It is an unsolved police investigation that is shaking America. On November 13, four students from the University of Moscow in the state of Idaho were found dead in the residence they shared. The victims, all very close to each other, were apparently the target of a knife attack.
Five days after this massacre, many questions remain unanswered. US police still have no leads or weapons, reports CNN.
These four students have been publicly identified. There is a man Ethan Chapin, 20, and three women Kaylee Gonçalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21.
A few hours before this macabre discovery, Kaylee Goncalves, one of the victims had posted on Instagram a photo of the four of them beaming with happiness under the porch of their residence with this caption: “A lucky girl to be surrounded by these people every day”.
What happened the night from Saturday to Sunday?
While the police have launched an appeal for witnesses and fear has taken hold on the university campus, investigators are trying to trace the last hours of the victims, identify potential suspects and the motive for the crime. Were these students the victims of a burglary gone wrong? Where were they particularly targeted?
Chapin and Kernodle were at a party on campus while Goncalves and Mogen spent the evening at a downtown bar, Moscow Police Department Chief James Fry said.
Chapin did not live in the house but slept with his girlfriend, Kernodle, according to the young man’s mother.
A video filmed by surveillance cameras analyzed
Of the filmed images by food truck cameras captured the last known movements of two of the victims. This surveillance video shows Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves stopping for a late night meal. It is after one o’clock in the morning when these images were filmed. “Goncalves and Mogen were best friends since they were kids and they “did it all together,” Alivia Goncalves, sister of one of the victims, told ABC News.
During the roughly 10-minute wait in line for the food truck, the 21-year-old BFFs seem to be having fun, laughing with each other, taking photos and chatting with other students gathered nearby.
A mysterious man seems to be with them when they arrive in front of the food truck, but the two young women leave the scene, alone.
According to medical examiners, Mogen and Goncalves were killed two hours later inside their student residence with their friends Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20.
Deserted campus
With Thanksgiving celebrations just days away, many students on the Moscow campus are anticipating their return to their families.
“We cannot say that there is no threat to the community”
The police, indeed, said in a rather alarming communication that they could not assure with certainty that the public were not at risk, reversing an earlier statement that the attacks were targeted. “We cannot say that there is no threat to the community”, Moscow Police Department Chief James Fry said at a press conference on Wednesday. “And as we’ve said before, please stay alert, report suspicious activity, and stay alert at all times.”
Asked by CNN, Ava Dritfmeyer, a student on this campus, shared her feelings: “It’s so dark. It’s like a dark cloud above everything. We have to get out of here as quickly as possible.”
Ava, who said she lives near where the four students were killed, described the situation as difficult to deal with, both mentally and emotionally.
“You know how crazy it is? And the fact that there are no answers to our questions is the worst feeling ever”, she said.
“Everybody kind of went home because they’re scared. … There’s really an unease on campus right now,” also told student Nathan Tinno to CNN.
Two key witness housemates
According to ABC, two other roommates were inside the home at the time of the deaths. “None of them were injured or held hostage”developed the president of the university, Green.
Information confirmed by the police. “There were many other people in the house at the time, but we’re not just focusing on them, we’re focusing on everyone who can get in and out of this residence,” said James Fry, who also clarified that these two people were actively collaborating in the work of the investigators.
The identity of the person who alerted the emergency services on Sunday noon has not been publicly revealed.