On Nov. 13, four students from the University of Idaho were brutally murdered in their off-campus home. 

The victims are Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; and Madison Mogen, 21. They lived with an additional two other roommates who survived. The rooms of the victims were on the second and third floors. 

Chapin didn’t live at the house, however the night of the killings, he was sleeping over with his girlfriend, Kernodle. Chapin was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and majored in recreation sport and tourism management. 

Kernodle was studying marketing and was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. 

Goncalves was studying general studies as a member of the Alpha Phi sorority. Within the upcoming months, Goncalves planned to move across the country for a job in the tech industry in Texas and planned to go on a trip to Europe. 

Goncalves and Mogen were best friends and grew up together. Mogen was a marketing major at the University of Idaho as well, and she was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. 

All of the victims were described to be full of life and outgoing individuals. The school and their families are deeply saddened by this tragedy. 

There has been an ongoing investigation, and investigations have created a timeline that highlights the whereabouts of the four students the night of the killings.

The night prior to their death, Goncalves and Mogen had been at a sports bar, while Chapin and Kernodle were at a fraternity party.

Later on, digital evidence shows that Goncalves and Mogen went to a food truck and were later driven home to a “private party.”

The two surviving roommates were also seen out in Moscow that night, and returned home around 1 a.m. The other four victims had returned home an hour later at around 2 a.m. 

Authorities were called at 11:58 a.m. from the house the next morning, as the two surviving roommates called a friend over to the residence because they “believed one of the second-floor victims had passed out and was not waking up,” police said in a release according to a CNN article.

When the police arrived, there was no sign of entry or damage to the house, and they found two victims on the second floor and the other two on the third floor were stabbed multiple times. 

At 5:07 p.m., the university sent out an alert requesting students shelter in place, however this request was lifted about 40 minutes later after the investigators informed the school that there wasn’t an active threat to students safety, although they hadn’t caught the criminal. An additional announcement was made by the school’s president. 

Since the death of the four students, the community of Moscow gathered to honor the victims. Within days of the killings, the university community gathered at Kibbie Dome, which is the ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center.

It was here that students, faculty members, and parents of the victims gathered. According to a CNN article, Chapins’s mother, Stacy Chapin, spoke and said “The circumstances that bring us here tonight – they’re terrible,” and continued by saying “The hardest part – we cannot change the outcome.”

Additionally, Goncalves’s father, Steve Goncalves, discussed the friendship between Goncalves and Mogen and said “They just found each other, and every day they did homework together, they came to our house together, they shared everything,” he said. “In the end, they died together, in the same room in the same bed.”

A memorial service was held for the students and the pastor of the church read letters from the two surviving roommates. 

Dylan Mortensen, described Kernodle as the “strong, intelligent, hardworking and a beautiful person.” Mortensen said Chapin was “like an older brother,” and her letter also stated that Mogen and Goncalves were an “inseparable duo.” 

The other surviving roommate, Bethany Funke, wrote a letter noting that Goncalves was “sweet and giving.” Chapin was described as having “the brightest most fun personality,” Kernodle “made people believe in true love,” and Mogen made Funke’s “ life better by being [her] friend.”

Besides the events that are being held to honor the lives of the victims, the families and university community have expressed frustration over the progression of the investigations and have criticized investigators for sharing little information. 

According to an ABC article, John Miller, a “CNN chief law enforcement analyst and former deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism for the New York Police Department” has noted that the police department has been reluctant to “say they have a suspect,” as their current suspects have “risen and fallen in various levels of importance.” 

The FBI is also involved in this case, having “three important roles in the Idaho investigation,” according to Miller. 

First is the behavioral science unit, which serves to identify the offenders characteristics and narrows the scope of the suspects. Second, is a technological aspect of investigation, the Combined DNA Indexing System for example has allowed investigators to search through thousands of DNA profiles. The third part of the FBI’s involvement is its “56 field offices” throughout the country, which will allow investigators to widen their search in various areas. 

Currently, no weapons have been found, the suspect(s) haven’t been publicly identified, however Jennifer Coffindaffer, who has been an FBI agent for 25 years notes that “forensic investigation may be complicated by the chaotic nature of the murders” according to a NBC news article. 

Controversies have been made about suspects, which victims were targeted, and the investigations. More information is to come.