The Idaho Mystery. Moscow is a small and remote town in the north of that state that suddenly finds itself in the focus of the US media. What really happened? So far it's an X file.
"We cannot confirm if there is any threat to the community," the town's police chief, James Fry, said Sunday. “We urge citizens to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings at all times,” he stressed.
Moscow has been plunged into uncertainty since the lifeless bodies of four University of Idaho students (three women and one man) were found mercilessly stabbed to death in their off-campus residence halls on Sunday, November 13.
Nine days later, the investigation shows no progress. There is no suspected perpetrator under the radar, nor has the murder weapon been found. Fear and rumors hang over this Latah County city of about 23,000. “We have no suspect at this time and the perpetrator is still out there,” Chief Fry insisted. He also asked that the neighbors stop paying attention to the conspiracies that run on social networks about the enigma of this still unsolved crime. False information is spread about possible suspects that the police have ruled out.
The unknown is like a snowball that grows day by day. Because the investigators have not yet been able to offer an explanation of why the police believe that the four deceased were victims of a prepared and directed attack, nor if one of the young people was the objective, nor if there were one or more assailants. “We can't even tell if the perpetrator is still in the city or in the state,” Fry said.
Autopsies confirmed that no signs of sexual abuse have been detected. “There was a lot of blood,” County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt explained. “The scene was terrible,” she added. Mabbutt concluded that the four were repeatedly stabbed with a large knife while sleeping on the second and third floors of the building, between 3 and 4 a.m. that Sunday. Some of the bodies showed defensive wounds.
Agents are looking for a "Rambo-style" knife, by their definition. With this mission they have visited various establishments asking for possible buyers of combat daggers.
The dead are Madison Morgen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. The three women resided in that property, while Ethan was in a relationship with Xana.
“I don't want people to make assumptions about our children,” said Stacey Chapin, Ethan's mother. “It is not a question of drugs and it was definitely not something passionate between these young people. Someone broke into the house, ”she maintained.
Morgen and Goncalves were hours before their death in the center of Moscow, in a bar called the Corner Club. Between one and half past one they visited a food truck. A video shows the two friends, study partners since high school. The two worked in a restaurant to pay for college, without any sign that they were worried or distressed. Around a quarter to two, someone brought them home from a private party. That person has been ruled out as a suspect after being investigated.
At about the same time, Chapin and Kerondle attended a fraternity celebration on the university campus, and at 1:45 p.m. they went to the house on King Road, where the young woman resided.
In the house there were two other companions, on the first floor, who arrived around one in the morning and slept during the period in which the attack took place, always based on police reports. They woke up at noon. And they summoned friends to their home because they thought that one of the victims on the second floor had fainted and was not reacting. They made a call to the emergency service.
The police consider, at least for now, that none of those summoned is involved in the crime. Investigators certified that Morgen and Goncalves made a series of calls from their mobile phones to a man who did not respond. Apparently his name is Jack, a friend, and who apparently has also been discarded.
One of the rumors included a dog as the source of the conflict. It refers to an incident in which two dogs appeared skinned last month. Investigators stressed that this has nothing to do with the case. But they did not clarify how they reached that determination.
The University of Idaho has suspended classes early, taking advantage of the fact that Thanksgiving is celebrated this Thursday and has given the option of concluding the quarter remotely. There is fear on campus.
