Kaylee Congalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were found stabbed to death Sunday in a mystery that has devastated the University of Idaho community and their loved ones.
Investigators working to solve the mystery of the four Idaho University students found slain Sunday have been visiting stores asking if there had been any sales of what’s called a Rambo knife, leading some to wonder if such a blade was used to carry out the killings.
Rambo knives have seven-inch long steel blades, part of which are serrated.
Police have not found the weapon used to kill Kaylee Congalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, who were found stabbed to death between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Sunday in a mystery that has devastated the University of Idaho community and their loved ones. Police have been searching dumpsters hoping to find it.
The home in which the killings were carried out has a keypad lock on the front door, but friends of the victims say may people knew the code to enter. There’s also a sliding door at the rear of the house that may have been unlocked.
Authorities have not said where inside the large house, which includes six bedrooms and three bathrooms, the four bodies were found.
Authorities have revealed two other roommates were inside the house when the four students were slaughtered. They survived the massacre, but Moscow Police Chief James Fry said cops weren’t called to the house until nine after the murders took place.
Noting that he did not call the two others inside the home witnesses, Fry said, “I said they were there. We don't know why that call came in at noon instead of the middle of the night. Would we love for that to have happened? Yes.
“I'm not going to go into what they shared that night,” he continued. Officials said the two surviving roommates are not suspects and have been cooperating with the investigation.
County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said the questions of “what actually occurred” and “what was heard” still remain.
The manager of the food truck where Congalves and Mogen ordered food only hours before they were killed said he remembers the young women as well as a man who appeared to be watching them.
“It seemed like the guy arrives at the same time as they do, it seems like he almost looks exactly at the camera, then puts a hat on pulls his hood up, steps to the side, and is hanging around the truck, seems interested in them and leaves the same time as they leave,” the manager says.
Police walked back their claim that there is no threat to other students, saying, “We cannot say there is no threat to the community. please stay vigilant report and suspicious activity be aware of your surroundings at all times.”
Police also said they know of no link to an incident in September when a man with a knife confronted several people outside a student center to the massacre.
Most students have fled the campus, but a handful still in the area gathered for a vigil at the campus gates Wednesday. The four victims were also remembered at a University of Idaho basketball game Wednesday.
“Ethan, Kaylee, Xana and Madison—excuse me—their loss has been devastating,” University of Idaho President C. Scott Green said as he choked back tears. “And they were bright lights in our community.”
