MOSCOW, Idaho – A former special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation said the investigation into the fatal stabbing of four students at the University of Idaho should not be hampered by the school’s decision to allow students to learn remotely after the spring break. Thanksgiving.
The four University of Idaho students, Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were stabbed to death likely in their sleep early Sunday between 3 and 4 am in a Moscow, Idaho, home on King Road the University campusaccording to the police.
Police say each of the victims was stabbed multiple times, adding that the attacker used a “fixed blade knife” to kill them. As of Tuesday night, police have not identified a suspect.
Idaho officials believe the attack was “targeted” but ask the Moscow community to remain vigilant. In the aftermath of the attack, administrators at the University of Idaho made the decision to increase security on campus for the remainder of the semester.
IDAHO MURDERS: CARS OF MURDERED STUDENTS TOWED FROM CRIME SCENE TWO WEEKS AFTER GRAZY ATTACK
State Police forensics search for clues in Moscow, Idaho, Monday, November 21, 2022. Four University of Idaho students who were murdered on November 13 in this home.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Increased security will be in place for the remainder of the semester,” an Instagram story from the university read on Monday.
In a video posted to Facebook on November 24, University of Idaho President Scott Green said students have the option to learn remotely for the remainder of the semester, which concludes on December 16.
“We’ve heard from students with diverse needs,” Green said. “Some do not feel comfortable being back in Moscow until a suspect is in custody. Others ask for in-person classes and the structure that campus life brings. To meet the needs of all our students, we have asked our faculty to work with each student to complete the semester either in person or remotely.”
Former FBI Special Agent Jonathan Gilliam told Fox News Digital that he doesn’t think the decision to give students the option to learn remotely will have a negative effect on the investigation, but said police need to stay in touch with the students.
TIMELINE OF MURDERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE KILLING OF FOUR STUDENTS
Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, along with the two other roommates of the women in Kaylee Goncalves’ latest Instagram post, shared the day before the murders.
(@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
“I don’t think the investigation will be hampered as much as long as the school and the police department are in contact with the students and reassure them that they can call if they remember anything,” Gilliam said. “And I think that’s what’s going to make things difficult, is if they try to control this and don’t keep in touch with students and try to get people to jog their memory, that could be a problem because people may have seen something that was a little out of the ordinary and they just stored it in their brain and didn’t say anything about it.”
Explaining why he does not believe the decision to allow students to learn remotely will not negatively affect the investigation, Gilliam said he does not believe the attacker is a student.
WITH IDAHO MURDERS UNSOLVED AND LENGTH OF INVESTIGATION ‘INCORRECT’, STUDENTS CAN DISTANCE LEARNING
A memorial to the students killed at the University of Idaho on Monday, November 28, 2022 is covered in snow. The memorial honors the victims of a quadruple homicide involving an off-campus home on November 13.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
“I think my gut feeling on this is that the person probably isn’t a student,” he said. “I think the person who did this would probably have been singled out as being violent or weird and to the point of getting into trouble at school or causing some kind of trouble. And I don’t hear any reports of that at all.”
With the investigation entering its second week, Aaron Snell, director of communications for the Idaho State Policetold Fox News Digital during an earlier interview that investigators are making “substantial progress.”
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Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Moscow police at 208-883-7054 or email tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz, Paul Best, Stephanie Pagones and Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
