Moscow police push back on dog rumour as students return from Thanksgiving – live

Officials are pushing back against rumours which have circled about a dog belonging to one of the murder victims, after it was found unharmed at the crime scene.

Last week, investigators in Moscow revealed that Kaylee Goncalves’ pet dog Murphy was inside the home when the bodies of the four victims were discovered at around midday on 13 November.

Goncalves shared the dog with her long-term ex-boyfriend. He has been ruled out as a suspect in the killings.

Speculation has been swirling online about whether or not the dog was barking at the time of the murders – with internet sleuths using the detail as a benchmark for whether or not the animal may have been familiar with the killer.

Aaron Snell, director of communications for the Idaho State Police, told Fox News Digital that officials have not confirmed whether or not the dog was barking.

The only information so far confirmed about the pet is that it was in the home when police arrived on the scene.

His comments come as officials are continuing to come up against online speculation and unfounded rumours given the high-profile nature of the case.

Moscow Police have updated the timeline of two of the victims’ last known movements, citing “digital evidence”.

In a press release on Sunday, police revealed that Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen returned to the home on King Road from their night out at around 1.56am on 13 November.

Investigators previously said that the two best friends arrived home at around 1.45am.

“Arrival time has been updated based on digital evidence collected by investigators,” authorities said.

The pair had spent the night at the Corner Club in downtown Moscow, arriving at around 10pm on 12 November and leaving at around 1.30am the next morning. They then paid a visit to the Grub Truck late night food spot at around 1.40am before getting a ride home from a private party.

The other two victims Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin arrived back at the home at around 1.45am, police said.

Police in Idaho have blasted the spread of rumours online as a “disservice” to the families of the four students murdered in the brutal knife attack.

Idaho State Police Public Information Officer Aaron Snell told Fox News Digital that “there’s a lot of speculation out there”.

“Ultimately, detectives on scene have the information. The people that are working this case from all three agencies … they’re the best and the brightest, and they have the most up-to-date resources,” he said.

He added that the rumours do “a disservice to the families and to the community because it puts out additional information that hasn’t been vetted”.

Police have debunked several online rumours about the case such as an inaccurate theory that the victims were bound and gagged when they were found.

Several other cases or unusual incidents which have been linked to the case have also now been ruled out, including a 2021 stabbing 400 miles away in Oregon.

Police in Moscow have been grappling with a surge in calls since four friends were found butchered in their rental home – as the community remains racked by fear and University of Idaho students are set to return to campus with the killer still at large.

It’s now been two weeks since Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in the off-campus home that the three female students shared in the early hours of 13 November.

No suspects have been identified, no arrests have been made and the murder weapon is still nowhere to be found, leaving the small and notoriously safe college town on edge.

Since 13 November, Moscow Police have received 78 calls for “unusual circumstances” and 36 requests to check the welfare of loved ones, an increase from 70 and 18 respectively in the whole of October, according to data released on Sunday by the department.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Police have said they won’t release details on why they believe the University of Idaho students were targeted, in order to protect the ongoing investigation.

Authorities had previously said that the public would have to “trust them” on the notion that the killings of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were targeted because no details behind the reasoning would be released.

Aaron Snell, with Idaho State Police, told Fox News Digital on Saturday that information about the targeted murders is being handled with caution so as to not jeopardise the investigation, which has entered its second week with no arrests or major developments.

The Independent’s Andrea Blanco has the full story:

Investigators have still been unable to rule out the possibility that one of the victim’s – Kaylee Goncalves – had a stalker.

Goncalves, 21, reportedly confided in friends before her death that she believed she was stalked by someone.

The identity of the alleged stalker is not known.

Last week, police said that they were looking into the theory but had been unable to either confirm or deny it.

In an update on Sunday, Moscow Police revealed that – despite “hundreds” of tips about the suspected stalker – they are still at something of a loss.

“Investigators have looked extensively into information received about Kaylee having a stalker. They have pursued hundreds of pieces of information related to this topic but have not verified or identified a stalker,” police said in a press release.

“Anyone with information about a potential stalker or unusual instances is asked to contact the tip line.”

Two weeks on from the murders, no suspects have been identified and no arrests made.

While law enforcement are now remaining tightlipped about several parts of the investigation including why they believe the murders were targeted, officials have debunked several rumours and ruled out several potential ties to the killings.

This is what police have ruled out:

• Online rumours that the victims were tied and gagged are false

• Case is not linked to a 2021 double stabbing of a couple in Oregon
• Case is also not connected to a 1999 double stabbing in Pullman, Washington
• There is no link between the case and recent reports of a skinned dog in Latah County 
• There is also no link to reports of dead animals being left on a resident’s property

All four victims are believed to have been killed at around 3am or 4am on the morning of 13 November.

The attack was brutal with each victim stabbed multiple times.

However, police were not called to the home until a 911 call was made at 11.58am on Sunday, alerting officers to an “unconscious individual” in the home on King Road.

Police said that the roommates slept through the murders and when they woke up on the Sunday, they called some unidentified friends to the home because they believed that one of the victims on the second floor “had passed out and was not waking up”.

After the friends arrived on the scene, the 911 call was made from one of the surviving roommates’ cell phones inside the home.

The roommates and the unidentified friends were still on the scene when officers arrived. The officers found the bodies of two of the victims on the second floor and the other two victims on the third floor.

It is unclear what the roommates and “other friends” had discovered prior to placing the call and what led them to describe a victim as merely “unconscious”.

Police have also refused to reveal who made the 911 call and have not released the identity of the friends who were on the scene when they arrived. They have revealed that multiple people talked with the 911 dispatcher before officers arrived at the crime scene.

A former University of Idaho student has raised more than $19,000 to buy and distribute personal alarms to try to keep students safe as they return to Moscow after Thanksgiving.

Kelly Ulhorn told CNN that her grassroots efforts to increase safety on the campus has “exploded” as residents come together to try to protect each other with the killer or killers still at large.

“It’s been completely overwhelming in the best possible way,” she said.

“Something that started so very, very small, has just exploded and it’s amazing to see the community come together like this.”

Local lock store Moscow Lock Shop has also revealed that it can’t keep up with the demand for deadbolts as the community is gripped by fear.

“If you imagine that there’s two of us working, and then we’re going out and actually doing calls, and there’s 50 phone calls in one day … we’re not getting them all done,” locksmith Casper Combs, 28, told The Independent last week.

Most of the calls come from landlords and scared parents of students at the university – “typically moms who are worried about their kids”.

Police have hit out at the spread of rumours about the unsolved quadruple homicide, warning that it is “stoking fears” in the community.

“At this time, no suspect has been identified and only vetted information that does not hinder the investigation will be released to the public,” Moscow Police Department said in a press release on Sunday.

“There is speculation, without factual backing, stoking community fears and spreading false facts. We encourage referencing official releases for accurate information and updated progress.”

Moscow has not witnessed a murder in the small, notoriously safe college town since 2015.

Two weeks on from the brutal knife attack on four students as they slept in their rental home, the killer or killers are still at large.