Idaho murders - updates: Parents vow to ‘get justice’ at vigil as university dean says he’s ‘scared’ too

On Wednesday, the Moscow community held vigils in honour of slain students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kerndole and Ethan Chapin, who were found butchered in their beds back on 13 November.“We’re gunna get our justice,” Steve Goncalves, Kaylee’s father, said. “We’re gunna figure stuff out. This community deserves that.”

The vigils were delayed until after the Thanksgiving break as terrified students fled the town. Police call logs analysed by The Independent reveal that, in the aftermath of the murders, locals remain on edge and have called 911 multiple times to report “suspicious” men and other disturbing incidents in the area.Meanwhile, a neighbour of the four murdered University of Idaho students has denied the “upsetting” rumours swirling about him online after Reddit sleuths cast suspicion on him in the wake of the brutal stabbings.

Student Jeremy Reagan said on Tuesday that he has “nothing to hide” but admitted that it was “upsetting being compared to a murderer” after his previous media interviews became the subject of intense online scrutiny.

Key points

• Community fears killer will attend vigil

• Officials now walk back ‘targeted’ claim

• ‘We’re gunna get our justice’: Parents share warm memories and grief at vigil for slain Idaho students

• Police wrapping up crime scene despite no arrest

• 911 call logs reveal disturbing incidents in wake of murders

• Prosecutor admits it ‘could be while’ before killer is caught

• Neighbour slams Reddit sleuths who cast suspicion on him

Idaho murder victim’s father reveals chilling reason family didn’t hold a funeral for her

10:00 , Josh Marcus

The father of one of the four University of Idaho students stabbed to death says his family will not give her a funeral for fear that the “monster” who murdered her might attend.

Kaylee Goncalves was killed at an off-campus house in the city of Moscow, Idaho, in the early hours of 13 November, with police still hunting for the murderer.

Goncalves, 21, was slain along with her best friend, Madison Mogen, 21, another roommate Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20.

Kaylee’s father, Steve Goncalves, says that the family has not been able to bring itself to have a commemoration for their daughter just yet.

“My wife’s biggest fear, part of the reason we didn’t have a funeral, is because she couldn’t be guaranteed that that monster was going to not be there,” he told ABC News.

Graeme Massie has the story for The Independent.

Idaho murder victim’s father reveals chilling reason family didn’t hold a funeral

Sorority rallies behind slain Idaho students and raises $20,000

09:00 , Josh Marcus

A University of Idaho alumna has raised almost $20,000 in donations to buy 1,900 personal alarms for terrified students living in Moscow with a murderer at large.

Kerry Ulhorn, a 37-year-old former member of the Delta Gamma sorority, told The Independent that she wanted to help students feel safe in the college town after four sorority and fraternity members were stabbed to death in a brutal knife attack back on 13 November.

“The hope is that these will give the students on campus a small sense of security and also just let them know that their alumni and others deeply care about keeping them and the university that we love a safe space for them to be,” she said.

Two weeks have now passed since Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were brutally murdered in the off-campus home that the three female students shared.

Get the full story.

Ex-University of Idaho student raises $20,000 for personal alarms after murders

Idaho murders: Neighbour hits out at Reddit sleuths who claimed his media appearances were suspicious

07:59 , Josh Marcus

A neighbour of the four Idaho murder victims has blasted internet sleuths who claimed that his media appearances were suspicious.

In a recent interview, Jeremy Reagan, a third-year law student from the Idaho University, said he went to bed early the night the murders took place. However, Reddit sleuths are finding his statements suspicious.

Mr Reagan addressed the online conspiracy theories about him and told Court TV on Tuesday that he “didn’t do it. I have nothing to hide. I’m willing to give DNA, fingerprints ... whatever they need”.

In an earlier interview with Fox News, Mr Reagan had said, “I went to bed early that night” and “then a couple of hours later we got a message, and there was a bunch of police here. And then that was the end of normalcy for the past week or so here”.

Maroosha Muzaffar has the details.

Neighbour hits out at Reddit sleuths who claim his media appearances were suspicious

Police seize five vehicles in Idaho murder investigation

07:00 , Josh Marcus

Police investigating the murder of four university students in Moscow, Idaho, are examining five vehicles thought to be connected.

The Moscow Police Department said on Tuesday afternoon that it was moving five vehicles away from the crime scene to a “secure” location to properly scrutinise them for evidence.

“Today, as part of the ongoing homicide investigation and original search warrant, there will be an increase in detective activity and tow trucks on-site as investigators move five vehicles from within the police perimeter to a more secure long-term storage location to continue processing evidence,” the department said.

Officials did not say who owns the vehicles or what their connection to the deaths might be.

Io Dodds has the details.

Idaho police seize five vehicles connected to Moscow student murders

Idaho police don’t have a suspect yet, but they have ruled out these conspiracy theories

06:00 , Josh Marcus

Two weeks have now passed since four University of Idaho students were brutally stabbed to death in the small college town of Moscow – with no suspects identified, no arrests made and the murder weapon nowhere to be found.

Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found murdered in the off-campus home that the three female students shared in the early hours of 13 November.

The four victims were all stabbed multiple times with a fixed-blade knife and are believed to have died at around 3am or 4am that morning.

Their bodies went undiscovered for around eight hours when police were finally called to the home to a report for an “unconscious individual”.

Rachel Sharp reporting.

Idaho college murders: The rumours and conspiracy theories ruled out

ICYMI: Neighbour of victims hits out at Reddit sleuths

05:00 , Josh Marcus

A neighbour of the four University of Idaho students who were murdered on 13 November has hit out at Reddit sleuths who claimed that his media appearances were suspicious.

Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found dead in an off-campus home on 13 November.

Jeremy Reagan, a third-year law student, said he went to bed early on the night of the murders, but Reddit commenters are finding his statements suspicious.

“[It’s] upsetting being compared to a murderer when I didn’t do anything,” Mr Reagan told Court TV.

Watch the full clip on Independent TV.

Idaho student murders: Neighbour of victims hits out at Reddit sleuths

Why Idaho police are backtracking on calling student murders ‘targeted'

04:00 , Josh Marcus

Officials have now said that “targeted” might not be “best word” to describe the murders of four University of Idaho students – in what marks the latest walkback from investigators left baffled by the violent killings.

Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found stabbed to death in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, on 13 November.

Two weeks on, the killer or killers are still at large with no suspects identified, no arrests made and the murder weapon still nowhere to be found.

From the outset of the investigation, authorities have insisted the attack was “targeted” – but have refused to reveal what has led them to that conclusion.

Rachel Sharp has the story.

‘Targeted’ may not be ‘best word’ for Idaho college murders

Idaho police hit a dead end

03:00 , Josh Marcus

Police in Idaho are wrapping up the investigation at the house where four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered – despite the killer still being at large and officials appearing to be no closer to solving the crime.

Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found stabbed to death inside an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, on 13 November.

The three female students all lived at the three-storey home on King Road together with two other roommates and Chapin was staying the night with his girlfriend Kernodle.

Two of the victims were found on the third floor of the home, with the other two on the second floor. The two other roommates were unharmed in the attack and appear to have slept through the murders.

Rachel Sharp has more.

Idaho investigation of murder house coming to end – despite no signs of killer

‘We’re gunna get our justice’: Parents share warm memories and grief at vigil for slain Idaho students

02:13 , Josh Marcus

Snow blanketed the campus of University of Idaho on Wednesday evening, as students, families, and community members joined together for a vigil remembering four students who were brutally murdered earlier this month.

It’s been more than two weeks since Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kerndole and Ethan Chapin were killed in the early hours of 13 November.

Police still have few clues as to who murdered the students or what inspired such violence, but university officials and families of the victims alike urged the community to remember the joy the slain students brought to each other and the world, and to hold close to family and friends.

“Make sure that you spend as much time as possible with those people because time is precious and it’s something you can’t get back,” Stacy Chapin, the mother of Ethan Chapin, said onstage as she choked up.

More details in our full report.

‘We’re gunna get justice’: Parents share memories and grief at Idaho murders vigil

‘We’re gunna get our justice’: Parents share warm memories and grief at vigil for slain Idaho students

02:12 , Josh Marcus

Snow blanketed the campus of University of Idaho on Wednesday evening, as students, families, and community members joined together for a vigil remembering four students who were brutally murdered earlier this month.

It’s been more than two weeks since Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kerndole and Ethan Chapin were killed in the early hours of 13 November.

Police still have few clues as to who murdered the students or what inspired such violence, but university officials and families of the victims alike urged the community to remember the joy the slain students brought to each other and the world, and to hold close to family and friends.

“Make sure that you spend as much time as possible with those people because time is precious and it’s something you can’t get back,” Stacy Chapin, the mother of Ethan Chapin, said onstage as she choked up.

More details in our full report.

‘We’re gunna get justice’: Parents share memories and grief at Idaho murders vigil

Half-empty Idaho campus full of fear and grief after murders

02:00 , Josh Marcus

In a normal year, University of Idaho students would be bustling between classes and the library, readying for the pre-finals cramming period known as “dead week.”

On Wednesday, however, a little under half the students appeared to be gone, choosing to stay home and take classes online rather than return to the town where the murders of four classmates remain unsolved, said Blaine Eckles, the university’s dean of students. Some students who were in attendance were relying on university-hired security staffers to drive them to class because they didn’t want to walk across campus alone.

The Moscow Police Department has yet to name a person of interest in the stabbing deaths of Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington. The three women lived together in a rental home across the street from campus, and Chapin was there staying that night.

Rebecca Boone has the story.

Half-empty Idaho campus full of fear and grief after murders

School holds moment of silence for slain students

01:43 , Josh Marcus

University officials are now reading out the names of the four slain students: Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kerndole and Ethan Chapin.

After each name, a bell is being rung, and students are holding a moment of silence and raising lights and flashlights in the air.

Father of Madison Mogen shares happy story about Mac Miller concert with daughter

01:41 , Josh Marcus

Ben Mogen, father of the murdered Madison Mogen, is sharing a touching story about seeing a Mac Miller concert with his daughter.

The two loved seeing live music together, and Maddie was disappointed when the rapper Mac Miller came to town and Ben was unable to score tickets.

Then, on the final night before the show, he won a contest and was able to take Maddie and her friends after all, including a special meet-and-greet with the artist.

“That was the happiest memory I could think of that we shared together was that,” Mr Mogen said.

‘We’re gunna get our justice,’ father of Kaylee Goncalves says

01:37 , Josh Marcus

Steve Goncalves, father of the slain Kaylee Goncalves, is speaking about his daughter and her sisterly bond with best friend Madison Mogen, both of whom were killed on 13 November.

“In the end they died together, in the same room in the same bed. It’s a shame, and it hurts, but the beauty of the two always being together comforts us,” he said. “It lets us know they were with their best friends in the whole world.”

“We’re gunna get our justice,” he continued. “We’re gunna figure stuff out. This community deserves that.”

‘We are now Ethan’s voice,’ victim’s mother says

01:28 , Josh Marcus

Stacy Chapin, the mother of Ethan Chapin, is now onstage.

“The hardest part is, we cannot change the outcome,” she said of what happened.

She’s describing how Ethan loved country music and spending time out on the lake in the family boat.

“It’s important that we share Ethan’s legacy and talk about the impact he made in his short 20 years,” Ms Chapin said.

“We are now Ethan’s voice.”

Ms Chapin added that the tragedy should remind people of the preciousness of spending time with family.

“Make sure that you spend as much time as possible with those people because time is precious and it’s something you can’t get back,” she said.

‘Remember them in the good times,’ university dean tells students

01:21 , Josh Marcus

University of Idaho Dean of Students Blaine Eckles urged commnunity members attending a vigil for four murdered students on Wednesday evening to remember Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kerndole and Ethan Chapin for more than just their tragic deaths and to come together as a community.

“It is snowy and cold outside, but a family comes together to bring warmth when it is needed most,” he said. “It is a sad and unsettled time right now, but a family will come together to find comfort and ressurance in one another.”

The dean pointed to a wristband he got at Chapin’s memorial, urging people to “live life like Ethan did,” full of joy and laughter.

“Tell the fun stories, remember them in the good times,” Mr Eckles said. “Do not let their lives be defined by how they died, but instead remember for the fun times they had and the joy they spread when they lived.”

Vigil for slain students to begin momentarily on University of Idaho campus

01:08 , Josh Marcus

A vigil inside the University of Idaho’s Kibbie Dome will begin momentarily, remembering slain students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kerndole and Ethan Chapin, who were found butchered in their beds back on 13 November.

You can watch a live feed of the event here or here.

Internet theories are ‘extremely dangerous’ in cases like Idaho murders, expert says

00:43 , Josh Marcus

Criminal justice experts say it’s extremely “dangerous” for local crime stories to become viral trending topics on social media, leading to false identifications of suspects and distracting from police work.

“It’s extremely dangerous,” Adam Scott Wandt, an assistant professor and vice chair for technology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told NBC News on Wednesday. “There’s a Wild, Wild West aspect to all of this.”

For example, the professor noted the wave of people who were falsely identified online as suspects in the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing.

However, in some cases, Internet discussion has pushed cases to the top of the national agenda, bringing attention and resources to investigations that otherwise may have languished.“Gabby Petito went viral because there’s no doubt that TikTok was pushing that hashtag,” he said.

Neighbour hits out at Reddit sleuths who claim his media appearances were suspicious

Online conspiracy theorists have taken over the Idaho murder case

00:23 , Josh Marcus

Internet speculation has run rampant since four University of Idaho students were murdered this month.

Online conspiracies have distracted from the real police work at hand, according to families of the victims, and have singled out innocent bystanders a suspects.

Here’s more information on how the Internet has impacted this case, via IndependentTV.

Police appear to have hit a dead end in the Idaho investigation

00:07 , Josh Marcus

The university town of Moscow, Idaho, woke up one day in mid-November with law enforcement everywhere, students scarce and answers still elusive in the frustrating – and terrifying – investigation into the vicious quadruple murder of four college kids more than a week earlier.

The bodies of Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21, were discovered around noon on Sunday 13 November.

All four had been brutally stabbed and were found on the second and third floors of a house just two blocks from the University of Idaho campus. Chapin, a Sigma Chi fraternity member, was spending the night with his girlfriend, Kernodle; she and the other two victims lived with two more female roommates in the three-storey home on King Road.

Almost everything that happened in that residence after 1.45am that night still remains a mystery – compounded by changing stories from law enforcement and wild social media speculation that has seeped into the local rumour mill.

Sheila Flynn has the full story.

No suspect, weapon or witnesses: The Idaho murder mystery that’s stumped police

University of Idaho official says he’s ‘scared’ as vigil for slain students approaches

Wednesday 30 November 2022 23:50 , Josh Marcus

Every since four University of Idaho students were killed, everyone in the college town of Moscow, Idaho, has been feeling the effects, including university officials.

University of Idaho Dean of Students Blaine Eckles told NewsNation on Wednesday that he’s felt the same fear as his students that the killer is still out there.

“I tell them I am scared too. This is a worrying time,” he said. “We also have the ability to understand that his is just an example that crime happens and it can happen anywhere.”

He added that he sympathises with fears that the murderer could come back to Moscow and observe a vigil taking place for the murdered students on Wednesday evening.

“It’s always a concern,” he said, though he noted the vigil will feature enhanced security measures like metal detectors.

Are the Idaho murders tied to other local crimes?

Wednesday 30 November 2022 23:32 , Josh Marcus

A month before the murders, the university’s security issued a “Vandal Alert” to students and staff warning them about an assailant armed with a knife.

University of Idaho issued ‘knife threat’ warning weeks before four students murdered

The warning on 12 September, described as a “Threat with Knife”, reported that a group of students had been walking through the campus when the man threatened them with a knife.

The assailant was described as a white male aged 18 to 22 years old, who was dressed in all black. No one was harmed in the incident but officials felt the need to alert students and staff to the threat.

Meanwhile, police said on Monday that reports of a skinned dog three miles from the crime scene weeks ago are not related to the murders.

Investigators have also explored the possibility that the quadruple murders might have been connected to a 2021 unsolved stabbing murder 400 miles away, but have since said there is no link between the crimes.

Idaho student murders may be linked to 2021 Oregon stabbing, police reveal

University of Idaho announces vigil for murdered students

Wednesday 30 November 2022 23:15 , Josh Marcus

The University of Idaho will be mourning Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kerndole and Ethan Chapin on Wednesday in a public vigil, starting at 5pm PT.

You can watch the event live here.

Idaho police offer vague explanations about whether murders were ‘targeted’ or random

Wednesday 30 November 2022 22:57 , Josh Marcus

Moscow police have refused to provide more details as to why they think the murders were targeted.

Officials are also staying silent around whether all of the four victims were intended targets or whether the killer targeted one victim, with the rest simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“You’re going to have to trust on that at this point because we are not going to release why we think that,” Captain Roger Lanier said during a press conference on 23 November in response to why officials believe the killings were targeted.

Aaron Snell, with Idaho State Police, told Fox News Digital that information about the targeted murders is being handled with caution so as to not jeopardise the investigation.

“And so if we just provide information to the public, I just don’t think that that’s going to be a wise choice,” he said.

These 11 questions could hold the key to solving the Idaho murders

Police dismiss ‘stalker’ theory in Idaho quadruple murder

Wednesday 30 November 2022 22:38 , Josh Marcus

Moscow Police Department said that they had found out through interviews that Goncalves had complained of a stalker.

Despite “looking extensively” into concerns raised by people who knew Goncalves that she had complained about a stalker, police were unable to confirm those reports, the department has said.

“We obtained information through some of our interviews that Kaylee had made some comments about having a stalker, so that’s where that came from,” Captain Roger Lanier said.

“So far we have not been able to corroborate that, but we are not done looking at that piece of information.”

What the 911 call can tell us about the Idaho murders

Wednesday 30 November 2022 22:21 , Josh Marcus

The 911 call was made at 11.58pm on 13 November and originated from the phone of one of the two roommates who survived the attack.

A dispatcher was told there was “an unconscious individual.”

Authorities have since revealed that other “friends” were present in the house when the 911 call was made after they were “summoned by the roommates.

“The surviving roommates summoned friends to the residence because they believed one of the second-floor victims had passed out and was not waking up,” a statement by Moscow PD read.

“Multiple people talked with the 911 dispatcher before a Moscow Police officer arrived at the location. Officers entered the residence and found the four victims on the second and third floors.”

Police have refused to reveal who made the 911 call and will not release the audio.

When pressed by The Independent on why the call could not be released, the department said: “The contents are exempt from public disclosure because the records are active investigatory records which, if released, would interfere with enforcement proceedings...”

It is unclear what the roommates and “other friends” discussed in the call and what led them to describe a victim as merely “unconscious”.

It is also unclear what the roommates and friends saw inside the home before placing the 911 call.

These 11 questions could hold the key to solving the Idaho murders

Why haven’t police found a suspect in the University of Idaho murders yet?

Wednesday 30 November 2022 22:05 , Josh Marcus

Each individual so far linked to the murder investigation has now been ruled out as a potential suspect.

Moscow Police have said that the two surviving housemates who were in the home at the time of the killings and the other friends who were in the home when the 911 call was made are not considered suspects.

A man who was caught on camera with Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a food truck in the downtown area before they headed home and the private party who then gave the pair a ride home from the truck have also been ruled out.

Goncalves’ former long-term boyfriend, with whom she shares a pet dog Murphy, is also not being considered a suspect.

Two weeks on from the murders, the killer or killers remains at large with police admitting that they still don’t have any suspects on their radar and with not a single arrest yet made in the case.

Officials are exploring the possibility that there is more than one perpetrator – but have given no further update on whether the investigation is leading them to or from that theory.

The lack of substantial information from police has led to rampant speculation by experts unaffiliated with the case as well as internet sleuths – confusing the true facts about the investigation.

Sheila Flynn, Rachel Sharp, and Andrea Blanco have the full story.

These 11 questions could hold the key to solving the Idaho murders

What we know about the ‘messy’ University of Idaho crime scene

Wednesday 30 November 2022 21:47 , Josh Marcus

Describing the crime scene to Today, Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt said that there was “quite a bit of blood”.

DNA has been recovered from the home, which Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle shared with two other roommates.

Those roommates were home at the time of the killings but apparently were unaware of the murders until hours later.

Police have taken more than 4,000 pictures of the residence after the murders. The door appeared to be unlocked with no sign of forced entry and nothing seemed to have been taken, investigators said.

The bodies were found in the victims’ beds on the second and third floors, leading authorities to believe they were asleep when killed.

Meanwhile, Goncalves’ parents said last week that they had been told by authorities that the investigation is moving slowly because the killer left behind a “mess” of evidence.

Steve and Kristi Goncalves said they’ve heard from police that the crime scene is sprawling and chaotic.

“They’re telling us that there’s so much evidence that it’s going to take a lot of time to process it all,” Mr Goncalves told Fox News. “This wasn’t like a pinpoint crime. This person was sloppy.”It is not clear if the killer left their DNA at the crime scene. With officials believing the attack was targeted, it is possible that the perpetrator could have visited the home before that night.

On 29 November, Latah County Prosecutor Prosecutor Bill Thompson appeared to cast doubt on the belief that all four victims were found in their beds.

In an interview with NewsNation, he refused to confirm the exact locations where the victims’ bodies were found inside the student home saying such information might only be known by the killer.

“As for as the victims who are deceased, I can’t say for sure [where they were found] and that would be one of the details that investigators would want to protect as very few people would know the exact locations of the victims in the house,” he said.

Read our full report.

These 11 questions could hold the key to solving the Idaho murders

What we know about the murder weapon in the University of Idaho killings

Wednesday 30 November 2022 21:29 , Josh Marcus

Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt revealed that each victim was stabbed multiple times with a “large knife”, describing their wounds as “pretty extensive” and revealing that they bled out inside their student home.

“I’ve been a coroner for 16 years... we have had multiple [victim] murders in the past, but nothing, nothing like this,” she said.

Police have now revealed that they believe the murder weapon was a fixed-blade knife and confirmed that they had visited local stores to inquire about any recent purchases.

A local store owner previously said that officials had been especially interested in sales of a military-style Ka-Bar or “Rambo” knife.

That said, no murder weapon has been found.

More details here.

These 11 questions could hold the key to solving the Idaho murders

What we know about the motive behind the Idaho murders

Wednesday 30 November 2022 21:12 , Josh Marcus

The attack was targeted, local police have said.

Early on in the investigation it was described as a “crime of passion” by Moscow Mayor Art Betgge and as “personal” by Police Chief James Fry.

Police have since distanced themselves from those characterisations, only revealing that they’re operating on the belief that they don’t believe the circumstances leading to the attack were random.

Last week, Kaylee Goncalves’ father, Steve Goncalves, said that officials had given “vague” information about the case and whether or not it was just one student who was the target in the murders.

However, Moscow police have refused to provide more details as to why they think the murders were targeted.

Officials are also staying silent around whether all of the four victims were intended targets or whether the killer targeted one victim, with the rest simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“You’re going to have to trust on that at this point because we are not going to release why we think that,” Captain Roger Lanier said during a press conference on 23 November in response to why officials believe the killings were targeted.

Aaron Snell, with Idaho State Police, told Fox News Digital that information about the targeted murders is being handled with caution so as to not jeopardise the investigation.

“And so if we just provide information to the public, I just don’t think that that’s going to be a wise choice,” he said.

Get the full story here.

What the timeline of the Idaho murders can tell us

Wednesday 30 November 2022 20:44 , Josh Marcus

It could have been anyone, in any US college town, on any Saturday night. That’s how typical the murdered students’ behaviour was in Moscow, Idaho, just hours before they were brutally stabbed to death.

The University of Idaho campus had been busy that day, a sea of gold and silver as the Vandals prepared for a home game against the UC Davis Aggies in the 16,000-seat Kibbie Dome. It was 28 degrees at kickoff – the weather was listed as a daunting “ice fog” – but happy, loyal fans turned out; the Vandals’ 44-26 loss was disappointing but did not deter the students from preparing to hit the town.

Among them were five girls living in a three-bedroom rental home on King Road, just over a mile from the stadium and only two blocks from the edge of campus. Kaylee Goncalves and Maddie Mogen, both 21 and childhood best friends, were heading together to the bars downtown. Xana Kernodle, 20, was planning to hang out with her boyfriend, 20-year-old Ethan Chapin. The girls’ two other female roommates would spend the night out, also.

The 25,000-person town of Moscow, really, is centred on the university. Set over 1,600 acres at the southwest corner of downtown, UI is the largest employer around, and its 11,500-strong enrollment accounts for nearly half of Moscow’s population. Students are scattered around off-campus accommodation, sharing apartments, rental homes, sororities and fraternities.

Sheila Flynn has an in-depth look at the November night that ended in the University of Idaho murders.

Campus to club to crime scene: Final hours of Idaho college murder victims

These 11 questions could hold the key to solving the Idaho murders. Here’s what we know - and don’t know

Wednesday 30 November 2022 20:14 , Josh Marcus

The investigation into the brutal murders of University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin is now in its third week, with the killer or killers still at large.

Every individual connected to the case so far – from two surviving roommates to a victim’s former boyfriend – has been publicly ruled out by police, leaving an echo chamber with no names to fill it.

Details about the murders that shook the small college town of Moscow, Idaho, remain scant, the murder weapon is nowhere to be found and there are huge gaps in the timeline of the last known movements of two of the victims.

Investigators have admitted that they are stumped by the killings in the small, notoriously safe college town and still have no suspects or persons of interest on their radar. For the past 17 days, officials have given little in the way of updates on the case – this silence and absence of information only serving to trigger an avalanche of online rumours and conspiracy theories among internet sleuths.

Sheila Flyn, Rachel Sharp, and Andrea Blanco have the full story.

How Moscow residents are coping with a world-shattering crime

Wednesday 30 November 2022 19:59 , Josh Marcus

Moscow Lock Shop can’t keep up with the demand for deadbolts.

The calls started coming in just hours after police discovered four University of Idaho students fatally stabbed on 13 November. Then the phone started ringing even more; by 17 November, the number of calls had reached 50 in a day.

“If you imagine that there’s two of us working, and then we’re going out and actually doing calls, and there’s 50 phone calls in one day ... we’re not getting them all done,” locksmith Casper Combs, 28, tells The Independent, pointing out that it takes about an hour to install each deadbolt.

“Little town Moscow doesn’t get a lot of drama, thank God,” says Mr Combs. “We’re lucky enough to live in a town where this type of thing is kind of so outlandish ... everybody is just freaked out, and that’s all that they’re talking about.”

Sheila Flynn reports on what it’s like in the town as it processes a horrific quadruple murder.

Guns, deadbolts and mass student exodus: Terror grips Idaho town after murders

The American crime wave that gets far less headlines: missing indigenous women

Wednesday 30 November 2022 19:43 , Josh Marcus

Washington State has become the first in the nation to set up a missing person’s alert especially for Indigenous women – a move supporters believe marks “history in the making”.

In parts of America, Native women go missing and suffer violence, 10 times more often than white women.

And yet their cases receive far less attention from the media and the authorities, something the late Black broadcaster Gwen Ifill referred to as missing “white woman syndrome”.

Read Andrew Buncombe’s full report.

First missing person hotline for Indigenous women is a ‘moment in history’

University of Idaho provost says school is ‘just trying to help students get through this'

Wednesday 30 November 2022 19:26 , Josh Marcus

The University of Idaho is wrestling with how to handle the coming semester, after four of its students were brutally murdered on 13 November.

“We’re thinking through a variety of scenarios, and I think we’ll have news on that soon,” U of I provost Torrey Lawrence told Idaho Education News. The university is considering options like expanded virtual learning, a “fluid” semester plan, and enhanced security on campus.

The official believes that more students are back at the university, after many fled campus ahead of the Thanksgiving break once the murders occured.“We’re frankly just trying to help students get through this semester successfully and safely and in a way that they are comfortable,” Mr Lawrence added.

‘Sense of fear’ descends over Idaho community after murders

Wednesday 30 November 2022 19:09 , Josh Marcus

Moscow, Idaho, police say the community has been rocked by the murder of four students earlier this month, leading to a surge in calls.

“We understand there is a sense of fear within our community,” police said in a Sunday release.

Since the murders took place, the police department has received 78 calls about “unusual circumstsances” and 36 calls for welfare checks on loved ones, up from normal levels.

Officers have also gotten roughly 500 digital tips relating to the murders themselves, according to officials.

Victim’s father reveals she died in same bed as best friend

10:13 , Rachel Sharp

The grieving father of one of the four slain University of Idaho students has revealed that his daughter was found dead in the same bed as her life-long best friend.

Steve Goncalves, whose 21-year-old daughter Kaylee Goncalves was stabbed to death back on 13 November, gave a heartbreaking speech at a vigil for the victims on Wednesday evening where he said it gave him comfort to learn that she was with best friend Madison Mogen until the very end.

Mr Goncalves told how the “absolutely beautiful” young women first met in sixth grade and became inseparable.

“They just found each other, and every day they did homework together, they came to our house together, they shared everything,” he said.

“Then they started looking at colleges, they came here together. They eventually get into the same apartment together.

“And in the end, they died together, in the same room, in the same bed.”

The devastated father, whose family also saw Mogen as a daughter, said that while “it hurts”, there is some “beauty” in knowing that the pair were together when they died.

“The beauty of the two always being together is something that will – it comforts us, it lets us know that they were with their best friends in the whole world,” he said.

“It’s like a book, it’s like some kind of terrible chapter but there’s beauty in it. And we’re gonna get our justice, we’re gonna figure this stuff out. This community deserves that.”