MOSCOW, Idaho – Perched in the third-story window of a rental house outside the University of Idaho are a pair of pink cowboy boots next to a large decorative letter “M.”
Those boots belonged to Madison “Maddie” Mogen, a 21-year-old college student who enjoyed dancing to country music and making everyone laugh.
In Kaylee Goncalves, longtime friend and fellow student of 21 years, Mogen, an only child from Coeur d’Alene, found a sister.
“She [Mogen] she loved having a sister not only with Kaylee but with her entire family and that allowed her to see all the beauty of sisterhood,” said the girls’ childhood friend, who chose to remain anonymous to keep the story focused on Goncalves. and Mogen instead of herself.
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Madison Mogen owned a pair of pink cowboy boots that still hangs in the window of her rental house near the University of Idaho campus.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital/Instagram)
“She would say that Maddie is always her plus one forever,” the friend explained.
Mogen and Goncalves, along with their friend Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death by an unknown assailant in the early morning hours of November 13 as they slept at their home on King Road, near the university campus. Police have not identified any suspects in the case in a week since the killings occurred.
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“You can’t even explain it if you try,” said the woman’s friend. “The only thing that makes sense in all of this is that if they were going to go, they were going to go together.”
In Kaylee Goncalves, longtime friend and fellow student of 21 years, Mogen, an only child from Coeur d’Alene, found a sister.
(Friend of Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen)
The two best friends spent a lot of time together, especially at the Goncalves house with his family. They were known not only for their beauty but for their sense of humor; his “ironic” love of country music, including “old” Taylor Swift songs; his ability to make everyone feel included in his plans; and his appreciation for scenery and sunsets.
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“When I think of them, I only think of the girls of the girls,” the friend said, adding later: “I remember so many times when I was in a car with them and we would go up a hill and just look at the view.”
The two best friends spent a lot of time together, especially at the Goncalves house with his family.
(Friend of Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen)
The friend emphasized that she wanted to focus on the lives of Goncalves and Mogen rather than the tragedy that led to them.
“I truly believe they were each other’s twins,” read a joint statement from the two young women’s close friends. “We just want to remember the good times of them, the memories and the laughs.”
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Goncalves and Mogen spent the afternoon of November 12 downtown at a local bar called the Corner Club before ordering food from the Grub Truck in Friendship Square and returned home around 1 a.m. Kernodle and Chapin spent that night in a party at the Sigma of the university. Casa Chi before they returned home after Goncalves and Mogen.
A photo of Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, who were massacred on Sunday along with two other University of Idaho students.
(instagram)
Two surviving roommates were home during the murders but were ruled out as suspects. Police responded to a 911 call reporting an unconscious person from one of the two roommates’ phones at 11:58 a.m. on November 13, and located the four deceased students shortly after their arrival.
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Police on Tuesday described the killings as an “isolated and targeted attack.” On Thursday, the Latah County Coroner announced that all four students died of stabbing homicide, likely in their sleep.
Goncalves was a general studies senior and Mogen was in her senior year completing her marketing major at the University of Idaho.
(Friend of Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen)
Goncalves was a last-year general studies student at the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences. She was from Rathdrum, Idaho, and a member of the Alpha Phi sorority.
Mogen was a senior who completed her marketing major in the College of Business and Economics. She was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority.
Chapin was a freshman from the Mount Vernon area of Washington, according to Green. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and was working to complete his degree in recreation, sports and tourism management at the U of I College of Education, Health and Human Sciences. Chaplin and Kernodle were in a relationship.
University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.
(Jazzmin Kernodle via AP/Instagram/ @kayleegoncalves)
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Kernodle was a junior majoring in marketing in the U of I College of Business and Economics. She was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority, according to the school. Police said Kernodle was from Avondale, Arizona, but she grew up in Post Falls, Idaho.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident to call 208-883-7180 or tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.
