Three weeks after four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death in an off-campus home in Moscow, investigators are scrambling to find a suspect, leaving the victims’ relatives frustrated.
“We are angry. Anyone would have,” Scott Laramie, stepfather of slain senior Madison Mogen, said of the lack of police success.
Moscow police how they used to boast There are 46 FBI agents on the case, as well as 13 Idaho State Police detectives with their team, all of whom are looking into evidence and leads.
However, their daily updates to their parents still offered little consolation that the minor killer would soon face justice.
“They update us every day. We asked them to check if they had anything,” Laramie said. “I hope they come up with something soon. I want justice for these kids.”
Mogen, 21, was found dead in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, along with her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and their friends Hana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20. Two roommates who were home at the time. left unharmed.
Maddie Mogen went to a local bar with Kaylee Goncalves before she was killed.
Kylie Goncalves spent part of her last night at a local bar.
Ethan Chapin and Hana Kernodle reportedly attended a party at a nearby Sigma Chi fraternity house on Nov. 12.
The Moscow police have not helped to gain public trust by publicly issuing mixed messages and giving evasive answers to even simple questions at press conferences.
After answering questions about whether the attack was “personal” or not, the only fact that authorities have publicly released is that a fixed blade was used in the brutal stabbing, a weapon that has yet to be found.
Latest news about the brutal murder of four college friends:
- Police have detailed a “stalker report” made by the slain student
- Idaho student survivors break silence with letters remembering their ‘beautiful’ roommate
- Father of slain Idaho student blasts ‘inexperienced’ cops, calls for PI
Pete Yachmetz, a security consultant and former FBI agent, warned that the fluctuating data flow is not helping.
“What’s still happening is the police are making vague comments and losing public confidence in them,” he told The Post last week.
“It’s very sad because ultimately it takes public trust to solve this crime.”
Last Thursday, Moscow police confirmed that more than 113 pieces of physical evidence were collected from the house, as well as more than 4,000 crime scene photos and several 3D scans of the space.
Five vehicles, some belonging to the victims, were also taken from the scene for further tests.
“To protect the integrity of the investigation, specific findings such as fingerprints, hair, fiber, blood and DNA evidence will not be released,” the department said in a statement.
Latah County Coroner Kathy Mabbutt said CNN when he arrived at the scene he found “a lot of blood on the wall” and “some” of the victims had defensive injuries.
Police on Monday stated on the night of November 12, when Kernodle and Chapin attended a party at a nearby Sigma Chi fraternity house from 9:00 p.m. to 1:45 a.m., they were cutting down on the victims’ movements.
Follow up Interview with Good Morning America on Tuesday, Idaho State Police communications director Aaron Snell said the time period was “one of the big areas where we don’t have a lot of information.”
Mogen and Goncalves, who had spent part of the night together at a local bar, were previously identified in video footage of them stopping at a food truck on their way home.
Snell also confirmed that Goncalves’ dog, which was found in a separate room in the home, did not enter the crime scene.
“The dog seems to have some evidence of that,” he told the audience. However, police admitted they still don’t know if the dog was inside or outside the house at the time of the killing, which took place between 3am and 6am.
Monday’s police statement also caused more confusion due to conflicting claims from Goncalves’ father, Steve Goncalves, who told NewsNation police said his daughter’s injuries were more severe than those of the other victims.
“Due to an active criminal investigation, law enforcement is not releasing additional facts to the family or the public,” the statement said.
The update comes a day after Steve Goncalves criticized the investigation in an exclusive interview with The Post.
Goncalves said the Moscow police were “not the most tech-savvy people,” saying, “They’re just inexperienced, and I don’t want anyone to make a mistake in my child’s case.”
Goncalves explained that he now hires private investigators to get the answers he needs.
“One of the private detectives I talked to had been in the game for 50 years,” he said, noting that one expert told him that police rely too much on DNA evidence.
Even if the killer’s DNA was left at the scene, it could take some time to isolate him, since the students’ home was a place where they would hang out with friends, and many people’s DNA could be found on the property.
Nevertheless, Goncalves vowed to withdraw his criticism if the initial investigation was successful.
“I apologize. I’m going to come out and say, ‘These kids had great DNA or some evidence, and good for them. I gave it to them and I’m going to take it back,'” he said.
“I’d like to make a mistake and we’ll get this guy.”
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