Two roommates who were inside the same home where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death last weekend are not suspects, KREM-TV reports.
The development comes as investigators continue to hunt for those responsible in the brutal slayings of 21-year-old Madison Mogen, 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves, 20-year-old Ethan Chapin and 20-year-old Xana Kernodle.
Authorities said they have not yet identified any suspects and have not recovered any weapons used in the stabbings, which are believed to have occurred between 2 and 5 a.m.. on Sunday, November 13, Coroner Cathy Mabbutt said.
Police also have ruled out as a suspect a male who was recorded by a security camera standing near Goncalves and Mogen at a food truck in downtown Moscow hours before the killings.
The two women got a ride home using a “private party” around 1:40 a.m., police said.
Officers responded to the home for a report classified as an “unconscious person” at 11:58 a.m. that day and discovered the bodies inside.
Also Friday, police sought to quell internet rumors about the case, issuing a press release that “online reports of the victims being tied and gagged are not accurate.”
Following autopsies, Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt said “the four victims were likely asleep, some had defensive wounds, and each was stabbed multiple times,” according to Fox News.
Mabbutt told CNN previously that when she arrived at the scene, she saw “lots of blood on the wall.”
It is not known publicly how many victims had defensive wounds, but Kernodle’s father said earlier this week that his daughter appeared to have fought the assailant.
“Bruises, torn by the knife. She’s a tough kid,” Jeffrey Kernodle told KPHO-TV.
Also unclear is how the suspect got into the residence. When police first got to the home, at least one door was open and did not appear to be damaged. One of the doors also has a keypad lock, but the home was known to host many parties and the passcode may have been widely known, according to CNN.
Hundreds of tips have poured in as local, state and federal investigators have converged on this small college town. Locally, the Moscow Police Department has 24 patrol officers, four detectives and five support staff working on the case. The FBI brought 22 investigators to Moscow and has 20 agents from other parts of the country assisting, in addition to two behavioral analysis agents.
At least 20 investigators, 15 troopers and a forensics team from the Idaho State Police are also assigned to the case.
On Friday, investigators were observed collecting evidence from the scene and taking photographs around the home. Police said they had conducted 38 interviews as of Friday “with individuals who may have information about the murders.”
A vigil for the victims is scheduled for November 30 on campus.
To report information about the case, call 208-883-7180 or email tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.
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[Featured image: Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram]
