Idaho police probing whether victim Kaylee Goncalves had a stalker – follow latest

The Independent’s Sheila Flynn reports from on the ground in Idaho that the investigation has been compounded by changing stories from law enforcement and wild social media speculation that has seeped into the local rumour mill.

In her latest report, she writes: “Almost everything that happened in that residence after 1.45am last Sunday still remains a mystery …”

“The investigation has already included 646 tips, 90 interviews and more than 130 members of law enforcement, authorities said Sunday. “

“The FBI alone had 44 people working on the murders, including two members of the Behavioural Analysis Unit – the criminal profiling unit made famous by Criminal Minds.”

Read Sheila’s full coverage of the story:

The Moscow Police Department said that it has “looked extensively” into reports that murder victim Kaylee Goncalves may have complained of a stalker.

“Investigators have looked extensively into information they received about Kaylee Goncalves having a stalker. They have pursued hundreds of pieces of information related to this topic and have not been able to verify or identify a stalker,” the department wrote on Facebook on Tuesday night.

Sheila Flynn reports from Moscow, Idaho:

Jazzmin Kernodle is a better person because of her sister, Xana, she wrote in an Instagram post last week.

The sisters would have silly fights in the halls of their high school, Jazzmin recalls, only to make up and get closer with each fight.

Xana was the “life of the party, a dancing queen,” but also the friend who would light up a room and offer and encourage her loved ones to enjoy life to the full.

“I know Xana never let an opportunity pass her by, and she was so happy whenever I saw her … She was someone that was always worth recording because who knew what funny thing she was going to say or do next,” Jazzmin recounted in her post.

Jazzmin remembers Xana as a strong young woman who “worked hard for what she wanted,” a sentiment that was echoed by their father, Jeffrey Kernodle.

Mr Kernodle described Xana as a “tough kid,” telling CBS how investigators informed him that she had defensive wounds and likely fought her attacker until her death.

The killings of Xana, her boyfriend Ethan Chapin and her roommates Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen have rocked the town of Moscow, but have also brought the community together in remembering the lives taken on 13 November.

Several memorials and tributes have already taken place and more are planned for the victims.

A week on from the murders, much remains a mystery surrounding the circumstances of the horrific stabbings of Xana Kernodle, 20, Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21.

Officials believe the students were killed sometime between 3am and 4am on 13 November.

Law enforcement was called to the home on King Road at 11.58am on Sunday after a 911 call came in alerting them to “an unconscious individual”.

The call was made from the cellphone of one of the surviving roommates but police have refused to confirm the identity of the caller.

Authorities have since revealed that all four victims were stabbed to death with an “edged weapon such as a knife” – though the murder weapon has not been found.

The Independent’s Io Dodds and Rachel Sharp have an updated timeline of the developments in the case:

Moscow police have said that reports of a skinned dog are not related to the murders of four University of Idaho students on an off-campus housing site on 13 November.

“Detectives are aware of a Latah County Sheriff’s Office incident of the report of a skinned dog and have determined it is unrelated to this incident,” a Moscow Police Department spokesperson told The Independent.

On Tuesday, police also said that an incident reported on Monday evening by two young women who claimed that a man was inside their vehicle when they tried to enter it was not linked to the murders.

Police said that they interviewed witnesses and have closed the case as unfounded, meaning that it cannot be initially substantiated. They added that it could be reopened if more information emerges but stressed that it is not connected to the murders.

“In this Thanksgiving season, the family thanks God for protecting the girls, the neighbors for how quickly they came out to assist the girls in their distress, and the Moscow Police Department for a quick and professional response last night,” the family of the young females involved in the incident

When the time came for Stacy and Jim Chapin’s triplets to go to college in 2020, they all opted for the University of Idaho.

The siblings shared a special bond and had decided that they would spend their college years together.

When their parents drove away from the college’s campus in Moscow, Idaho, they thought they’d done it, they told KING5.

They had managed to raise three wonderful adults, they told the network.

But the dreams they had for Ethan were shattered when his life was taken in the early morning hours of 13 November.

Ethan had been visiting his girlfriend Xana Kernodle, who was also stabbed to death during the brutal attack.

As the family reels from the tragedy and navigate grief, they remembered Ethan as a kind young man who always tried new things and loved his family.

“We just watched a thing from the university, he was a spike ball champion, a volleyball champion. I mean, he just literally would play and do anything,” Ms Chapin told the network.

The quadruple murder of four University of Idaho students on 13 November rocked the college town of Moscow.

In an Instagram post the day before, 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves shared photos of her group of friends arm-in-arm, grinning carefree at the camera in a show of typical college fun.

“One lucky girl to be surrounded by these ppl everyday,” Kaylee Goncalves wrote on social media on the evening of 12 November.

Mere hours later, Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin and Madison Mogen were killed inside the women’s rental house.

Initially, local officials insisted that there was no ongoing threat to the community and that the murders were both “isolated” and “targeted”.

They have since backtracked from those remarks, asking residents to be careful and remain vigilant.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp reports:

Police revealed earlier this week that the two surviving roommates had ‘summoned friends’ to the home around noon on 13 November because they believed one of the victims had passed out.

More than one person spoke to the 911 dispatcher before officers were dispatched to the residence in the college town of Moscow.

Police arrived at the scene and found the bodies of the four victims on the second and third floors.

It is thought that they were killed during their sleep.

Friends of Xana Kernodle facilitated an essay she had written for her English class to her family, her sister Jazzmin Kernodle wrote in an Instagram post.

Xana wrote about listening to the song Blasé by Louis The Child in a live concert she attended with several of her friends.

“It was amazing getting to experience one of my favorite songs with some of my best friends while they were all enjoying life. That is one of the most important things you can do in life, enjoy the ride, not the destination,” she wrote in the essay on 7 November, according to the post.

Jazzmin Kernodle said that the words had brought comfort as she continues to navigate grief.

“I know this song has so much meaning to her, and now so many others. It is a song I will imagine her dancing to each time I hear it,” Ms Kernodle wrote.

Authorities in Moscow, where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death last week, have warned the public against rumours online.

Authorities addressed conspiracies surrounding the murders that have been spreading online. Police Captain Roger Lanier denied reports that the victims had been found tied and gagged and said that any information circulating about the identity of the 911 caller was mere speculation.