The two survivors of the Idaho mass murder mystery have spoken out for first time, as police concede they have no viable suspects in the massacre.
The heartbreaking statements were delivered at a gathering over the weekend held to memorialize the four college students killed in the slayings last month, and were were penned by the four’s surviving roommates.
The pair, 19-year-olds Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, had been sleeping on the first floor of the home when the late-night attack transpired, and were seemingly spared – while the four victims, who had been on the second and third floors, were stabbed to death.
In a tear-jerking appeal, one of the survivors said she wished she could give each of her roommates ‘one last hug’ and tell them how much she ‘loved them’ one final time.
Both offered toughing tributes to their friends – 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kernodle’s 20-year-old boyfriend, Ethan Chapin – read by a pastor who oversaw the emotional proceedings.
The statements came as police in Moscow conceded in a statement Saturday that despite receiving thousands of tips about the mysterious murders, officers ‘at this time’ have yet to identify a suspect or glean a motive.
That assertion was offered as the department’s investigation into the November 13 murders entered its third week, a critical stage as police are just now starting to receive forensic results obtained from the house where the murders occured.
The pair that survived the murders, Bethany Funke (left) and Dylan Mortensen (right), had been sleeping on the first floor of the home when the attack transpired, and were seemingly spared – while their four friends, who had been asleep on the second floor, were stabbed to death
Survivors Mortensen (left) and Funke (right) have broken their silence on Friday in heartbreaking statements after the murder of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen (on Kaylee’s shoulders), Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle. Their statements were read by a pastor presiding over the proceedings
In her statement – read by a pastor at Real Life Ministries church in Post Falls – Funke spoke, for the first time, of how she wished she could have left things with her roommates differently.
‘I wish every day that I could give them all one last hug and say how much I love them,’ she wrote.
‘You always told me that everything happens for a reason, but I’m having a really hard time trying to understand the reason for this.’
She went on to recall Goncalves’ sense of humor in particular, as well as her unstoppable will to succeed. She added of Chapin, who did not live with the group but had been their close friend, had a ‘bright personality’ that left on impression on everyone he met, best showed by love for Kernodle.
‘The way you loved her was truly admirable and so special. It made people believe in true love,’ Funke, who was unharmed in the massacre, recalled.
Funke then offered a stirring tribute to Kernodle, who she called ‘the life of the party,’ with a boisterous personality that drew everyone toward her, including the parents of her fellow housemates.
‘There really wasn’t one person that didn’t love you and your amazing personality,’ Funke wrote, joking about how the 20-year-old had all the moms’ phone numbers – a sentiment that was later repeated in fellow survivor Mortensen’s remembrance.
Funke would then characterize the final victim, Mogen, as the older sister she had always wanted, writing of the 21-year-old: ‘I always looked up to you so much.’
She continued: ‘You were always so organized, determined and had your priorities straight, and you always gave me the best advice.’
Mortensen would echo those sentiments in her statement, describing to mourners how she remembered Chapin and Kernodle as ‘the perfect duo.’
‘They both had this fun, passionate, crazy, but good energy,’ Mortensen said. ‘They both were the kind of people who cared about everyone and would help anyone.’
She added: ‘They had this unstoppable, loving relationship. They both would look at each other with so much love. Everyone knew they were the perfect duo.
She went on to describe Mogen and Goncalves as ‘ inseparable’ saying the pair had been ‘like second moms’ – as well as sisters – to her.
‘They taught me a lot about how to be a responsible adult and also how to live life happy,’ she wrote. ‘They changed the way I look at life and how to enjoy life to the fullest.’
Funke added in her statement that the four had all been ‘gifts to this world in your own special way’ and ‘will never be forgotten and will forever be in all of our hearts’ -an assertion shared by several other mourners who spoke at the service.
Moscow Police Department shared this statement Saturday – admitting they’ve made no solid progress in catching the killer of four students murdered in their beds last month
The Moscow Police Deparmtnet – and its chief James Fry – have faced sharp criticism in recent days, including from the families of the victims, over the lack of apparent progress in the case.
In the new statement, the department said that ‘only vetted information that does not hinder the investigation will be released to the public.’
‘There is speculation, without factual backing, stoking community fears and spreading false information,’ the statement added.
The department said it has received 2,645 email tips and more than 2,770 calls to the tip hotline, as well as 1,084 digital media submissions to the FBI.
Investigators are poring over 113 pieces of physical evidence and about 4,000 crime scene photographs, the department said.
Despite this, the force has yet to air any leads nor make any arrests.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry is seen. Police in Idaho say they still have no viable suspects in the massacre of four University of Idaho students in their home last month
Investigators have also not yet found a weapon, the department wrote in a news release Wednesday.
Autopsies determined the four students were stabbed to death, likely with a fixed-blade knife, and investigators checked with local stores to see if any had sold military-style knives recently.
All four victims were friends and members of the university’s Greek system.
Xana Kernodle, 20, was a junior studying marketing. She was from Post Falls, Idaho, and joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority on campus. She lived at the rental home with the other two women who were stabbed, and she was dating Ethan Chapin, who was visiting the night of the killings.
Chapin, also 20, was from Mount Vernon, Washington and was a triplet. His brother and sister also attend UI, and both Chapin and his brother were members of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were both 21 and friends who grew up together in northern Idaho. Mogen worked with Kernodle at a local Greek restaurant in Moscow. She was also a member of Pi Beta Phi.
Goncalves was a senior majoring in general studies, a member of the Alpha Phi sorority and was planning a trip to Europe next year.
Police have released statements revealing the movements of the victims on the night of the killing, in a plea for any information from the public.
Goncalves and Mogen went to a local bar, stopped at a food truck and then caught a ride home with a private party around 1.56am, according to a police timeline of the evening.
Chapin and Kernodle were at the Sigma Chi house – just a short walk away – and returned to Kernodle’s house around 1.45am, police said.
Two other roommates who live in the home were also out that evening, but returned home by 1am, police said. They didn’t wake up until later that morning.
After they woke up, they called friends to come to the house because they believed one of the victims found on the second floor had passed out and wasn’t waking up.
At 11.58am, someone inside the home called 911, using a roommate’s cell phone. Multiple people talked with the dispatcher before police arrived.
Police found two of the victims on the second floor of the three-story home, and two on the third floor. A dog was also at the home, unharmed.
Autopsies showed the four were all likely asleep when they were attacked, some had defensive wounds and each was stabbed multiple times. There was no sign of sexual assault, police said.
Before Steve Goncalves said Wednesday that his daughter Kaylee died in the same bed as Maddie, this is where it was believed the college students had died – however it is still not know which bedroom on the top floor they were in
Kaylee and Madison were found on the top floor of the Moscow, Idaho home. College lovers Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were found in a second-floor bedroom while survivors Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were sleeping on the first floor
On Wednesday night, detectives revealed they were not sure if the slain University of Idaho students were targeted by the killer, contradicting Chief James Fry who previously insisted they were.
‘We believe they’re targeted because we take a totality of all the circumstances we’re looking at,’ Fry had told reporters on November 20, a week after the murders. The statement was recently echoed by Latah County prosecutor Bill Thompson.
But the department has since filed a correction, stating: ‘Detectives do not currently know if the residence or any occupants were specifically targeted but continue to investigate.’
Nearly three weeks after the grizzly murders, few answers have come out despite the father of one of the victims stating that the killer was ‘sloppy’ and left a ‘mess’ of evidence behind.
Anyone with information about the murders is urged to contact the Moscow Police tip line at 208-883-7180.