Latest news with #missingchildren
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Bodies of three missing sisters found as police swoop on campsite in search of their 'murderer' father Travis Decker
The three missing sisters who vanished after a three-hour visit with their father have been found dead in Washington after days of frantic searching by authorities. Paityn, nine, Evelyn, eight, and Olivia Decker, five, were found dead on Monday after police swarmed around Rock Island Campground, according to the Wenatchee Police Department. Their father, Travis Decker - who they were last seen with and said to have been suffering mentally - is at large and police are looking for him. The father-of-three has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. A SWAT team was called to the campground around 5pm yesterday and the area was shutdown between 7pm and 9pm. Decker, 32, a veteran, does not have permanent housing and is known for staying at hotels and campgrounds, police said. His ex-wife, the girls' mother, is particularly worried because he has 'really struggled since he left the military.' 'His mental health can be hard sometimes,' she told KIRO 7. The Wenatchee Police Department offered their 'sincere and deep heartfelt condolences,' to the family, Fox 13 Seattle reported. Suspicions that something had happened to the girls began last night after the Washington State Patrol dropped the amber alert, but no more information was given at the time. Authorities found Decker's truck around 3:45pm near Rock Island Campground off Icicle Road. While searching the area, the girls' bodies were found, but Decker was nowhere to be seen. Shortly after, a SWAT team was deployed to look for the father, who still remains missing. Travis Decker is described as 5'8" and 190 pounds, with black hair worn in a ponytail and brown eyes.
CBC
5 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Community members 'light the way home' for missing N.S. children at candlelight vigil
Two glowing paper lanterns were sent into a twilight sky over a rural Nova Scotia town on Monday evening, a symbol of hope for the safe return of Lilly and Jack Sullivan, two young siblings who vanished without a trace one month ago. Lilly, 6, and Jack, 4, have been missing since May 2, when police received a 911 call from their mother and stepfather reporting they had wandered away from their home in Lansdowne Station, a sparsely populated and heavily wooded area about 140 kilometres northeast of Halifax. About 50 people gathered outside the RCMP detachment in Stellarton on Monday for a vigil, where people were encouraged to place stuffed animals, candles and angels on a growing memorial for the children. Brenda MacPhee, who helped organize the event, said she hoped the gathering would show the family they have the support of the community. "It's not a place for accusations or judgments. It's a safe space," said MacPhee, who does not have any connection to the children. "It's like every parent's worst nightmare. You don't want to ever have to go through something like this." The disappearance sparked an extensive six-day search through 5.5 square kilometres of mostly dense woods and included upward of 160 search and rescue officials, dogs, helicopters and drones. The effort was scaled back on May 7, but subsequent searches have taken place, including ground searches around the children's home on Gairloch Road and underwater searches of bodies of water in the region. Over the weekend, search and rescue crews returned to the area, focusing on a pipeline trail where a boot print was found during an earlier search. A total of 8.5 square kilometres has now been grid-searched. Despite search volunteers putting in more than 10,000 hours, hundreds of tips from the public and more than 50 police interviews, there is still no indication as to what happened to the children. Speaking at the vigil, Staff Sgt. Curtis MacKinnon said the disappearance has deeply affected the family and residents of Pictou County, a mostly rural region of the province that's home to 43,000 people. "Please know that we are fully engaged in finding out what happened to Lilly and Jack," said MacKinnon, who has been working on the case. He noted the RCMP's major crime unit is involved and the case is considered suspicious, as are all missing persons investigations until evidence is uncovered to believe otherwise. MacPhee became emotional as she read a prayer before inviting community members to lay candles meant to help "light the way home" for Lilly and Jack. "Guide the hands and hearts of those working to bring these children home," MacPhee said as the children's stepfather, Daniel Martell, and paternal grandmother, Belynda Gray, looked on with sombre expressions. Two paper lanterns — one for each child — were then lit and left to drift into a sunset-laden sky, eliciting cheers from the crowd. "The community is hurting. They're feeling sadness," said MacPhee, who is a mother and grandmother. "By doing this, I think it helps a little."
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Missing teenager cases provide unique challenges for law enforcement
SALT LAKE CITY () — Alisa Petrov, the teenager who was missing since April, was . When teenagers go missing, it presents unique challenges for law enforcement, but there are also unique approaches to finding them as well. Jason Jensen has been a private investigator for 16 years. He says social media is a key way to look for missing teenagers to see if there's more to the story. 'Oftentimes children that go, you know, go run off, run away. they're at danger of being exploited either for sex or for drugs. You know, they can fall victim to criminality, and we don't want that as a society,' Jensen said. Whether it's checking messages, seeing if they're posting with their friends somewhere, or if they're logging on, all these aspects of social media can help police find out what's going on. 'They're not active with their friends, they're off the digital radar,' Jensen said. 'That helps law enforcement realize, ok, there may be something.' Family releases statement after South Jordan girl found alive in Colorado On the other hand, he says it's common for a missing teenager to just be at a friend's house. When it's a female that may be vulnerable to exploitation, or there's, you know, known communications with adults that are luring that type of a child from the home, then there's real danger there because we don't know if they actually met up with one of those individuals.' Private Investigator Jason Jensen The provides resources and actively assists families of missing children by providing case management to work directly with the family and law enforcement. The provides a having to do with missing persons, as well as maintaining a database of missing persons and unidentified persons. Missing teenager cases provide unique challenges for law enforcement Man killed after falling off train traveling through Nevada to Utah Anti-American sentiment from tariffs is NOT having a major impact on Utah tourism: Utah Office of Tourism SILVER ALERT: 69-year-old woman with dementia missing in Riverton Smith's Pineapple Cheesecake Ice Cream Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Frantic search for three young sisters who vanished after leaving home
Authorities in Washington are urgently searching for three young girls who vanished after leaving their mother's home with their father for a scheduled visitation. Paityn Decker, 9, Evelyn Decker, 8, and Olivia Decker, 5, were last seen around 5 p.m. on Friday, May 30, when they left home with their dad, Travis Decker, according to a statement from the Wenatchee Police Department. The girls haven't been seen or heard from since. 'The Wenatchee Police Department is asking for assistance in locating three juvenile females believed to be missing and unable to return home on their own,' the department said in a Facebook post. Police added that while the visitation was part of a parenting plan, Decker has since violated its terms—something they described as 'not normal and cause for the alarm.' Decker, 32, is reportedly homeless and known to stay in his vehicle, area hotels, or campgrounds. He was last seen driving a 2017 white GMC Sierra pickup with Washington license plate D20165C. A statewide endangered missing person alert (EMPA) has been issued by the Washington State Patrol. Paityn is described as 4'8' and 80 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a blue shirt, purple shorts, and pink Nike sneakers. Evelyn is 4'4' and 50 pounds, with blond hair and brown eyes. Olivia is 4'2', also 50 pounds, with blond hair and brown eyes. Olivia was last seen in a coral or pink shirt, while Evelyn's clothing is unknown. Travis Decker is described as 5'8' and 190 pounds, with black hair worn in a ponytail and brown eyes. He was last seen in a light-colored shirt and dark shorts. The Washington State Patrol also released a photo of him via X (formerly Twitter).
CBC
a day ago
- General
- CBC
Exhaustion sets in as search for N.S. kids hits one-month mark
A month into the search for two missing Pictou County children, searchers are beginning to wear out mentally and physically. Lilly Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, were reported missing from their rural Lansdowne Station, N.S., home on May 2. About 80 searchers were out again on Sunday. They focused on a pipeline trail where a boot print was found during an earlier search. Amy Hansen of Colchester Ground Search and Rescue, who is this weekend's search co-ordinator, said there were no new finds over the weekend. It's never been established that the boot print is related to the missing kids, but Hansen said earlier this weekend it was all the searchers had to go on. She said morale was fairly good among those who turned out this weekend, but she conceded it has been hard on others. There have been two weekends of searching on top of the initial six-day search. "There are people that made the decision not to return to the search site this weekend because of either physical exhaustion or burnout or mental exhaustion," Hansen said, noting the challenging terrain where searchers have worked. She said that some people felt that they could not handle being in the situation again for another weekend. Hansen expected the search to be suspended on Sunday evening, barring new information. Still no sign of Lilly and Jack Sullivan after 4 weeks 3 days ago Duration 2:21 The sister and brother were reported missing from their home in Pictou County on May 2. Haley Ryan has the story. Hansen said the decision to resume the search would depend on the RCMP and their investigation. The benefit of sending searchers back out again would also need to be taken into account. "It's getting to the point where maybe they need a little bit of time to recover and deal with the stress and issues like that, and spend time with their own families that they're leaving behind to be out here," she said. Sunday's search also involved teams from Pictou, East Hants, Strait, Sheet Harbour, Eastern Shore, Halifax and Pugwash. RCMP said they have received more than 355 tips and have formally interviewed more than 50 people, with more interviews planned. The Mounties have said all missing persons cases "are treated as suspicious until our investigation leads us to determine otherwise." Members of the community have been showing their support for Lilly and Jack by placing flowers and stuffed animals on a post outside of the RCMP detachment in Stellarton.
