University of Idaho Investigation Continues

After the fatal stabbing killing four college students in small college town Moscow, Idaho at 3 a.m. on Nov. 13, the whole country is in a state of grievance and worry. Moscow, Idaho, home to University of Idaho, holds a population of just a little over 25,000 people. Running just along the Washington-Idaho border, the town is known for its beautiful mountains and charming small town. And now, the mystery that has kept thousands of Americans awake at night. 

Moscow Police department has been working day and night, trying to find any pieces of evidence they can of the mysterious murder. They have been continually holding press conferences, hoping to explain as much as they can to the public and most importantly, Moscow residents. 

  On the very early morning of Sunday, Nov. 13, three roommates, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Xana’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, were stabbed to death in their beds after a late night out at fraternity parties and bar hopping. 

Madison and Kaylee, best friends since childhood, had been at a nearby bar Saturday night. After midnight they went to a local food truck where they got driven home by a private party. After a livestream at the food truck went viral on social media due to Madison and Kaylee’s appearance in it, viewers were extremely critical of a man who seemed to be following them in the video. Yet, it was hard to make any assumptions about the man being a possible suspect, since the girls did have a private party to drive them home and were only in the video for a short few minutes. The Moscow police department a few weeks later ruled out the man in the video as a suspect.

Another piece of information that has caused the public much discussion was that just a few minutes before they were killed, both girls called Kaylee’s ex-boyfriend, Jack, several times. The police came out a few weeks after the murder though stating that Jack was not a suspect. Yet, the public has made assumptions and predictions that Kaylee and Madison may have known they were in danger before they were killed, leading them to call Jack for help. 

More pieces of information have been spread around about the girls that have made the public suspicious. To start, reports have been made that Kaylee supposedly complained of a stalker a few months prior to the murder. Also, police had originally said that the girls arrived home at 1:45 a.m., but changed their statement to 1:56 a.m. after further investigation. Ava Wise (12) has been following the investigation closely on the popular social media app Tik Tok. She shares “All over my for you page is videos about the Idaho murders. That’s how I originally found out about it. It’s so horrible what happened and I hope they can find out who did it.” 

As far as Xana and Ethan’s whereabouts, police have been struggling to find an exact timeline. The couple were reported to be at Ethan’s fraternity house from 9 p.m. to 1:45 a.m. With the huge time gap spent at the fraternity house, the police do not have much to go after. 

Nonetheless, the police have figured out that both parties got home early Sunday morning, around similar times. The three girls were also not the only roommates that lived in the six-person house. They had two other roommates, who were both reported to have gotten home Sunday morning about an hour before the victims. They were reported to have been asleep in their rooms in the basement of their house during the murder. 

Police were called on Nov. 13 at 11:58 a.m., hours after the stabbings. The call was made off of one of the surviving roommates’ phones, reporting that they saw an “unconscious person.” Many people who have been closely following the investigation believe that one of the roommates or a friend saw all the blood and went outside to get help, but fainted, causing the 911 call.

The surviving roommates have been cleared by the Moscow Police, and now take the proper amount of time to grieve. Lauren Sherlock says “I can’t even imagine how the two surviving roommates feel. I saw a video of them giving a speech at a church for their roommates and it was very painful and sad to watch.”

An issue police have faced with this case is figuring out if the murder was someone the studetns knew. Originally many thought it was a “crime of passion”, since a stabbing is a much more intimate and passionate way to kill another. Yet, this idea has gone back and forth for quite a few weeks now. 

The Moscow police department continues to investigate, leaving the case unsolved. Residents of Moscow, college students, and the world grieve for the four beautiful souls lost in the early morning of Nov. 13. Many also keep Moscow and the victims’ families in mind. All hope that the case won’t go cold, and justice will be served for this mysterious, peculiar case.