Four students enrolled at the University of Idaho were stabbed to death near the Moscow, Idaho, campus in the early morning hours of Sunday, November 13. The following day, the Moscow Police Department ruled the deaths as “homicides,” identifying the victims as Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.
Calling the murders a “senseless act of violence, Moscow Mayor Art Bettge shared in a statement that limited information would be made available in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy in order to maintain “the integrity of the investigation.”
Officials learned of the murders after a 911 call was placed regarding an unconscious person in an off-campus house. When police arrived on the scene, the bodies of the four students were discovered, with Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt telling KXLY that the scene was “pretty traumatic.”
“Details are limited in this investigation. Currently, there is no one in custody,” the police department wrote in a Monday, November 14 press release. “The Moscow Police does not believe there is an ongoing community risk based on information gathered during the preliminary investigation.”
Prior to the tragic events of the night, Chapin and Kernodle attended a party at Sigma Chi house on the University of Idaho campus. They were said to have returned to the off-campus home around 1:45 a.m. on Sunday morning, according to police.
Meanwhile, Mogen and Goncalves spent the night of November 12 at a bar called The Corner Club in downtown Moscow. After leaving, they stopped at a food truck before returning home at approximately 1:45 a.m.
The victims appeared to be alive at 2:52 a.m., with police stating that one of the women had called an ex-boyfriend multiple times. The ex-boyfriend is not currently considered a suspect in the case.
In addition to two other roommates that lived in the home with Mogen, Kernodle and Goncalves, guests were present at the time the 911 call was made. However, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said during a press conference on Sunday, November 20, that they’re not sure how many people were in the home at the time of the murders.
Officials explained that “the surviving roommates summoned friends to the residence” as they believed one of the victims had passed out and wasn’t waking up. Several people spoke to the 911 dispatcher regarding the incident, though none of them were in the home at the time the stabbings took place. Police do not believe any of the friends that spoke on the 911 call were involved in the killings.
Keep scrolling to find out everything we know about the Idaho college murders.