Idaho student killings: father of victim feels ‘defeated’ over lack of arrests
The lack of any arrests in the killings of four University of Idaho students and relatively infrequent updates from police have left the father of one of the victims feeling “a little defeated”.
In an interview with ABC News on Tuesday, Steve Goncalves also said his family had held off burying his daughter, Kaylee Goncalves, who was stabbed to death with three schoolmates in an off-campus home in a crime that horrified the nation, because they fear the unidentified killer or killers might show up as false mourners.
Nonetheless, Steve Goncalves said he still trusted the detectives in charge of the case.
“I have to assume and hope that this is all part of their plan and … they’ve got this all figured out,” Goncalves said. “I know that there’s some really good, hard-working guys and girls that are on this case that I’ve met. And they looked me in the eyes and they told me straight-out that they’re working and they’re doing everything in their power.”
When Goncalves spoke, authorities were yet to publicly identify any suspects in the 13 November killings of his 21-year-old daughter; her lifelong best friend Madison Mogen, 21; their roommate, Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20.
Goncalves said his daughter had plans to move to Texas. He said his family considered Mogen their “bonus child”.
“When you’re sick and you’re down and you’re out, you want to have that one great friend that’s always there for you, and that’s what they had,” Goncalves said. He added: “There is no Kaylee without Maddie.”
On Sunday, Moscow police said investigators were sifting through more than 260 digital media submissions from community members as they tried to identify at least one viable suspect. Officers had collected more than 110 pieces of physical evidence and sent them to a state lab for analysis.
Such work has done little to diminish the sense of fear that has gripped Moscow, a city of about 25,000 on the Idaho border with Washington.
Many students decided to leave campus after the killings, which occurred in the early morning hours. Residents have been calling 911 to report what they consider suspicious circumstances at a higher rate than usual and have been exploring options for selfdefense among other signs of alarm, according to media outlets.
Two roommates who apparently slept through the murders and were unharmed are not considered suspects, police have said. The 911 call reporting the killings came from a phone belonging to one of the roommates.
Goncalves said he and the families of the other victims deserved justice, and called on community members to provide police with anything that might get the killer or killers “off the streets”.
“You can’t imagine sending your girl to college and they come back … in an urn,” Goncalves said. “You’re numb … you can’t absorb that amount of pain and agony.”