Idaho murders: Police provide update on victim’s stalker reference, dog found at crime scene

MOSCOW, Idaho – Idaho police said Monday they have looked into an incident involving Idaho murder victim Kaylee Goncalves “at a local business, which may have been the stalker reference she made to friends and family.”

The update came as police continue to search for any suspects in a Nov. 13 quadruple homicide that left four University of Idaho students – Goncalves,21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20 – stabbed to death in their off-campus home on Nov. 13.

“In mid-October, two males were seen inside a local business; they parted ways, and one male appeared to follow Kaylee inside the business and as she exited to walk toward her car. The male turned away, and it did not appear he made any contact with her,” the Moscow Police Department (MPD) said in a press release. “Detectives contacted both males and learned the two were attempting to meet women at the business, this was corroborated through additional investigation.”

Detectives concluded that “this was an isolated incident and not an ongoing pattern of stalking,” and “[n]o evidence suggests the two males were involved in the murders.”

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Additionally, MPD determined that a dog belonging to Goncalves located at the crime scene after the murders did not have any evidence on him before he was released to the Humane Society and then a “responsible person.”

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“During the search of the home, a dog was found in a room where the crimes had not been committed. Officers did not find any evidence on the dog and there was no indication the animal had entered the crime scene. The dog was taken to Animal Services and released to a responsible person,” MPD said.

More than three weeks later, police are still trying to fill in an unknown timeline of events for Chapin and Kernodle, who were boyfriend and girlfriend, the night before the murders. The pair were spotted at the university’s Sigma Chi fraternity house on campus around 9 p.m. on Nov. 12 – a Saturday. It is unclear where they went or what they did between then and the time they arrived at home around 1:45 a.m. on Nov. 13. Police are asking the public to share any information they may have about the couple’s timeline that evening or early the next morning.

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The Latah County coroner said the four victims were fatally stabbed, each multiple times, between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Nov. 13. “Some” of the victims had defensive wounds.

Detectives have sorted through more than 2,645 emailed tips, 2,770 phone tips, and 1,084 digital media submissions. 

“We believe someone has information that will add context to the picture investigators are creating of what occurred that evening,” MPD stated in its Monday press release. “Our focus is the investigation, not the activities. Your information, whether you believe it is significant or not, might be one of the puzzle pieces that help solve these murders.”

University of Idaho students who left campus for Thanksgiving break were given the option to stay home and learn remotely instead of returning to campus with a suspect still on the run. 

Police also have yet to announce any kind of motive in the quadruple murder.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the murders to call 208-883-7180 or tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.