A 12-year-old dog found skinned near the murder scene of four University of Idaho students is an unrelated incident and not connected to the slayings, Moscow police say.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Ethan Chapin. 20; and Xana Kernodle, 20, were found stabbed to death in the rented off-campus home near the school, off of King Road on November 13. Police said they were killed sometime between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.
On the day of the incident, officers located a dog at the residence where four students were murdered. The dog was unharmed and ultimately handed over to Animal Services.
On October 21, a mini Australian shepherd named Buddy was found skinned from head to tail around three miles from the students’ home. The pup’s owners, Jim and Pam Colbert, reportedly said they let him outside in the backyard at their Moscow home when the attack happened.
“We called the sheriff’s department and the supervisor said that Buddy had been skinned,” Pam, 78, told DailyMail. “It was like a deer that someone had hunted. They cut him around the neck and just skinned him. His little legs had fur and his little face had fur, but the rest of him was just skinned.”
Police said in a press release Monday they are aware of what happened to Buddy.
“Detectives are aware of a Latah County Sheriff’s Office incident of the report of a skinned dog and have determined it is unrelated to this incident,” the press release read. “Contact Latah County Sheriff’s Office for further details.”
Police also said the FBI is now accepting digital media and tips in connection with the murders, at fbi.gov/moscowidaho. Tipsters can also call the tip line at (208) 883-7180 or email tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.
CrimeOnline’s Nancy Grace said that investigators appeared to be tracing the victims’ steps leading up to their deaths in order to see who might have been around them. But so far, they have not made an arrest or found a weapon that might have been used in the gruesome murders.
In the Facebook post, police said again they don’t believe anyone who was at the house when 911 was was involved in the murders.
Investigators have also ruled out a man wearing a white hoodie seen in a video of two of the victims at a food truck not long before they returned home and the private party who gave them a ride back to the house.
Those two victims — Mogen and Goncalves — also made 10 phones between them to Goncalves’ ex-boyfriend shortly before the murders, but family members and police say he is also not a suspect.
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[Featured image: Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves (left); Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle;/Instagram]
