(NewsNation) — Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were best friends since the sixth grade.
They did homework together, shared everything and went to the same high school, then the same college, Kaylee’s father, Steve Goncalves said at a candlelight vigil for the two University of Idaho students.
The women, along with Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, were found stabbed to death in a rental home near campus on Nov. 13. Goncalves, Mogen and Kernodle had been roommates. Chapin and Kernodle were dating.
Preliminary findings by a county coroner show the four died from stab wounds and were likely asleep at the time of the attack.
At the vigil, Goncalves said that his daughter and Mogen were in the same bed when they died. Now, Kaylee’s ashes are right next to Mogen’s at the Goncalves’ house, NewsNation’s Brian Entin reports.
“These were best friends forever,” Entin said on “Banfield.”
Like their daughters, the two families are also close. The Goncalves family told Entin that Mogen’s parents said they wanted her ashes to be by Kaylee’s.
The city of Moscow and the University of Idaho are on edge, as weeks after the stabbings, the suspect remains at large. Kaylee’s family has even said they don’t want to have a memorial for her yet, as they fear the person who killed their daughter will be there, and some students were scared to go to the students’ vigil.
So far, authorities have gotten thousands of tips on the case, and have worked to dispel rumors surrounding the incident.
Officials have confirmed that they do not consider the following people suspects:
- The victims’ two surviving roommates
- A man seen in a food truck video circulating online
- The private party who drove Mogen and Goncalves home
- Anyone who spoke to the police dispatcher during the 911 call that morning
- A man whom Goncalves and Mogen called several times that morning
In the aftermath of the stabbings, there has been an increased Idaho State Police presence on campus, and the university has upped its own security force, as well.
NewsNation has been covering this story from the beginning, and will continue its investigation in a special hour on Sunday. National correspondent Brian Entin will host “Special Report: Idaho Murder Mystery” on Dec. 4 at 9 p.m. ET on NewsNation. Here’s how you can watch.
