Murdered Idaho students honoured at graduation where police warned: ‘Stay vigilant’
Moscow Police warned students, locals and visitors to the college town to ‘stay vigilant’ during graduation celebrations as the killer remains at large
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The four University of Idaho students murdered in their beds last month were remembered at a graduation ceremony over the weekend, where police had warned attendees to “stay vigilant” and to travel in groups with the mass killer still at large.
University of Idaho President C. Scott Green opened the college’s winter commencement ceremony on Saturday by paying tribute to Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen.
“It’s been a rough few weeks for our campus,” he told the 550 students and their family members who had gathered for the service.
“I would like to acknowledge an enormous loss for our Vandal family,” he said, reading out the names of the four victims and describing how they were “taken from us far too soon by a senseless act of violence”.
“They were bright lights on our campus and cherished members of our community,” he added.
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A moment of silence was then held in honour of the slain students.
Goncalves should have been celebrating her own graduation at the service before she planned to move to Texas for a new job. Instead, her family is planning her celebration of life after she was stabbed to death at the age of 21.
The University of Idaho’s winter commencement appeared to take place without any major issues after safety concerns were raised about the event when the mass murderer is still at large.
In an announcement on Saturday morning, Moscow Police warned students, locals and visitors to the college town to “stay vigilant”, travel in groups and stay in contact with other people during the celebration.
Police Chief James Fry said that patrols by law enforcement would be beefed up both on the campus and around the town.
“With commencement this weekend, there will be an influx of people coming in from out of town. Moscow Police Department and Idaho State Police will provide coverage on campus and in the Moscow area,” police said.
“As always, we want to remind the public to stay vigilant, travel in groups, and communicate with family and friends as you travel.”
The warning came after police have repeatedly given conflicting ståtements in the aftermath of the murders about whether or not there is a risk to the wider public.
In the early days of the investigation, Moscow Police insisted that there was “no imminent threat” to the community because it was “an isolated, targeted attack” – despite having no suspects even on their radar.
Three days on from the killing, they then walked back that assertion, admitting that – with the perpetrator still at large – “there is a threat” and urging the public to stay “vigilant”.
Now, a month after the murders, no arrests have been made and no suspects have been identified.
A search is currently under way for the mystery driver of a white car spotted near the students’ home around the time of the murders.
In what appeared to be the strongest lead to date. Moscow Police announced last Wednesday that they were looking to speak to the occupant or occupants of a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra which was seen near the King Road home in the early hours of 13 November.
“Investigators believe the occupant(s) of this vehicle may have critical information to share regarding this case,” police said in a statement.
Police are urging 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.
Moscow Police have been so inundated with tips about the vehicle that the calls are being directed to a national FBI tip line. As of Saturday, police said that they are still looking to speak to the occupants and the licence plate remains unknown.
The four victims were stabbed to death in their beds at around 3am or 4am on 13 November with a fixed-blade knife, police said. There was no signs of sexual assault.
Two of the victims were found on the second floor and two on the third floor of the home.
On the night of 12 November, Kernodle and Chapin were at a sorority party at Sigma Chi house together from 8pm to 9pm and arrived back at the home at around 1.45am. It is unclear where they were in the five-hour time gap.
Goncalves and Mogen had spent the night at The Corner Club bar in downtown Moscow, before stopping by a food truck and then getting a ride home from an unnamed “private party” to arrive at the property at around 1.56am.
Two surviving roommates were also out that night and arrived home at around 1am, police said. The two women, who lived in rooms on the first floor of the home, are believed to have slept through the brutal killings and were unharmed.
The horrific crime scene went unnoticed for several more hours, with police receiving a 911 call at 11.58am on Sunday, reporting an “unconscious individual” at the home.
The two other roommates had first called friends to the home because they believed one of the second floor victims was unconscious and would not wake up. When the friends arrived, a 911 call was made from one of the roommates’ phones.
Police arrived on the scene to find the four victims dead from multiple stab wounds.
Several people have been ruled out as suspects: the two surviving housemates, the man who was caught on camera with Mogen and Goncalves at a food truck in the downtown area before they headed home on the night of the slayings, the person who gave Mogen and Goncalves a ride home from the food truck, Goncalves’ former long-term boyfriend and the friends who were in the home when the 911 call.
A sixth person listed on the lease of the student home and two men involved in a “stalker” incident with Goncalves around a month before the murders are also not believed to be connected to the case, police said.