Two roommates who survived The University of Idaho Massacre In the letters read at the memorial service, he broke his silence by sharing his memories of “four beautiful people”.
Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen were sleeping on the first floor of the home outside the Moscow campus where Kayleigh Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Hana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were killed on Nov. 13.
Kernodle read a letter written by Funke and Mortensen, a local pastor, during a live service in Post Falls, Idaho, where he grew up.
“Maddie, Hana, Kaylee and Ethan were the same,” the Real Life Ministries pastor read from the letters from the two survivors. This was reported by CBS News.
“Hana and Ethan: they were the perfect couple together and had this unstoppable relationship,” Mortensen wrote, according to the publication.
The four “changed my outlook on life,” he said.
“Knowing these four beautiful people has had a profound impact on my life,” Mortensen said in his letter. This was reported by CNN.
“My people who changed my life in many ways and made me happy. “I know it’s going to be hard not having all four of them in our lives, but I know Hana, Ethan, Maddie and Kaylee want us to live and be happy and they want us to celebrate theirs,” she added. .
Funk wrote that the four slain students “were gifts to this world in your own unique way — and it just wouldn’t be the same without you.”
He added that Mogen was the big sister he always wanted but never had.
“You always told me that everything happens for a reason,” Funke wrote of Mogen, who described herself as a “senior” in the school’s Pi Beta Phi sorority. According to the Idaho Statesman.
“But I’m having a hard time understanding why,” he wrote.
“I wish every day I could hug them one last time and tell them how much I love them,” Funke added. “I thought a lot about what I would say to each of them if I could.”
He described Goncalves as a “sweet and tolerant” person with a great sense of humor.
Funke also said that Kernodle and Chapin’s relationship “made people believe in true love.” This was reported by CNN.
He described Kernodle as “kind, cheerful, energetic, funny, passionate” and Chapin as “the brightest most interesting person”.
Funke also noted that she always looked up to Mogen, who gave her the best advice and always offered to help.
It was unclear whether Funke and Mortensen would attend the event, which reporters were not allowed to cover in person.
Mogen’s boyfriend, Jake Shriger, also broke his silence at the event and shared his memories of the slain student.
“He was the first person I talked to every morning and the last person I talked to before going to bed,” Shriger said. “He was the person I loved the most.”