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Police Believe Four University Of Idaho Students Were Stabbed To Death In 'Targeted' Attack
Police now say that the four University of Idaho students – Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves – were all killed with "an edged weapon such as a knife," and that their deaths were targeted.
Four University of Idaho students killed in an off-campus residence this weekend were all stabbed to death in a targeted attack, authorities say.
The four students have been identified as: Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho.
Police were called to the King Road apartment — about one block south of the university's campus in Moscow, Idaho — just before noon on Sunday following reports of an unconscious person, according to a press release from the city. When authorities arrived, they found all four students dead.
Moscow Mayor Art Bettge told Fox News on Monday that police believe the four students were killed between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. on Sunday. Police have not explained the circumstances of the report that one person was unconscious.
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Police did say in a Tuesday press release that the deaths have all been ruled homicides and that "an edged weapon such as a knife was used" to kill all four victims. The weapon has not, however, been located.
They added that they believe the murders were "an isolated, targeted attack" and they were trying to reconstruct what the four apparent friends had been up to Saturday night and Sunday morning before their brutal murders.
Police have not released a motive in the murders and have not identified a person of interest in the case.
In a statement on Monday, Bettge acknowledged that much remained unknown in the case.
"It is impossible to understand the senselessness of events like this, and we all are seeking answers that are not yet available," he said.
The university gave more details about the students in a Monday press release, in which Chapin was identified as a freshman majoring in recreation, sport and tourism management. He was also a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, and his Instagram account indicates he was dating Kernodle.
Kernodle was a junior majoring in marketing and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority (her Instagram also indicates she was dating Chapin). She and Mogen, a senior majoring in marketing and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority, according to CNN, both worked at the Mad Greek restaurant in Moscow.
Following their deaths, the restaurant announced in a Facebook post Monday that they were temporarily closing to mourn the girls. "Xana and Maddie have been servers here for several years and brought so much joy to our restaurant and all of those they encountered," the statement read. "Maddie was also the face behind our social media pages."
Goncalves was a senior majoring in general studies and, according to CNN, a member of the Alpha Phi sorority.
All four appear in pictures on one another's Instagram accounts. It is unclear who lived in the King Road apartment where the bodies were found.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about this incident to contact the Moscow Police at 208-883-7054.
