“There does not appear to be any evidence to support the cases are related," police said of the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin and two stabbing attacks carried out in Oregon in 2021 and in Washington in 2020.
Police investigating the killings of four University of Idaho students have assured the public that the quadruple homicide are not connected to two other deadly knife attacks carried out in the past two years in two neighboring states, despite eerie similarities in the cases.
More than two weeks have passed since Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death in their Moscow, Idaho, home on Nov. 13, and investigators have not named a suspect or person of interest in their killings.
Investigators have undertaken the review of more than 260 digital submissions – including videos and photos – submitted by the public to an FBI link, the Moscow Police Department said Friday night.
At the same time, some have compared the killings to the attack on Travis and Jamilyn Juetten, who were viciously assaulted in August 2021 in their home in Salem, Oregon. Travis, 26, was killed, while Jamilyn, 24, survived.
Comparisons have also been drawn to the murder of 71-year-old Sandra Ladd, who was attacked in her Washougal, Washington, home in June 2020.
Ladd, the Juettens and the four University of Idaho students were all attacked as they slept. All three crimes also involved multiple stab wounds and were carried out on the 13th day of their respective month.
Despite those similarities, police investigating the Idaho killings say, “There does not appear to be any evidence to support the cases are related."
Such assurances are doing little to calm the nerves of University of Idaho students returning to school after Thanksgiving break. Some students, too afraid to return to class, have opted for remote learning. There is also heightened security on campus, particularly around sorority and fraternity houses.
Police, who have described “a sense of fear” in the community, still have no suspects.
