Idaho students killed – update: Victim’s father says he ‘has to believe’ Moscow killer will be caught

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 few weeks, 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.

While police won’t say what they do know, they have resorted to debunking some of these online theories that they know to be incorrect.

But, with each piece of information revealed or each theory debunked, dozens more questions emerge about the case.

Here, The Independent takes a deep dive into the mountain of unsolved questions – and the scant details we do know.

On Wednesday, Moscow Police Chief James Fry told NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt that families of the four slain University of Idaho students were not excluded from the investigation.

The chief has repeatedly stated that certain information is not being released to maintain the integrity of the probe.

“Every family wants a little bit different information, and we have a liaison with each of the families, that we talked to them daily,” Mr Fry said.

“We pass on as much information as we can to them. As I stated, there’s information that we’ve held back, and we know that frustrates them … But we asked them to be patient. We asked them to trust us and that we’re going to continue to move through this until we have a completion in the case.”

Nearly six weeks after the fatal stabbings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in Moscow on 13 November, the killer remains at large.

Police in the town of just 25,000 are still receiving tips about a Hyundai Elantra seen near the scene of the crime around the time of the slayings.

The 911 call was made at 11.58am 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.”

“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.

Ethan Chapin’s family members have said they are “beyond grateful” for the communications they are receiving from law enforcement – showing a marked difference in opinion to the family of Kaylee Goncalves.

A spokesperson for the Chapin family told NBC in a statement on Wednesday that “there is an ongoing and open line of communication so we remain knowledgeable about any new happening before the public”.

Each family has been assigned a police liaison and the local prosecutor’s office also has a liaison who is in regular contact with victims’ families, Moscow Police told the outlet.

Goncalves’ parents have been critical about the apparent lack of communication from law enforcement working on the case, with the murdered student’s mother claiming that they only learned about the search for the white Hyundai at the same time as the rest of the country.

Moscow Police Chief James Fry has denied that the victims’ families are being “left in the dark”, saying that officers are in communication with the four families “daily” and that the different families want different levels of information.

Police investigating the murders of four University of Idaho students continue processing tips.

According to Moscow Police, the department, the FBI and Idaho State police were sorting through more than 7,650 emailed tips, 4,313 phone tips, 4,583 digital media submissions as of Tuesday.

More than 250 interviews have also been conducted.

“Investigators believe someone has information that adds context to what occurred on the night of the murders and continue requesting additional pictures, video, and social media content,” Moscow PD said in a statement.

“Our focus remains on the investigation, not an individual’s activities displayed in the tip. Whether you believe it is significant or not, your information might be one of the puzzle pieces that help solve these murders.”

Despite more details becoming available in the two weeks since the murders took place, key pieces of what happened in the early morning hours of 13 November remain missing.

Police have revealed the victims’ last steps, yet the timeline becomes blurry as the second part of the night of the murders progresses.

The pair walked straight down Main Street to a red brick building that used to host the now-defunct Garden Lounge; a favourite food truck, Grub Wandering Kitchen – fondly called Grub Truck by its many local fans – often parks outside on Main Street.

Goncalves and Mogen ordered, laughed and chatted with friends as they got their pasta carbonara; according to police, they got a lift home from a “private party” and returned to King Road around 1.56am.

Kernodle and Chapin returned to King Road at around 1.45am. The young couple had gone to a party across the road at Sigma Chi.

The other two roommates at King Road – who have still not been named by authorities – had gotten home first, around 1am, and fallen asleep, according to police.

Mogen and Goncalves both made multiple calls to the same number around an hour after they got home.

Goncalves’ sister said the unanswered calls were placed to her ex-boyfriend, who’d dated her sister for years before they amicably split, still sharing a dog named Murphy. He has been ruled out as a suspect.

Authorities believe a killer or killers fatally stabbed Chapin, Kernodle, Goncalves and Mogen between 3am and 4am.

Their bodies weren’t found until nearly nine hours later, around noon on 13 November.

Kaylee Goncalves’ father Steve Goncalves, one of the most vocal family voices in the media, told Fox News on Saturday that he understands that investigators “have their hands full” with the case.

“I want kids to understand that this is such a big case that these guys have their hands full,” he said.

“I wanted to go out there and tell everyone that the Goncalves’ family supports the local police officers so much so that we want them to be able to work on this case.”

Last week, police announced that they were looking for a mystery white car in connection to the murders.

Moscow Police said that a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra with an unknown licence plate was seen near the crime scene around the time of the stabbings.

“Investigators believe the occupant(s) of this vehicle may have critical information to share regarding this case,” police said in a statement.

Investigators urged the public to come forward with any information, revealing that it might just be the missing “piece of the puzzle”.

Border agents along the US’s border with Canada have been notified to be on the lookout for the car and tips have been pouring in from the public ever since – so much so that the calls are now being directed to a national FBI tip line.

A local landlord has now indicated that police may have been focusing on the mystery vehicle long before releasing the details to the public and that the lead may have come from footage he handed over one day after the killings.

Kane Francetich told Fox News that investigators had reached out asking for surveillance footage from a camera on his six-unit rental building on Linda Lane in Moscow. The property is 0.3 miles from the King Road address where the killings took place.

Mr Francetich said he handed over footage from 2am to noon on 13 November.

The video captured a “white” or “light coloured” car driving past at around the time of the murders, he said.

The vehicle was travelling west on Taylor Road sometime between 2.45am and 3.15am, he said. Taylor Road is the main street which connects the home on King Road to Highway 95.

Moscow Police have not revealed whether or not this is the same vehicle they are now searching for.

The grieving father of slain University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves has said that he “has to” believe that his daughter’s killer will be caught.

Steve Goncalves spoke to CNN about his determination to keep faith in the investigation as more than five weeks have passed since the 13 November murders with no arrests made and no suspects identified.

When asked if he believes that police will find his daughter’s killer, he responded: “Yes, I have to, I have to. I couldn’t sleep if I thought…”

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:

The investigation into the brutal murders of University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin is now in its sixth 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 few weeks, 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.

While police won’t say what they do know, they have resorted to debunking some of these online theories that they know to be incorrect.

But, with each piece of information revealed or each theory debunked, dozens more questions emerge about the case.

Here, The Independent takes a deep dive into the mountain of unsolved questions – and the scant details we do know: