The tragic mystery surrounding four college students brutally slain in Moscow, Idaho, continues to perplex authorities and the general public.
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As police communicated over the weekend, they currently have no viable suspects in the Nov. 13 University of Idaho killings. But two survivors who lived in the home and were reportedly spared during the attack have for the first time broken their silence.
Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, 19, were asleep on the first floor of the off-campus house when the deadly assault claimed the lives of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, leaving the community in shock and horror.
The two, who are not considered suspects, shared statements about their roommates and all that unfolded through a pastor at Real Life Ministries in Post Falls. The preacher delivered the remarks at a memorial event Friday commemorating the lost lives, the Daily Mail reported.
“I wish every day that I could give them all one last hug and say how much I love them,” Funke said in her statement. “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 also offered stirring words about specific roommates, shedding light on their personalities and other qualities. Mortensen provided similar comments, with both praising their slain friends.
“They changed the way I look at life,” Mortensen wrote. “I know it’ll be hard to not have the four of them in our lives, but I know Xana, Ethan, Maddie, and Kaylee would want us to live life and be happy. They would want us to celebrate their lives.”
These heartbreaking statements come as police admit not having a viable conclusion or theory on the murders — even as many tips have reportedly come in over the past three weeks.
The City of Moscow Police Department said in a Dec. 3 statement they have poured over 2,645 emails through their tipline, an additional 2,770 phone calls, and 1,084 digital media subscriptions through the FBI.
These tips come alongside 113 pieces of physical evidence and 4,000 crime photos, among other investigative elements. Despite this evidence, though, authorities have no suspects and have reached no discernible conclusions.
“At this time, no suspect has been identified and only vetted information that does not hinder the investigation will be released to the public,” the statement read. “There is speculation, without factual backing, stoking community fears and spreading false information.”
The City of Moscow Police Department encouraged people to look to them for details and not to these false rumors and information.
While police have said they are unsure who was specifically targeted in the attack, Steven Goncalves, father of victim Kaylee Goncalves, believes his daughter or her friend, Madison Mogen, were possibly the intended targets due to their location on the third floor of the home.
The two were sleeping on the home’s top floor away from the point of entry through a sliding door on the second floor, he said, according to the Daily Mail.
“I’m not a professional, so I want to specify that, but they’ve said the entry point was the slider or the window. It was the middle floor,” Goncalves told “Fox & Friends.” “So, to me, he doesn’t have to go upstairs. His entry and exit are available without having to go upstairs or downstairs.”
He said it appears the killer didn’t go downstairs, though that isn’t entirely clear. The grieving father also noted he is speaking out because he does “not feel confident” with the current investigation.
Goncalves, who was respectful of authorities yet clearly yearning for answers, warned the story is “going cold” and believes fewer people are coming forward.
“I’m not going to go away. I hate to be a pain but as a father I just can’t even sleep thinking that I could be doing something,” he said. “I have an agenda, and I think it’s pretty clear. It’s these two girls. That’s what I’m working for.”
Goncalves also told Fox News in a separate interview the “means of death don’t match” — a notable claim that came without much context.
“Their points of damage don’t match. I’m just going to say it. It wasn’t leaked to me. I earned that,” he said. “I paid for that funeral. … I sent my daughter to college. She came back in a box, and I can speak on that.”
And his wife, Kristi, said in a separate interview she’s unsure of authorities’ handling of the clearance of individuals close to the case.
“I just feel like there’s been a couple individuals that were cleared very fast that maybe should not have been,” she said, not going into detail on specific individuals or names.
Police said they do not believe surviving roommates, a man from a food truck where Goncalves and Mogen ordered food before their deaths, a driver who took the girls home, a man the deceased called numerous times before their deaths, or those who called 911 the next day are involved in the crime.
For his part, Steven Goncalves took time during his “Fox & Friends” interview to describe his daughter as hardworking and caring, adding, “We can’t replace her.”
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