Idaho college murders – update: Police call logs show reports of ‘suspicious’ men as five vehicles examined

A “suspicious” man was spotted taking down tip posters around Moscow, according to a 911 call.

In one 911 call, the caller told police that they had seen a “suspicious” man walking around removing posters with information about a tip line last Tuesday.

It’s not clear exactly what tip line that was, but there is a good chance it was the Moscow Police Department’s tip line at 208-883-7180, which has been advertised in connection with this month’s murders.

The devastated father of victim Kaylee Goncalves has revealed the family’s fears that their daughter’s killer would show up at her funeral.

Steve Goncalves told ABC News that the family have so far declined to hold a funeral service for the 21-year-old as the killer or killers’ identity remains unknown.

“My wife’s biggest fear, part of the reason we didn’t have a funeral, is because she couldn’t be guaranteed that that monster was going to not be there,” he said.

Now, 16 days into the murder investigation, no suspects have been identified, no arrests made and the murder weapon has not been found.

The Independent’s Graeme Massie has more:

The grieving father of victim Kaylee Goncalves has spoken of the horror of proudly sending his daughter off to college only for her to have her “come back in an urn”.

Steve Goncalves told ABC News: “You can’t imagine sending your girl to college and they come back … in an urn.

“You’re numb … you can’t absorb that amount of pain and agony.”

He paid tribute to Goncalves, 21, as his “bonus child” who was always there for people and also paid tribute to her best friend Madison Mogen who was part of the family.

“When you’re sick and you’re down and you’re out, you want to have that one great friend that’s always there for you – and that’s what they had,” he said. “There is no Kaylee without Maddie.”

HIs daughter was planning to move to Texas when she was killed, he said, adding that she had considered a move to Chicago but he and his wife worried it wasn’t safe enough.

“She was going places. She was highly motivated,” he said. “I hope people understand how all these kids … were doing everything right and they were going to be the type of people that you want to be your neighbour.”

Campus security has been ramped up across the University of Idaho as students returned to Moscow on Monday following the Thanksgiving break.

Those who returned are changing their habits and ramping up security around their homes.

The Independent revealed how locksmiths have been facing increased demand in the wake of the murders and a former student has raised money for around 1,900 personal alarms for students.

The small college town had emptied out in the wake of the murders – and with no suspects identified, no arrests made and the murder weapon still not found many students are not returning.

Students have only two weeks of classes left before the university term ends for the winter recess.

College officials prepared for the fact that some students would continue to stay remote until at least the new year, vowing to take a flexible approach to learning.

“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,” Scott Green, university president, said in a statement last week.

A University of Idaho alumna has raised almost $20,000 in donations to buy 1,900 personal alarms for terrified students living in Moscow with a murderer at large.

Kerry Ulhorn, a 37-year-old former member of the Delta Gamma sorority, told The Independent that she wanted to help students feel safe in the college town after four sorority and fraternity members were stabbed to death in a brutal knife attack back on 13 November.

“The hope is that these will give the students on campus a small sense of security and also just let them know that their alumni and others deeply care about keeping them and the university that we love a safe space for them to be,” she said.

Two weeks have now passed since Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were brutally murdered in the off-campus home that the three female students shared.

No suspects have been identified, no arrests have been made and the murder weapon is still nowhere to be found, leaving residents in the notoriously safe area on edge.

A University of Idaho student has revealed that she saw one of the victims enjoying a “normal night” out just hours before she was brutally murdered in her rental home.

Madison Moye told Fox News Digital that Madison Mogen spent much of the night of 12 November at The Corner Club bar in downtown Moscow.

Ms Moye, a 21-year-old sophomore and fellow member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority, said that she saw nothing out of the ordinary, with Mogen “laughing with all her friends” at the sports bar.

“It was just a normal night in Moscow,” she said.

“Moscow is a safe place. Nothing like this ever happens … I didn’t think anything of it.”

Ms Moye lives in a home behind the murder house and said that she knew the victims and had visited their house to “hang out” with them. Mogen and Xana Kernodle were both members of Pi Beta Phi

The close proximity from her home to the crime scene left her wondering if the killer might have passed through her yard, she admitted.

“It’s definitely something that’s crossed my mind and that’s really terrifying,” she said.

Investigators have still been unable to rule out the possibility that one of the victim’s – Kaylee Goncalves – had a stalker.

Goncalves, 21, reportedly confided in friends before her death that she believed she was stalked by someone.

The identity of the alleged stalker is not known.

Last week, police said that they were looking into the theory but had been unable to either confirm or deny it.

In an update on Sunday, Moscow Police revealed that – despite “hundreds” of tips about the suspected stalker – they are still at something of a loss.

“Investigators have looked extensively into information received about Kaylee having a stalker. They have pursued hundreds of pieces of information related to this topic but have not verified or identified a stalker,” police said in a press release.

“Anyone with information about a potential stalker or unusual instances is asked to contact the tip line.”

Friends of Ethan Chapin have been planting tulips in memory of the slain student who used to work in the fields in Skagit Valley.

Chapin’s former boss Andrew Miller and former coworker Reese Gardner told King5 that they are planting thousands of tulip bulbs across Conway and Mount Vernon where the 20-year-old grew up as well as at the University of Idaho.

The pair said that the gardens will be called “Ethan’s Smile” in his honour.

Mr Gardner said that he met the 20-year-old when they were colleagues on a local farm and said that he was struggling to comprehend his sudden death.

“He was one of the few people that there was nothing bad about him. He was 100% pure. He was honest, just a great person,” he said.

“It still is hard to believe, especially that something like that could happen. It’s an unbelievable thing that someone could do that.

“He made everyone’s lives a little bit better no matter what, and I just think something like that shouldn’t be forgotten,” he said, adding that his friend will now “always be here through the tulips”.

Mr Miller said that planting flowers in his memory is a way to “honor” and “remember” him every spring.

“Knowing I can be helping out and doing something that will help his remembrance is definitely helping me get through this,” he said, adding that he hopes it can help make “everyone’s lives a little bit better”.

A 911 call was made reporting a man with a knife just days after the four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in their home while they slept.

The Independent’s analysis of police call logs revealed several chilling complaints had been made in the two weeks since the 13 November murders.

On 20 November – exactly one week on from the killings – a caller reported “a male on the side of the road carrying a knife in front of him, stretched out”.

Officers did not file a report about the incident.

Other 911 calls reported “suspicious” men being spotted in the areas.

Moscow Lock Shop can’t keep up with the demand for deadbolts.

The calls started coming in just hours after police discovered four University of Idaho students fatally stabbed on 13 November. Then the phone started ringing even more; by 17 November, the number of calls had reached 50 in a day.

“If you imagine that there’s two of us working, and then we’re going out and actually doing calls, and there’s 50 phone calls in one day … we’re not getting them all done,” locksmith Casper Combs, 28, tells The Independent, pointing out that it takes about an hour to install each deadbolt.

The Lock Shop has a waiting list “past Thanksgiving, that’s for sure,” he says. Most of the calls come from landlords and scared parents of students at UI, which is less than a mile away – “typically moms who are worried about their kids.”

“Little town Moscow doesn’t get a lot of drama, thank God,” says Mr Combs. “We’re lucky enough to live in a town where this type of thing is kind of so outlandish … everybody is just freaked out, and that’s all that they’re talking about.”

The Independent’s Sheila Flynn reports from on the ground in Moscow: