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UGA football car crash deaths: Injured passengers identified in a car crash that killed player and staffer following championship celebration

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CNN
 — 

On the heels of the University of Georgia’s national championship victory, police are investigating a fatal single-vehicle car crash early Sunday that killed football player Devin Willock and staff member Chandler LeCroy just hours after the Bulldogs’ triumphant celebration with fans, authorities said.

Shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday, LeCroy, 24, was driving with Willock, 20, and two other passengers near the UGA campus in Athens when the vehicle went off the road, barreling into two power poles and several trees, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department said in a news release.

Willock died on the scene and LeCroy died after being taken to a hospital, police said. LeCroy was a football recruiting analyst for UGA, according to her LinkedIn.

Two passengers affiliated with the football team were also injured in the crash. Georgia offensive lineman Warren McClendon, 21, received minor injuries, and Victoria Bowles, 26, had serious injuries, according to police.

McClendon started at right tackle for Georgia this season and declared for the NFL draft earlier Saturday. His father, Warren McClendon Sr., told the Athens Banner-Herald he needed stitches on his forehead but is “doing well.”

The crash came hours after Sanford Stadium and the surrounding streets were brimming with ecstatic fans who had come to celebrate the Bulldogs’ second straight national championship. But by the next morning, they had joined the team in mourning the sudden loss of Willock and LeCroy.

Fan Daniel Dewitt attended Saturday’s victory parade and told CNN Willock was “upbeat and happy” as the team passed throngs of supporters draped in red and black.

“It’s just heartbreaking coming off a celebratory week. And the parade yesterday, getting to see this player and then come to find out he lost his life early this morning, the entire Bulldog nation is at a loss,” Dewitt said.

Photos of the crash site taken by nearby residents show a wooden power pole snapped in half and the car’s frame crumpled against an apartment building.

“That car dented like a tin can,” Cecily Pangburn, a resident of the apartment complex told CNN. She described hearing a loud bang when the crash happened, followed by her power going out.

The investigation into the crash is ongoing, police said. Investigators have asked anyone with information to contact authorities.

The two UGA team members were remembered by several university leaders as vibrant and valued presences in the football program.

“Devin was an outstanding young man in every way. He was always smiling, was a great teammate and a joy to coach,” head football coach Kirby Smart said in a statement Sunday.

“Chandler was a valuable member of our football staff and brought an incredible attitude and energy every single day,” the coach said.

Support for the Bulldogs also flooded in from across the college football community on Sunday, including from head coaches Brian Kelly of Louisiana State University and Hugh Freeze of Auburn University.

“These two special people meant the world to our football program and athletic department,” UGA athletics director Josh Brooks said in a statement. “We are working with our medical staff and mental health and performance team to ensure our staff and student-athletes have all the support they need during this extremely difficult time.”

Willock, a redshirt sophomore from New Milford, New Jersey, joined the team as a freshman in 2020, according to UGA’s football roster. He played on the offensive line in all 15 of the team’s games this year.

The player spent Saturday with fans, soaking in the joy of last week’s championship win. One fan in particular got some quality time with Willock in the hours before his death.

Willock met starstruck 7-year-old Camdyn Gonzales after the young fan spotted Willock as he was leaving the Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Athens on Saturday.

The player gave Camdyn a fist bump and let the boy try on his enormous 2021 championship ring.

“He was humble and very appreciative that we knew who he was and wanted to talk to him,” Camdyn’s grandfather, Sam Kramer, said, adding that Willock seemed “so full of life and just happy.”

Dewitt, the fan who saw Willock in Saturday’s parade, told CNN he has a 2021 UGA championship tattoo and plans to get a matching one for this season’s victory. This time, he said, it will feature Willock’s number, 77.



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Darius Miles: University of Alabama basketball player removed from the team after being charged with murder

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CNN
 — 

University of Alabama basketball player Darius Miles has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with a shooting near the campus Sunday which left a 23-year-old woman dead, Tuscaloosa law enforcement announced.

“We were made aware of the recent charge against student-athlete Darius Miles, and he is no longer a member of the Alabama men’s basketball team,” the University of Alabama athletics department said in a statement Sunday.

Michael Lynn Davis, 20, has also been charged in the shooting, the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit said in a release. Both suspects are charged with capital murder and are being held without bond, it said.

Investigators said Miles is the only person involved who is connected to the University of Alabama.

CNN has been unable to determine if the suspects have attorneys.

Police responded to the shooting around 1:45 a.m. local time Sunday and found that Jamea Jonae Harris had been shot and killed while sitting in a car less than half a mile from the university’s campus, according to a release from the violent crimes unit.

The driver of the car told police that someone had shot into his vehicle and said he returned fire in self defense, possibly striking one of the suspects, investigators said.

“After processing the scenes, speaking with multiple witnesses, and viewing video surveillance, two suspects were developed,” the release said.

One of the suspects had been hit by the returning gunfire and had a non-life-threatening wound, investigators said,

“It appears that the only motive to this was a minor altercation that these individuals had with the victim as they were out on The Strip,” said unit captain Jack Kennedy. The Strip is a hub of restaurants and businesses near the university campus.

The university said it is cooperating with the investigation, along with the athletics department.

Miles, 21, is a junior at the university and is from Washington, DC, according to an archived version of the men’s basketball team roster. Before he was removed from the team, Miles was playing his third season as a forward for the Alabama Crimson Tide, the archived roster shows.

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Bryan Kohberger: Suspect in the Idaho college student killings plans to waive extradition hearing, attorney says

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CNN
 — 

The suspect in the killings of four University of Idaho college students plans to waive his extradition hearing this week, his attorney said, to expedite his return to the Gem State, where he faces four counts of first-degree murder.

Bryan Christopher Kohberger is “shocked a little bit,” Jason LaBar, the chief public defender for Monroe County, Pennsylvania, told CNN Saturday, a day after the 28-year-old’s arrest in his home state on charges related to the fatal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. He also faces a charge of felony burglary, according to Latah County, Idaho, Prosecutor Bill Thompson.

LaBar did not discuss the murder case with the suspect when they spoke for about an hour Friday evening, the attorney said, adding that he did not possess probable cause documents related to it and is only representing Kohberger in the issue of his extradition, which the attorney called a “formality.”

“It’s a procedural issue, and really all the Commonwealth here has to prove is that he resembles or is the person who the arrest warrant is out for and that he was in the area at the time of the crime,” LaBar said.

Waiving the extradition hearing set for Tuesday was “an easy decision obviously,” LaBar said, “since he doesn’t contest that he is Bryan Kohberger.”

In a statement, LaBar stressed his client is presumed innocent until proven guilty, saying, “Mr. Kohberger is eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible.”

The arrest of the suspect – a PhD student in Washington State University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, the school confirmed – comes nearly seven weeks after the victims were found stabbed to death in an off-campus home on November 13. Since then, investigators say they have conducted more than 300 interviews and scoured approximately 20,000 tips.

But authorities have yet to publicly confirm the suspect’s motive, or even if he knew the victims, whose deaths rattled the college community and the surrounding town of Moscow. The murder weapon has also not been located, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Friday.

In the weeks since the killings, some community members have grown frustrated as investigators have yet to offer a thorough narrative of how the night unfolded. Authorities have released limited details, including the victims’ activities leading up to the attacks and people they have ruled out as suspects.

Fry told reporters Friday state law limits what information authorities can release before Kohberger makes an initial appearance in an Idaho court. The probable cause affidavit – which details the factual basis of Kohberger’s charges – is sealed until the suspect is physically in Latah County and has been served with the Idaho arrest warrant, Thompson said.

Investigators honed in on Kohberger as a suspect through DNA evidence and by confirming his ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra seen near the crime scene, according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation. Authorities say he lived just minutes from the site of the stabbings.

He drove cross-country in a white Hyundai Elantra and arrived at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania around Christmas, according to a law enforcement source. Authorities began tracking him at some point during his trip east from Idaho.

An FBI surveillance team tracked him for four days before his arrest while law enforcement worked with prosecutors to develop enough probable cause to obtain a warrant, the two law enforcement sources said.

Genetic genealogy techniques were used to connect Kohberger to unidentified DNA evidence, another source with knowledge of the case told CNN. The DNA was run through a public database to find potential family member matches, and subsequent investigative work by law enforcement led to his identification as the suspect, the source said.

LaBar confirmed Kohberger, accompanied by his father, had driven from Idaho to Pennsylvania to celebrate the holidays with his family. A white Hyundai Elantra was found at his parents’ home, LaBar said, where authorities apprehended Kohberger early Friday.

LaBar was unsure how quickly his client would be returned to Idaho following his intent to waive extradition at Tuesday’s hearing, saying it would be based on authorities. But LaBar expected Kohberger to be returned to Idaho within 72 hours of the proceeding.

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Bryan Kohberger Idaho student killings suspect: Authorities tracked the suspect as he drove cross-country to Pennsylvania, sources say

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CNN
 — 

Authorities carefully tracked the man charged in the killings of four Idaho college students as he drove across the country around Christmas and continued surveilling him for several days before finally arresting him Friday, sources tell CNN.

Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was arrested in his home state of Pennsylvania and charged with four counts of murder in the first degree, as well as felony burglary in connection with the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in November, according to Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson.

Still, investigators have not publicly confirmed the suspect’s motive or whether he knew the victims. The murder weapon has also not been located, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Friday.

In the nearly seven weeks since the students were found stabbed to death in an off-campus home, investigators have conducted more than 300 interviews and scoured approximately 20,000 tips in their search for the suspect. News of the killings – and the long stretch of time without a suspect or significant developments – have rattled the University of Idaho community and the surrounding town of Moscow, which had not seen a murder in seven years.

Investigators honed in on Kohberger as the suspect through DNA evidence and by confirming his ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra seen near the crime scene, according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation.

Kohberger, who authorities say lived just minutes from the scene of the killings, is a PhD student in Washington State University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, the school confirmed.

He drove cross-country in a white Hyundai Elantra and arrived at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania around Christmas, according to a law enforcement source. Authorities were tracking him as he drove and were also surveilling his parents’ house, the source said.

An FBI surveillance team tracked him for four days before his arrest while law enforcement worked with prosecutors to develop enough probable cause to obtain a warrant, the two law enforcement sources said.

Genetic genealogy techniques were used to connect Kohberger to unidentified DNA evidence, another source with knowledge of the case tells CNN. The DNA was run through a public database to find potential family member matches, and subsequent investigative work by law enforcement led to him as the suspect, the source said.

Kohberger was arraigned Friday morning in Pennsylvania and is being held without bail, records show.

Kohberger intends to waive his extradition hearing to expedite his transport to Idaho, Monroe County Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar said in a statement to CNN on Saturday.

“Mr. Kohberger is eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible,” LaBar said.

LaBar later told CNN that the extradition hearing is a “formality proceeding.” He said all the Commonwealth needs to prove is that his client resembles or is the person on the arrest warrant and that he was in the area at the time of the crime.

LaBar said he spoke to Kohberger for around an hour Friday evening, discussing where he was at the time of the killings. “Knowing of course that it’s likely they have location data from his cell phone already putting him on the border of Washington and Idaho,” LaBar told CNN, “it was an easy decision obviously, since he doesn’t contest that he is Bryan Kohberger.”

Kohberger is “shocked a little bit,” LaBar said. “He’s doing OK. Obviously, he’s calm right now.”

LaBar added, “We don’t really know much about the case. I don’t have any affidavit or probable cause. I didn’t want to discuss the case with him because I’m merely his representation for this procedural issue as to whether or not he wants to be extradited back to Idaho.”

Even with a suspect charged, law enforcement’s work is far from over, prosecutors said.

“This is not the end of this investigation. In fact, this is a new beginning,” Thompson said Friday night.

Thompson urged people to continue submitting tips, asking anyone with information about the suspect “to come forward, call the tip line, report anything you know about him to help the investigators.”

Since the killings of the four students – Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20 some community members have grown frustrated as investigators have yet to offer a thorough narrative of how the night unfolded. Authorities have released limited details, including the victims’ activities leading up to the attacks and people they have ruled out as suspects.

Fry told reporters Friday state law limits what information authorities can release before Kohberger makes an initial appearance in Idaho court. The probable cause affidavit – which details the factual basis of Kohberger’s charges – is sealed until the suspect is physically in Latah County, Idaho, and has been served with the Idaho arrest warrant, Thompson said.

Kohberger is a resident of Pullman, Washington, a city just about nine miles from the site of the killings, authorities said. His apartment and office on the Washington State University’s Pullman campus were searched by law enforcement Friday morning, the university confirmed in a statement.

In June 2022, he finished graduate studies at DeSales University, where he also was an undergraduate, according to a statement on the school’s website. He also got an associate degree from Northampton Community College in 2018, the college confirmed to CNN.

LaBar called Kohberger “very intelligent.”

The attorney said he spoke with Kohberger’s family Friday night for 15 to 20 minutes.

“They’re also very shocked,” he said. “Out of character for Bryan… The FBI, local police, Idaho State Troopers were at their house at approximately 3 a. m. yesterday knocking on the door and announcing themselves to enter, out of real shock and awe to them.”

In a Reddit post removed after Kohberger’s arrest was announced, a student investigator named Bryan Kohberger who was associated with a DeSales University study sought participation in a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.”

“In particular, this study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience,” the post said.

CNN reached one of the principal investigators of the study, a professor at DeSales University, but they declined to comment on the matter. The university has not responded to requests for comment.

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Kenny DeLand Jr., formerly missing American college student, on flight back to US

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CNN
 — 

American college student Kenny DeLand Jr. has been reunited with his mother in Lyon, France, and is on his way back to the US, according to a French diplomatic official.

DeLand Jr., who was reported missing more than two weeks ago in France, told relatives on Friday that he was safe in Spain, his family said.

The student voluntarily went to Spain after meeting some people who suggested he visit there, Florence Hermite, the French Justice Attaché in the US, told CNN. French officials worked in close coordination with the FBI in Paris to track DeLand down, according to Hermite.

“We are happy it unfolded well before Christmas,” she said, adding that as of Saturday evening the student was on a flight from France back to the US

The family has not said precisely what he has told them or explained where he has been for the past two weeks.

A senior at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York, DeLand Jr. had been studying at the University of Grenoble Alpes, his family said.

His parents in recent days said they had not heard from him since November 27.

His fellow students reported him missing on November 29, prompting an investigation.

Earlier Friday, his father, Ken DeLand Sr., was on a call with CNN when he suddenly hung up – and then later messaged CNN to report he had just spoken with his son.

“It seems surreal, the whole situation,” the father added. “And now it’s finally, last chapter.”

DeLand Sr. said his son did not disclose many details about what he has been up to for the past weeks but said he was in Spain and asked his father to stop contacting news outlets.

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Kenny DeLand Jr.: Missing college student is alive, his father says.

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Paris
CNN
 — 

Kenny DeLand Jr., the American student who was reported missing more than two weeks ago in Grenoble, France, is alive, his father Ken DeLand Sr. told CNN on Friday.

DeLand Jr. is in Spain, French Prosecutor Eric Vaillant told CNN, adding only that the young man had spoken Friday with his parents.

DeLand Jr.’s father had been in the middle of a call with CNN when he suddenly hung up. He later messaged CNN to report “good news” – and said he’d just spoken with his son.

“He is alive – that’s all I can say,” he told CNN.

Deland Sr. did not elaborate on what his son told him and did not explain where his son has been for the past two weeks.

A senior at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York, DeLand Jr. had been studying at the University of Grenoble Alpes, according to his family. His parents in recent days said they had not heard from him since November 27.

His fellow students reported him missing on November 29, prompting Vaillant to launch an investigation, the Grenoble prosecutor had said.

The woman who had hosted DeLand in France thought he may have left voluntarily, she told CNN before he was found – echoing a theory Vaillant put forward this week.

But the young man’s parents didn’t believe that was the case, and his father as recently as Wednesday decried what he called a response from authorities that was not sufficiently urgent.

Interpol on Thursday issued a Yellow Notice for DeLand, saying he went missing on November 27. Such notices are issued to help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify anyone who cannot identify themselves, according to Interpol.

DeLand had been scheduled to return to the US on Saturday, his father said before he was found, adding that although the student liked to go hiking, he would always keep in touch.

“For him to not reach out, with no correspondence, this is very uncharacteristic of my son,” DeLand Sr. told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday. “This is what creates all the worry that any parent could ever feel.”

“As time goes by, it makes you worry even more.”

When Vaillant announced Monday he was investigating DeLand Jr.’s disappearance, he said the student seemed “to have left Grenoble voluntarily.”

“The young man reportedly told several people that he had arrived in France underprepared and was having difficulty making friends,” Vaillant said Monday.

The student had been seen on December 3 in a store in the town of Montélimar, roughly a 90-mile drive southwest of Grenoble, Vaillant said.

And Deland had mentioned he wanted to go to Marseille, a city along the Mediterranean some 190 miles south of Grenoble, before returning to the US, Vaillant said.

Of all the students DeLand’s host mother had welcomed, he seemed to have the most trouble fitting in, the woman told CNN this week on the condition of anonymity out of concern for her privacy.

When the host mother hadn’t heard from DeLand, she inundated him with messages trying to figure out where he was, but he did not reply, she said. Learning that he’d been seen December 3 was reassuring, she said, because she felt it confirmed her suspicions he may have left and cut off communications voluntarily.

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Idaho college murders: Authorities say they’ve received thousands of tips in the case

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CNN
 — 

Authorities investigating the killings of four University of Idaho students who were found stabbed to death last month say they have received thousands of tips from the public.

In a Saturday update, the Moscow Police Department said it has received more than 2,640 emails to a tip web address, more than 2,770 phone tips and more than 1,000 submissions to an FBI link.

Investigators have collected more than 110 pieces of physical evidence and roughly 4,000 crime scene photos.

But the case remains unsolved. Police have not located the murder weapon nor identified a suspect.

“To assist with the ongoing investigation, any odd or out-of-the-ordinary events that took place should be reported,” Moscow police said Saturday. “Your information, whether you believe it is significant or not, might be the piece of the puzzle that helps investigators solve these murders.”

Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kernolde’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, were likely stabbed multiple times in their sleep just days before Thanksgiving break, police said.

Their horrific deaths have since rattled Moscow, a college town of some 25,000 people which hasn’t recorded a single murder since 2015, and the nation.

In an attempt to clear up false information that’s been spreading about the case, Moscow police this week debunked several theories.

“There is speculation, without factual backing, stoking community fears and spreading false facts,” the Moscow Police Department said in a news release Friday.

None of the victims in the quadruple homicide were tied and gagged, refuting online reports. A report of a “skinned” dog weeks before the killings is not connected to the case, according to police, and deceased animals left on a resident’s property elsewhere were determined to be wildlife activity.

Additionally, police noted the students’ killings are not related to two other stabbing incidents in neighboring states Washington and Oregon – in 1999 and 2021, respectively – which may “share similarities,” but “there does not appear to be any evidence to support the cases are related,” according to the release.

Police also reassured the public that a September incident which involved an argument between a group of people walking on the University of Idaho bike path and a cyclist, who displayed a folding knife, is not connected to the students’ killings.

“The individual involved turned himself in, and charges were referred to the Moscow City Attorney’s Office,” police said.

And although police have said they don’t know who carried out the killings, they have released information eliminating some people as suspects, most recently a person listed on the lease of the residence where the killings happened, police said Friday.

“They have spoken to this individual and confirmed they moved out prior to the start of the school year and was not present at the time of the incident. Detectives do not believe this person has any involvement in the murders,” Moscow police said.

Police also ruled out the two surviving roommates who were in house at the time of the killings and other people inside the house when the 911 call was made. The person who made the 911 call alerting authorities to the home after the killings has not been identified.

Goncalves and Mogen, two of the victims, were driven home by someone after the pair purchased food from a truck hours before they were killed – authorities have ruled out the driver as a suspect.

Additionally, a man seen in surveillance video from a food truck visited by Goncalves and Mogen, and another man the pair called “numerous times” in the hours before their deaths, were also ruled out as suspects by police.

It remains unclear how close authorities are to releasing information about a potential suspect or suspects. “Only vetted information that does not hinder the investigation will be released to the public,” Moscow police noted Friday.

But some details released by authorities since the start of the investigation have required further clarification.

This week, Moscow police noted and backtracked comments from the Latah County prosecutor that said, “the suspect(s) specifically looked at this residence” and “that one or more of the occupants were undoubtedly targeted.”

Moscow police called that a “miscommunication,” and added: “Detectives do not currently know if the residence or any occupants were specifically targeted.”

On Thursday, Moscow police attempted to clarify the key conflicting information, once and for all.

“We remain consistent in our belief that this was a targeted attack, but investigators have not concluded if the target was the residence or if it was the occupants,” police said.

Authorities have also needed to clarify other information, including initially saying on November 15 that detectives believed the attacks were “isolated” and “targeted” and that the community was not under imminent threat. The following day, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said police were not definitive in concluding the public was not at risk.

Detectives have received testing and analysis of the crime scene evidence from Idaho State Police Forensic Services, and they will continue to receive the results of additional tests, according to police.

“To protect the investigation’s integrity, specific results will not be released,” police said.

Detectives also collected the contents of three dumpsters on the street where the house is located and seized five nearby vehicles to be processed for evidence, according to police.

As for the murder weapon – believed to be a fixed-blade knife – detectives contacted local businesses regarding knife purchases in the days leading up to the killings.

Multiple agencies and law enforcement personnel are investigating the homicides. More than 30 employees including detectives, patrol officers and support staff from the Moscow Police Department are working on the case, police said Friday in the news release.

The FBI has devoted 22 investigators in Moscow, 20 agents through the country and two investigators from the agency’s Behavior Analysis Unit, police said.

Plus, there are 20 Idaho State Police investigators assigned to Moscow, and an additional 15 uniformed troopers are patrolling the community. Forensic services and a mobile crime scene team from the state police are also working the case.

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Confusion deepens over whether any of the 4 University of Idaho students were targeted in fatal stabbings

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CNN
 — 

Detectives do not know whether one or more of the four University of Idaho students killed in their off-campus home last month were specifically targeted, police said Wednesday – in what may be their strongest departure yet from their earlier statements.

Police say they’re reacting specifically to information they say a prosecutor’s office released this week about the killings in the college town of Moscow: that “the suspect(s) specifically looked at this residence,” and “that one or more of the occupants were undoubtedly targeted.”

That information released by the prosecutor’s office “was a miscommunication,” police said Wednesday.

“Detectives do not currently know if the residence or any occupants were specifically targeted but continue to investigate,” the police statement reads.

Details about what the prosecutor’s office said this week weren’t immediately available. CNN has reached out to the Moscow police and the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office for clarification about Wednesday’s police statement.

Wednesday’s police statement also differs from statements police themselves have made earlier about whether the students were targeted.

The four students – Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21 – were found stabbed to death November 13 in an off-campus Moscow home, upending a town that hadn’t recorded a single murder since 2015.

On November 15, Moscow police said they preliminarily “believe this was an isolated, targeted attack and there is no imminent threat to the community at large,” and that “evidence indicates that this was a targeted attack.”

Yet the following day, police backtracked some of that, saying they couldn’t actually say whether there was a threat to the public.

Still, as the investigation advanced, authorities publicly maintained investigators believed the killings were targeted, including during a November 20 police news conference.

Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are still working to determine who is responsible for the killings. At least 150 interviews have been conducted and more than 1,000 tips from the public have been received, police say.

No suspect has been identified and the murder weapon – believed to be a fixed-blade knife – has not been found. Authorities said they have not ruled out the possibility that more than one person may be involved in the stabbings.

Wednesday’s police statement came on a day the campus community gathered to pay their respects for the slain students.

The university community gathered at the ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center – also known as the Kibbie Dome – to honor the lives of the four students. School officials and three of the four families spoke about how the four would be missed after their sudden deaths.

“The circumstances that bring us here tonight – they’re terrible,” said Stacy Chapin, the mother of Ethan Chapin. “The hardest part – we cannot change the outcome.”

Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves were friends since 6th grade, Steve Goncalves said.

“They just found each other, and every day they did homework together, they came to our house together, they shared everything,” he said. “In the end, they died together, in the same room in the same bed.”

“When I look at all of you guys, there’s only one way for this to get a little better, to heal a little bit … you are just going to have to love each other,” Goncalves added.

Ben Mogen, the father of Madison Mogen, shared memories of her love for live music, her hard work ethic and how meaningful it was to him that she was able to experience love with her boyfriend.

While it’s unclear how long the investigation will take or “the why in this horrific act,” the community “will all go through this together,” said Blaine Eckles, the university’s dean of students.

He also encouraged everyone to “tell the fun stories, remember them in the good times and do not let their lives be defined by how they died, but instead remember them for the joy they spread and the fun times they shared while they lived.”

Eckles also reminded students of the different resources available to them, like counseling, and to share their feelings with those around them.

Since the discovery of the attack, investigators have built a timeline of the four students’ last known whereabouts.

On the night of the killings, Goncalves and Mogen were at a sports bar, and Chapin and Kernodle were seen at a fraternity party.

Investigators believe all four victims had returned to the home by 2 a.m. the night of the stabbings. Two surviving roommates had also gone out in Moscow that night, police said, and returned to the house by 1 a.m.

Police initially said Goncalves and Mogen returned to the home by 1:45 a.m., but they later updated the timeline, saying digital evidence showed the pair returned at 1:56 a.m. after visiting a food truck and being driven home by a “private party.”

The next morning, two surviving roommates “summoned friends to the residence because they believed one of the second-floor victims had passed out and was not waking up,” police said in a release. Somebody called 911 from the house at 11:58 a.m. using one of the surviving roommates’ phones.

When police arrived, they found two victims on the second floor and two victims on the third floor. There was no sign of forced entry or damage, police said.

Investigators do not believe the two surviving roommates were involved in the deaths.

A coroner determined the four victims were each stabbed multiple times and were likely asleep when the attacks began. Some of the students had defensive wounds, according to the Latah County coroner.

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University of Idaho student stabbings: 2 weeks after police found 4 slain victims, here’s where the investigation stands

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CNN
 — 

Two weeks after the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, dozens of local, state and federal investigators are still working to determine who carried out the brutal attack.

After sifting through more than 1,000 tips and conducting at least 150 interviews, investigators have yet to identify a suspect or uncover a murder weapon, which is believed to be a fixed-blade knife.

The four students – Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21 – were found stabbed to death on November 13 in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho. The killings have unsettled the campus community and the town of about 25,000, which has not seen a murder since 2015.

Police believe the attack was targeted. Authorities said they have not ruled out the possibility that more that one person may be involved in the killings.

On the night of the murders, Goncalves and Mogen were at a sports bar, and Chapin and Kernodle were seen at a fraternity party. Two roommates were at the home when police were called to the residence around noon the next day, though investigators do not believe they were involved in the deaths.

More than 260 digital submissions, which could include photos and videos, have been submitted by the public to an FBI tip form, the Moscow Police Department said in a release Friday. The department is asking for any tips or video footage of the places the victims went that night, even if there is no discernible movement or content in them.

“Detectives are also seeking additional tips and surveillance video of any unusual behavior on the night of November 12th into the early hours of November 13th while Kaylee and Madison were in downtown Moscow and while Ethan and Xana were at the Sigma Chi house,” the release said.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little has committed up to $1 million of state emergency funds to assist the ongoing investigation, Idaho State Police Col. Kedrick Wills said during a press conference earlier this week.

Here’s what we know about the investigation.

So far, using the evidence collected at the scene and the trove of tips and interviews, investigators have been able to piece together a rough timeline and a map of the group’s final hours.

Investigators believe all four victims had returned to the home by 2 a.m. the night of the stabbings. Two surviving roommates had also gone out in Moscow that night, police said, and returned to the house by 1 a.m.

Police earlier said Goncalves and Mogen returned to the home by 1:45 a.m., but they updated the timeline Friday, saying digital evidence showed the pair returned at 1:56 a.m. after visiting a food truck and being driven home by a “private party.”

The next morning, the surviving roommates “summoned friends to the residence because they believed one of the second-floor victims had passed out and was not waking up,” police said in a release. Somebody called 911 from the house at 11:58 a.m. using one of the surviving roommates’ phones.

“The call reported an unconscious person,” Moscow Police Capt. Roger Lanier said Wednesday. “During that call the dispatcher spoke to multiple people who were on scene.”

When police arrived, they found two victims on the second floor and two victims on the third floor. There was no sign of forced entry or damage, police said.

A coroner determined the four victims were each stabbed multiple times and were likely asleep when the attacks began. Some of the students had defensive wounds, according to the Latah County Coroner.

At least 113 pieces of physical evidence have been collected, about 4,000 crime scene photographs were taken and several 3-D scans of the house were made, according to police. Detectives also collected the contents of three dumpsters on the street in case they held any evidence.

In an effort to locate the murder weapon, investigators contacted local businesses to determine if a fixed-blade knife had been purchased.

As the weeks stretch on without a named suspect or significant advances in the case, a flurry of rumors has arisen about the killings. Moscow police addressed the issue in a news release Friday and attempted to quash some of the hearsay.

“There is speculation, without factual backing, stoking community fears and spreading false facts. We encourage referencing official releases for accurate information and updated progress,” the release said.

Several people have been ruled out as suspects for the time being, the police department said, including:

  • The two surviving roommates
  • Other people in the house when 911 was called
  • The person who drove Goncalves and Mogen home
  • A man seen in surveillance video from a food truck visited by Goncalves and Mogen
  • A man Goncalves and Mogen called “numerous times” in the hours before their death

The police also said reports that the victims were tied or gagged are inaccurate and stressed that the identity of the 911 caller has not been released.

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Inside the investigation into who killed 4 college students in Moscow, Idaho

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Moscow, Idaho
CNN
 — 

Nine days since the killings of four college students attending the University of Idaho, police have not arrested any suspect, but are “definitely making progress,” according to an outside public information officer.

“It takes a while to put together and piece together that whole timeline of events and the picture of really what occurred,” said Aaron Snell, communications director for Idaho State Police. “A lot of this the public doesn’t get to see because it’s a criminal investigation. But I guarantee you behind the scenes, there’s so much work going on.”

That work includes interviews with more than 90 people as detectives look into more than 700 leads.

But Moscow, a city of about 26,000 residents, hasn’t recorded a murder since 2015. The quadruple homicide has rattled the small college community, and anxieties have only heightened with the ongoing lack of answers.

Much of the information in the case will eventually be used for prosecution and cannot be put into the public eye, at risk of impeding justice at the very end, Snell said.

But the limited details available to the public and confusion over early police statements hasn’t eased community concerns.

Moscow police initially told the public that the attack was targeted, with no further threat to the public. But by day four, Police Chief Jason Fry adjusted that statement: “We cannot say that there is no threat to the community.”

Snell acknowledges the early messaging may have been off, given that the roughly 30 members of the Moscow Police Department all initially responded to the crime scene, with no dedicated public information staff within the department.

Within days, the department had to bring in outside resources to assist with the investigation, including Snell.

In addition to the hundreds of leads, police are also combing through large files of surveillance footage submitted by residents of the early morning hours when police believe the murders happened.

“This is a very large operation, a very large investigation and it’s a very terrible crime,” Snell said.

Other angles are taking longer to investigate. It is believed a fixed-blade knife was used in the attack on the students, and to aid in the investigation, law enforcement asked local businesses to come forward with evidence that a fixed-blade knife was purchased. As of Tuesday, Snell says no local businesses have provided information that a knife matching that description was bought or obtained.

Anytime a person or people responsible for such a violent crime have not yet been caught, there is a threat to the public, Snell said.

“We recognize that it’s always wise for people to lock their doors, walk in pairs, be alert of what they’re doing. There is somebody or some people out there somewhere that are murderers, and we want to find them and bring them to justice,” Snell said.

He told CNN there could potentially be more than one person responsible for the killings. He also reiterated that police still believe it was a targeted attack, partly because of evidence found at the scene and the fact that two people in the house survived.

Some students have since left the area to take classes remotely, telling CNN that police statements have not been reassuring.

The University of Idaho president said Tuesday that many students have given the school input on how they hope to proceed after the fall break, resulting in a decision to allow students to finish the rest of the semester either in-person or remotely.

In his message, University of Idaho President Scott Green said, “Faculty have been asked to prepare in-person teaching and remote learning options so that each student can choose their method of engagement for the final two weeks of the semester. Moving courses fully online is not preferred but may be necessary in limited situations.”

However, others in the community, including the mother of victim Ethan Chapin, have extended patience and gratitude for the police department’s work.

At a memorial on Monday evening, Stacy Chapin thanked the “Moscow Police Department, who now carry the burden every day not only for us, but for all of the impacted families.”

In the absence of details, rumors have been spiraling about the case, causing police to have to dispel them publicly, one by one.

“As people are out there and they’re talking about this case, the public sentiment changes,” Snell said. “They’re confused. They’re upset. We want to try and dispel rumors, and we want to try and make sure that the truth is out there.”

Investigators looked “extensively” into hundreds of pieces of information about victim Kaylee Goncalves having a stalker, but “have not been able to verify or identify a stalker,” police said in a Facebook post Tuesday.

Earlier, police said the surviving roommates and friends who made the 911 call and spoke to dispatchers have been excluded from involvement as suspects. A man seen on surveillance video standing near two of the victims has also been eliminated as a suspect, as well as a driver who took two of the victims home.

And the report of a “skinned” dog three weeks before the killings is not connected to the case, according to police.

Moscow Police said Monday a dog was found at the home of the stabbings, but “the dog was unharmed and turned over to Animal Services and then released to a responsible party.”

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