MOSCOW, Idaho – Two roommates who survived the November 13 attack that left four University of Idaho students dead in their home near campus shared public statements for the first time during a memorial service for their loved ones Friday in Post Falls, Idaho.
Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were asleep on the first floor of their rental house on King Road when their three roommates, Kaylee Goncalves, 21; and Madison Mogen, 21; and Xana Kernodle, 20; as well as Kernodle’s boyfriend of 20 years, Ethan Chapin, were stabbed to death in the early hours of November 13.
A youth pastor named Chris from Real Life Ministries, where the service was held, first read Mortensen’s letter, which began by describing Kernodle and Chapin’s loving relationship.
“To Xana and Ethan, the two best friends but the perfect couple,” Mortensen wrote. “They had this unstoppable loving relationship. They both looked at each other with so much love. Everyone knew they were the perfect duo. They both had this fun, passionate, crazy but good energy. They were both the kind of people who cared for everyone and would help anyone.” .
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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)
She described Kernodle as “the life of the party” who was also “so much more than a girl who could just have fun”. She was “strong, smart, hardworking” and beautiful, Mortensen wrote, adding that she was a “people person” and “loved by everyone who had the chance to know her.”
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He went on to describe Chapin as someone he admired as a big brother figure who was goofy, sarcastic, loving, caring, and easy to talk to. Kernodle was “the whole world of him, and you could see it in him,” she wrote.
A split photo showing the crime scene and victims, including University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.
(Angela Palermo/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images/Instagram/ @kayleegoncalves)
“I know, somewhere, Xana and Ethan are together, keeping each other company, watching us and telling us that it’s okay and that we have each other,” Mortensen said.
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The roommate went on to describe Mogen and Goncalves as “an inseparable duo” who were best friends who treated each other like sisters.
Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves shared several photos together on social media.
(Instagram/ @kayleegoncalves)
“Maddie and Kaylee were like second moms to me. They taught me a lot about how to be a responsible adult, but also how to live a happy life. They changed the way I see life and how to enjoy it to the fullest,” she said. she wrote her.
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The couple were described as happy people enjoying life “to the fullest”. They were responsible and hard-working young people, but they also knew how to have fun and appreciate the little things.
The University of Idaho victims, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, were close friends.
(Instagram/ @kayleegoncalves)
Funke said Mogen was his “big one” in the Pi Beta Phi sorority at the University of Idaho, and the big sister he always wanted.
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“You always told me that everything happens for a reason, but I’m having a really hard time trying to understand the reason for this,” Funke wrote to Mogen in his letter read aloud during the vigil.
Victims of the November 13 massacre at the University of Idaho.
(Instagram @xanakernodle / @maddiemogen / @kayleegoncalves)
Funke said he wishes he could give each of his roommates “one last hug” and tell them how much he “loved” them.
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Moscow police have continued to describe the brutal killings as “an isolated and targeted attack”. University of Idaho students who left campus for the Thanksgiving break were given the option to stay home and learn remotely rather than return to campus with a suspect still on the run. The police also have to announce any kind of motive in the quadruple murder.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident to call 208-883-7180 or tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.
