Police officers ask for patience as they search for suspects in University of Idaho student killings

Police urged patience on Sunday as investigators sorted through hundreds of tips and interviewed dozens of people, a week after four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death in unspeakable tragedy.

The Moscow Police Department, along with state and federal law enforcement agencies, held a press conference but had few new details a week after the quadruple murder.

Moscow police still believe the attack was targeted but could not provide any further information.

“It was a complex and horrific crime that will take time to solve,” warned Moscow Police Chief James Fry.

“We think they’re being targeted because we’re taking into account all the circumstances that we’re looking at. Do we know of a person who has been targeted?” Fry also said. “Based on our investigation, we cannot say that at this time, but we still believe in it.”

Fry said the 911 call about an unconscious body came from one of the roommates’ phones, but declined to say who actually called. But he noted that other friends arrived at the house around the time the call was made.

He also noted that the 911 caller was not the killer.

Law enforcement has received over 600 tips and conducted 90 interviews in the past week, Fry said, as authorities remain unsure where the killer or killers may be.

“We look everywhere the evidence will take us. I can’t tell if the person is here, I can’t tell what community the person is in,” Fry said. “We are using all the resources we have to create this place of the individual.”

When asked if the suspect might be across state lines, Fry replied, “We’re looking everywhere.”

Questions continued to swirl after seniors Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, junior Xana Kernodle and freshman Ethan Chapin were all found dead with stab wounds around noon on Sunday.

Authorities believe the four were killed in their sleep that morning. The three women were roommates and Chapin was in a relationship with Kernodle.

Many students left the city of 25,000 before the Thanksgiving holiday. And many students don’t want to come back, University of Idaho President Scott Green said during the news conference.

“We make safety our top priority. We also plan for the very real possibility that some students may not feel comfortable returning to campus,” Green said.

“While we certainly hope that the arrest of those responsible for this crime will bring a speedy conclusion, we must also be prepared for any possibility, including a lengthy investigation,” he warned.

Chapin and Kernodle were seen at the Sigma Chi Fraternity home before the couple returned home around 1:45 a.m. on Sunday. Goncalves and Mogen stayed at a popular bar in downtown Moscow until 1:30 a.m. before visiting a food truck around 1:45 a.m. and being driven home by a car service

Two of the victims were on the second floor and the other two victims were on the third floor. They were stabbed multiple times and some had defensive wounds, police said.

Police initially insisted there was no threat to the community immediately after the grisly discovery, but days later they backtracked and urged community members to be vigilant.

Dozens of FBI agents are assigned to the case, as well as state police to assist the Moscow Police Department.

Although police searched dumpsters near the scene of the crime, no murder weapon had been found.

“At the beginning of the investigation, local businesses were interviewed to see if any fixed-blade knives had been purchased recently,” Moscow Police Captain Roger Lanier said. “And currently there are no suspects in custody and we have not located a weapon.”

The two housemates, a man seen at the food truck near Goncalves and Mogen, and a driver who was taking the two college students home have all been ruled out as suspects, police said.

Fry also said police believe numerous calls to a Goncalves and Mogen man were unrelated to the crime. According to Fox News Digital, Goncalves’ parents said they believe the person who called their daughter multiple times, her ex-boyfriend, was not involved in the crime.

“We know people want answers, we want answers too,” said Col. Kendrick Wills of the Idaho State Police.

Police are asking anyone who may have information about the case to contact authorities.