From left: Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were found dead in University of Idaho off-campus housing. Young couple Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were also killed. Photo / Instagram
From left: Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were found dead in University of Idaho off-campus housing. Young couple Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were also killed. Photo / Instagram
Two college students who miraculously survived while their roommates were stabbed to death in a frenzied attack have been pictured as the mystery surrounding the case deepens.
Earlier this week, news broke that four students from the University of Idaho in the US had been killed in off-campus accommodation in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The victims were Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20, with police describing the crime scene as the “worst they’ve ever seen”.
It is understood the three female victims were roommates, while Chapin, who was dating Kernodle, lived nearby at the Sigma Chi fraternity house and was known to frequently visit the house.
Bethany Funke (left) survived the attack and Dylan Mortensen (right) was also home at the time. Photo / Facebook
Police later confirmed that two other roommates who were home at the time of the attack miraculously survived, and they have since been identified by the Daily Mail as Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke.
Both girls were also studying at the same university, and the five close-knit roommates would frequently post pictures of the group on their individual social media accounts.
Mortensen and Funke are both assisting police with their inquiries, but Idaho State Police spokesman Aaron Snell told the Daily Mail they were not suspects – although he said that possibility was still potentially being investigated.
He also refused to comment on how the pair survived or to confirm if either of the girls called 911 to report the murders.
His comments come after authorities revealed on Wednesday that the 911 call that triggered the gruesome discovery wasn’t made until hours after the four students were killed, but no reason for the delay has been given.
Police have also not confirmed who made the call.
The tight-knit group regularly shared photos on social media. Photo / Facebook
The FBI has now joined the investigation into the murders as the killer or killers remain at large, leaving the community of Moscow, Idaho on edge.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry confirmed more than 25 investigators were working on the case, warning that the murderer is “still out here”.
During an appearance on the US Today show, Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson said it “certainly is possible” there was more than one suspect.
At first, police announced they believed the slayings had been “targeted”, although they now appear to have backflipped on that theory.
Investigators are also now searching for the murder weapon, which is believed to be a “Rambo”-style knife.
Goncalves and Mogen spent the last night of their young lives at a bar, with video footage capturing them buying pasta from a food truck about 1.45am, several hours before they were killed.
The video also showed them speaking to several men standing near them at the food truck before they left for the journey home.
Kernodle and Chapin were not with the pair that evening, and neither were the surviving roommates.
