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Coroner: Idaho students stabbed to death, were likely asleep

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(NewsNation) — Four University of Idaho students who were found dead Sunday inside a home all died from stab wounds and were likely asleep at the time, according to preliminary findings by a county coroner.

The investigation into who committed the vicious crime was ongoing Friday as the suspect, or suspects, remained at large and unidentified. Police have begun to lay out a timeline of what happened in the hours leading up to the killings, though much remains unknown.

New video has surfaced showing two of the victims, identified as Madison Mogen, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, ordering at a late-night food truck in Moscow, Idaho.

As an investigation into this incident is ongoing, the food truck’s live Twitch stream showed the pair ordered and waited about 10 minutes for their food at about 1:40 a.m. Police said the video has helped with the case and are working to identify one of the individuals seen in the video.

According to a press release on Friday, detectives do not believe that that the two surviving roommates or the male seen in the food truck surveillance video were involved in the crime.

The victims, including Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20, all close friends, were found dead in an off-campus rental home around noon Sunday. Officials said they likely were killed several hours earlier.

According to a report from The Hill, police said Chapin and Kerndole were at a party on campus before the attack, while Mogen and Goncalves were at a downtown bar.

All four students eventually returned home, where the attack occurred.

  • Officers investigate the deaths of four University of Idaho students at an apartment complex south of campus on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, in Moscow, Idaho. The Moscow Police Department has labeled the deaths as “homicides” but maintains there is not an active risk to the community. (Zach Wilkinson/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP)
  • Officers investigate a homicide at an apartment complex south of the University of Idaho campus on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. Four people were found dead on King Road near the campus, according to a city of Moscow news release issued Sunday afternoon. (Zach Wilkinson/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP)
  • Officers investigate a homicide at an apartment complex south of the University of Idaho campus on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. Four people were found dead on King Road near the campus, according to a city of Moscow news release issued Sunday afternoon. (Zach Wilkinson/Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP)
  • Officers investigate a homicide at an apartment complex south of the University of Idaho campus on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. Four people were found dead on King Road near the campus, according to a city of Moscow news release issued Sunday afternoon. (Zach Wilkinson/Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP)
  • Officers patrol an apartment complex south of campus where four deceased University of Idaho students were found by local authorities on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, in Moscow, Idaho. The Moscow Police Department has labeled the deaths as “homicides” but maintains there is not an active risk to the community. (Zach Wilkinson/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP)
  • Candles and flowers are left at a make-shift memorial honoring four slain University of Idaho students outside the Mad Greek restaurant in downtown Moscow, Idaho, on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. Police discovered the bodies of the four students at home near campus on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, and said the killer or killers used a knife or bladed weapon in the targeted attack. Two of the victims, 21-year-old Madison Mogen and 20-year-old Xana Kernodle, were servers at Mad Greek. (AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios)
  • People gather to pray outside of the Pi Beta Phi sorority house at the University of Idaho after four students were found dead at an apartment complex south of campus, including two sorority members, on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, in Moscow, Idaho. The Moscow Police Department has labeled the deaths as “homicides” but maintains there is not an active risk to the community. (Zach Wilkinson//The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP)
  • Candles and flowers are left at a make-shift memorial honoring four slain University of Idaho students outside the Mad Greek restaurant in downtown Moscow, Idaho, on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. Police discovered the bodies of the four students at home near campus on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, and said the killer or killers used a knife or bladed weapon in the targeted attack. Two of the victims, 21-year-old Madison Mogen and 20-year-old Xana Kernodle, were servers at Mad Greek. (AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios)
  • A small number of students gather in the University of Idaho’s Student Union Building as classes were cancelled to honor student victims of a homicide investigation at an apartment complex south of campus on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, in Moscow, Idaho. (Zach Wilkinson/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP)

Sometime between 1:45 a.m. and the call to police around noon Sunday, police say the four college students were violently attacked, while two other female roommates were left unharmed.

The identity of the 911 caller has not been released.

“The four were stabbed with a knife but no weapon has been found,” Moscow Police Chief James Fry said in a news conference Wednesday.

While looking for possible evidence, authorities seized the contents of three dumpsters on King Road. Police appear to be looking for a Rambo-style knife. 

The Idaho Statesman reported police were at a local hardware store looking for a Ka-Bar brand knife, a brand that particular store reportedly didn’t sell. 

Cathy Mabbutt, the Latah County coroner, ruled all four deaths a homicide and said the students died from stabbings. Autopsies were completed by a medical examiner in Spokane, Washington, and authorities have released the victims’ bodies to families, who will now start the process of laying their loved ones to rest.

Providing more information about the deaths Thursday on “Banfield,” Mabbutt said the bodies of the four students were found in beds and each had multiple stab wounds. Fatal stabs were delivered to the upper torso or chest area, Mabbutt said.

“It seems likely that maybe they were sleeping,” Mabbutt said.

 Mabbutt also told NewsNation that each victim suffered multiple stab wounds from a “pretty large knife.”

“It has to be somebody pretty angry in order to stab four people to death,” Mabbutt told NewsNation. The victims were stabbed in the chest and upper body, the coroner said.

Mabbutt went on to describe the early Sunday attacks as “personal,” according to Idaho News, which cited a CBS report.

Evidence collected at the scene has been sent for DNA testing. Mabbutt said evidence was collected on multiple floors of the house, but she was not authorized to disclose whether the bodies themselves were found on multiple floors.

There have been reports from neighbors saying they heard a party happening at the home, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Since the discovery of the bloody crime scene, the community of 26,000 has been on high alert. Moscow hasn’t had a murder since 2015, and now some university students packed up and left early for Thanksgiving break.

The father of Chapin issued a statement imploring police to release more information. 

Fry said that residents should be cautious and warned there could be an ongoing threat to the residents of the city.

“We still believe it is a targeted attack,” Fry said. “But the reality is there is a person out there who committed four horrible horrible crimes so we’ve got to go back to that there is a threat out there, we don’t think … to anyone else, but we all have to be aware of our surroundings and look out for one another.”

On social media, Goncalves’ sister implored students to leave the area.

“If you have friends, family, or loved ones in Moscow, our family encourages you to get them home,” she posted in part. “Police say ‘isolated, targeted attack’ but it is isolated until it isn’t.”

“No one is in custody, therefore no one is safe,” the younger sister added.

The University of Idaho has offered counseling services to students and has increased patrols, which President Scott Green said would continue through the weekend.

“We continue to push for justice,” Green said in an email Thursday to students and staff. “We need to remain flexible this week and grant our students and colleagues room to process these unprecedented events in their own ways. Students, you are encouraged to do what is right for you. Whether this is going home early or staying in class, you have our support.”

  • In this photo provided by Stacy Chapin, triplets Ethan, Maizie and Hunter Chapin pose in front of a tulip field in La Conner, Wash., in April of 2021. Ethan Chapin was one of four University of Idaho students found stabbed to death in a home near the Moscow, Idaho campus on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. Police are still searching for a suspect in the case. (Stacy Chapin via AP)
  • In this photo provided by Stacy Chapin, triplets Maizie, left, Ethan, second from left, and Hunter, right, pose with their parents Stacy and Jim Chapin at Priest Lake in northern Idaho in July 2022. Ethan Chapin was one of four University of Idaho students found stabbed to death in a home near the Moscow, Idaho campus on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. Police are still searching for a suspect in the case.(Stacy Chapin via AP)
  • This Dec. 2021 photo provided by Jazzmin Kernodle shows father Jeff Kernodle, left, Xana, middle, and Jazzmin, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Xana was among one of four University of Idaho students found stabbed to death in an off-campus rental home on Nov. 13, 2022. (Courtesy of Jazzmin Kernodle via AP)
  • In this photo provided by Stacy Chapin, Ethan Chapin surfs on Priest Lake in northern Idaho in this family snapshot from July 2022. Chapin was one of four University of Idaho students found stabbed to death in a home near the Moscow, Idaho campus on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. Police are still searching for a suspect in the case. (Stacy Chapin via AP)
  • This July 2022 photo provided by Jazzmin Kernodle shows University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle, right, and Ethan Chapin on a boat on Priest Lake, in Idaho. Both students were among four found stabbed to death in an off-campus rental home on Nov. 13. (Jazzmin Kernodle via AP)

Detectives have received nearly 500 tips which are being processed, investigated and cleared. Thirty eight interviews have been conducted as well, according to Friday’s press release.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.