Crime & Justice

Cops Eye White Hyundai in Hunt for Idaho Students’ Killer

SHIFTING GEARS

Investigators believe whoever was in the vehicle on the morning of the quadruple homicide “may have critical information” regarding the case.

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Angela Palermo/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Detectives investigating the slayings of four University of Idaho students want to speak to whoever was in a white Hyundai in the area on the morning of the murders—and they are asking for the public’s help in tracking it down.

The Moscow Police Department said in a press release that investigators “believe the occupant(s) of this vehicle may have critical information to share regarding this case.” Without elaborating, the department said that “tips and leads” had pointed detectives towards a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra. They did not have a license plate number.

As of Tuesday, law enforcement working the case had received “more than 2,645 emailed tips, 2,770 phone tips, and 1,084 digital media submissions,” not all of which have yet been processed, police said.

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***Moscow Police are Asking for the Community’s Help*** MOSCOW, Idaho – Detectives are interested in speaking with the...

Posted by City of Moscow Police Department on Wednesday, December 7, 2022

“Your information, whether you believe it is significant or not, might be the piece of the puzzle that helps investigators solve these murders,” the Moscow department has repeatedly noted.

More than three weeks after the bodies of Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee GonCalves, 21, were discovered at 1122 King Road, police have yet to identify a suspect, murder weapon, or motive.

“We may not have identified a suspect yet, but we are getting a clearer picture of what happened,” an Idaho State Police spokesperson told The New York Times this week.

Earlier on Wednesday, the police began returning the students’ personal belongings to their families, with department Chief James Fry saying officers were working with the victims’ relatives to pack up and transfer items “no longer needed for the investigation.”