A police dog searches an apartment complex property south of campus where four dead University of Idaho students were found by local authorities Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, in Moscow, Idaho. The Moscow Police Department has classified the deaths as “homicide” but maintains there is no active danger to the community. (Zach Wilkinson/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP) Police in the college town of Moscow said Wednesday they have not identified a suspect or found a weapon in the weekend slayings of four University of Idaho students at a rental home near campus. Authorities still believe the attack was targeted, but rejected an earlier statement that there was no threat to the public. “Investigators are working to follow up on all the evidence and identify a person of interest,” Moscow Police Chief James Fry said at a news conference. “We do not have a suspect at this time and this person is still out there. We cannot say that there is no threat to the community.” “We have to be aware of our surroundings,” Fry said. All four victims were stabbed, the chief said. There was no sign of forced entry and a door was found open by the first officers to arrive. Two other people were found alive and unharmed in the large house. “I’m not going to go into what they shared,” Fry said. “We’re focusing on everyone,” he added. “We are still tracking everyone who could have been in this area.” Some of the victims’ family members are urging police to release more information about the killings and to reveal why they said there was no danger. Fry defended those statements, saying, “We take the totality of things that we see … and make the best decision we can. I’m not going to expand on that.” The victims — three women and one man, all close friends — were found dead Sunday afternoon by police responding to a report of an unconscious person at the home. Officials said they were likely killed several hours earlier. Fry did not say who it was that called 911. The victims were identified as Madison Mogan, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; and Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington. Autopsies were performed Wednesday in nearby Spokane, Wash., and Idaho State Police and the FBI were also working the case, Fry said. The Goncalves family issued a warning to whoever was behind the murders. “Whoever is responsible, we will find you. We will never stop. The pain you caused fueled our hatred and sealed your fate,” the family said in a statement posted on Twitter. “Justice will be served.” Moscow is a city of about 25,000 in the Idaho Panhandle, about 80 miles south of Spokane. News of the killings prompted many of the 11,000 students to leave the Idaho campus early for Thanksgiving break. University of Idaho President Scott Green also spoke at the news conference and said school will remain open the rest of the week because some students have found comfort in being on campus with professors and classmates. But the school also gave excused absences to anyone who felt more comfortable leaving early. “We’re going to support each other as we grieve,” Green said, his voice cracking as he read the four names. “We just want justice for these victims.” Aubrie Goncalves, Kaylee’s sister, posted a message on Instagram urging the students to leave. “Your grades are far less important than your life. I wish all U of I students safety and peace,” he wrote hours before the police press conference. “You are not safe until this sick man is found. If the person who did this is capable of killing four innocent people, he is capable of killing more.”
