behind bars by Judge Nathan Erasmus for human trafficking by selling her daughter Joshlin and for kidnapping her given an additional 10 years. Her boyfriend Jacquen Apollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn were also given life sentences for their part in the shocking kidnap and sale of tragic Joshlin at Saldanha Bay 80 miles north of Cape Town. The fun loving schoolgirl was last seen outside her home last February and the 8 week trial at the community centre in Saldanha Bay heard she was almost certainly sold into 'expoloitation and slavery'. The South African Police insisted that the search for her will continue 'night and day' until she is found and have begged her mother to reveal what happened to Joshlin but she refused to co-operate. The court heard drug user Kelly had told friends and a local pastor she had sold Joshlin for £835 in February last year to a sangoma and was later charged by police over her disappearance. The case rocked South Africa and highlighted the hundreds of cases throughout Africa of 'healers' – known as sangomas or 'witch doctors' – who take children to use body parts to make 'miracle potions'. So far although this fate is strongly feared it has not yet been proven in either the Joshlin or Kutlawano cases. Pyschologists who have studied the sale of children to sangomas who are mutilated for 'black magic' say the potions sell for far more if the body parts are removed while the terrified child is still alive. The sangomas claim their potions – which are sold according to which body parts are used to make them – can cure fatal diseases, bring luck in love, bring instant wealth and even kill buyers enemies. Huge superstition still holds sway over large parts of the African population who highly respect and fear the sangomas and pay them large amounts of money for their so called 'black magic' potions. Both accused killers Shalaba and Khounyana will appear before the same magistrate on June 5.
Sky News
22-05-2025
- Health
- Sky News
Publication date of final Lucy Letby inquiry report pushed back to early 2026
A public inquiry's final report into how former nurse Lucy Letby was able to commit her crimes will now be published early next year. Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester. She is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court. Letby is Britain's most prolific serial child killer of modern times and her case prompted the government to order an inquiry into how the killings went undetected. The inquiry is also examining the hospital's response to concerns raised about Letby before her arrest. The report was previously expected to be released this November. A statement published on Thursday on the inquiry's website said it has written to "core participants" with an update on the progress of the final report. Lady Justice Thirlwall, the chair of the inquiry, is now expected to send out "warning letters" from September 2025, with the final report published in early 2026. Warning letters are sent ahead of an inquiry being published to anyone "who may be subject to significant or explicit criticism in an inquiry report", according to the website. "This must be done in advance of the inquiry's report being published and allow a reasonable opportunity to respond," it said. Prominent figures like senior Conservative MP David Davis have called for a retrial in Letby's case, saying her conviction was "built on a poor understanding of probabilities" and lacked "hard evidence". In February, an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths. Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letby's legal team hopes her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal. In March, Letby asked for the Thirlwall Inquiry to be suspended while she attempted to appeal her case but that request was denied.
Reuters
22-05-2025
- Reuters
Final report on Lucy Letby baby murders due in early 2026, inquiry says
LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) - The final report of a public inquiry into the murder of seven newborn babies by British nurse Lucy Letby will be published early next year, a statement on the inquiry's website said on Thursday. Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester, northern England, making her Britain's most prolific serial child killer of modern times. Her case prompted the government to order an inquiry to examine how the killings went undetected, and review the hospital's response to concerns raised about Letby before her arrest. Kathryn Thirlwall, the chair of the inquiry, is expected to write to those criticised in the final report in September with the document due to be completed by the end of November, according to the statement.
