The Idaho State Police responded to a report of an unconscious person on Sunday, November 13.
There, Moscow police found four students stabbed on the second and third floors of a residence outside the campus itself, but in an area where many students live.
MEMORIAL: Candles and flowers stand at a memorial honoring the four slain students. Photo: Nicholas K. Geranios/AP
Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle were roommates and lived together in the house. The fourth victim, Ethan Chapin, did not live in the house but was visiting because he was dating Kernodle.
The victims are 20 and 21 years old.
Save the students
Inside the University of Idaho classrooms are classrooms half inch.
The students are too scared to go back to school after the murders.
The students who have returned are taking extra precautions such as installing a doorbell camera and carrying pepper spray.
EMPTY CAMPUS: There are few students to be seen on campus. Here, teaching has been canceled to honor the victims. Photo: Zach Wilkinson/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP
Under investigation
Moscow is a small city in Idaho with about 25,000 residents.
According to police, Chapin and Kernodle were at a club on Saturday night and returned home on Sunday night, 13 November.
Mogen and Goncalves were at a downtown cafe, Sigma Chi’s home, that Saturday night, buying dinner on their way home. All four students were home around the same time Sunday evening.
INVESTIGATORS: Police are investigating more closely the area where the slain students were found. Photo: Zach Wilkinson/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP
The investigators were confirmed by witnesses and video recordings in which Mogen and Goncalves were in the evening and at night. Authorities have acknowledged that there are gaps in the chronology of the other two youths, Chapin and Kernodle.
– Police continue to investigate the incident for approx. 9 p.m. Nov. 12 until 1:45 a.m. Nov. 13, when Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were believed to be at the Sigma Chi home on the University of Idaho campus at 735 Nez Perce Drive, Moscow police said in a press release dated December 5.
– Any interactions, contacts, directions and travel arrangements, or anything unusual can add context to what happened.
THE HOUSE: The four students who were sleeping when they were killed lived here. Photo: Ted S. Warren/AP
The coroner said the victims were likely asleep, some had defense wounds and all were stabbed multiple times, according to police.
There was no evidence of sexual abuse. The timing of several cell phone calls from Kaylee Goncalves’ ex-boyfriend suggests the murders occurred after 3:00 in the morning.
Facebook detectives
In the past weeks, several Facebook groups and Reddit threads have been created dedicated to sharing the latest updates and analyzing police statements or new leads.
Reddit’s two largest, survey-focused threads have 80,000 members, while the largest of Facebook’s groups has 35,000 members.
MEMORY MEMORY: People gathered to remember the four victims. Photo: Ted S. Warren/AP
In the absence of more concrete details from investigators, “ordinary people” have begun sharing their own theories about potential suspects.
Idaho police have warned that the speculation has created fear in the community, according to BBC.
A man who lives near the house where the murders took place told media he was being harassed by internet trolls who suggested he was “strange” and possibly involved in the case.
Several people lived in the house
Two others also lived in the house. They too were out that night but returned home shortly before the four who were killed.
It must be said that the two people who survived the attack must have slept during the murders.
BRACELETS: The bracelets with the names of the four killed. Photo: Ted S. Warren/AP
Neither were injured and the police believe they had nothing to do with the murders.
The police chief said the 911 call came from the phone of one of the survivors. Police are said to have spoken to several people before they arrived on the scene.
No suspects
Hundreds of pieces of information have been collected so far. In total, the investigators conducted 150 interviews. Police also received several thousand reports via email, phone and social media.
Police said they questioned a man in a white hoodie who was seen on surveillance video with Mogen and Goncalves when they bought dinner, and the person who drove them home.
Police don’t believe any of them were involved in the murders.
THE DOOR: Police barriers and evidence tapes around the victim’s door. Photo: LINDSEY WASSON/Reuters
Police also don’t believe the ex-boyfriend who called Goncalves is involved.
The 911 call was made by one of the survivors, but there were several people in the house when they called. Police don’t know how many people were in the house or when they arrived. None of those present are suspects.
The murder weapon is described as a large fixed blade knife, but has not been found.
