Sister of murdered University of Idaho student begs parents to bring their kids home

The younger sister of one of the University of Idaho students knifed to death in a bloody Sunday morning frenzy has urged students to leave town and cast doubt on the police description of the murders as ‘an isolated, targeted attack’.

‘No one is in custody and therefore no one is safe,' Autumn Goncalves wrote on Instagram. 'Whoever did this ... is still out there and if he is sick enough to murder FOUR sweet, innocent humans so brutally, he is sick enough to do it to anyone else.’  

Autumn's sister Kaylee Goncalves, 21, was brutally stabbed at her home in Moscow, Idaho, along with room mates Madison Mogen, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20.

Xana’s boyfriend, 20-year-old Ethan Chapin, also died in the attack.

‘They were smart and they were fighters and this STILL happened. No one is safe. Please get your loved ones home,' Autumn, who is in her late teens, wrote in her anguished plea, posted Wednesday. 

Autumn's post included a picture of her sister Kaylee and her best friend Madison Mogen who was also killed in the attack

Autumn Goncalves is the younger sister of murdered student Kaylee Goncalves. She urged students to leave Moscow, Idaho, saying 'No-one is in custody, therefore no-one is safe.'

Kaylee was the middle of five children whose family live in Rathdrum, Idaho. She was a senior studying general studies and planned to move to Texas after graduation

The four University of Idaho students who were found dead in off-campus housing were identified on Monday as Madison Mogen, 21, top left, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, bottom left, Ethan Chapin, 20, center, and Xana Kernodle, 20, right. They are pictured just hours before they were murdered.

Autumn urged anyone with friends or family in the small town of 25,000 people to ask them to leave immediately. 

She also revealed that the family was shocked by the sheer brutality of the murders. ‘Our family was dreading the answer for ‘how’ and we all knew that no matter the answer, we wouldn’t like it, but we got back the worst possible answer.

‘The most gruesome way. One person against four.   

'This person is dangerous and he is not in custody!!!' she added. 

'How police say ‘no threat’ MAKES NO SENSE. My sisters (Maddie and Kaylee) did everything right. They went out together. They locked their doors.'

The intervention from Goncalves’ sister comes shortly before a police press conference where they are expected to provide updates on the case – the first since the murders happened.

Conflicting statements and a lack of updates has caused anguish in the small Idaho college town.

Locals have cast doubt on the glacial progress of the investigation – with the owner of a food truck visited by Goncalves and Mogen just hours before their deaths saying he still hasn’t been contacted by the cops.  

The video was filmed by the food truck operators - Grub Truckers - as part of a live stream from Saturday night in Moscow, Idaho. It may hold vital clues as to how Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves spent their final hours.  

It shows the pair stumbling towards the truck, ordering a plate of carbonara pasta, and waiting 10 minutes between 1.33am and 1.43am on Sunday morning. The girls appeared to walk towards the truck from the other side of the street and when they arrived, they were joined by a young, unidentified man.

He hung back as Kaylee ordered the food, then waited with the girls until they received the order.

At 1.53am, the girls walk away in one direction, leaving the young man speaking with others at the truck. He looked in their direction, surprised that they'd walked off, but then is seen walking around the corner, in a different direction to them.

Video emerged showing Mogen and Goncalves apparentlydrunk while ordering food from a food truck hours before they were killed

There were dozens of other youngsters waiting for food at the truck, which is parked outside a nightclub in downtown Moscow, Idaho, every Saturday between 10pm and 2.30am 

While Kaylee ordered, Madison spotted a friend and walked over to hug him warmly (right). She then returned to wait with Kaylee 

Less than two hours later the girls were dead.

When Kaylee placed the order at 1.43am, the server - Joseph Woodall - welcomed her by saying: 'Welcome back!'

Speaking to DailyMail.com on Wednesday, he revealed that he mistook them for two other girls who'd been there earlier in the night.

He said the community is now scared and dubious about why police believe there is no reason to panic.

'What everybody is talking about now is not knowing why police are saying we don't have to panic. Nobody is panicking but no one is walking around at night either,' he said.

Woodall, the manager at the truck, said the pair were 'slightly intoxicated' but didn't stand out among the dozens of other kids he served.

'There was nothing out of the ordinary, they were definitely having a good time but I don't remember anybody standing out.

'There was no one giving off bad vibes or standing around,' he said.  

He only realized that he'd served the pair today when his boss told him that the girls might have been at the truck, he said.

John Fletcher, the owner of the business, told DailyMail.com that no one from law enforcement has yet been in touch to request the footage or witness statements from staff.

In the video, Kaylee appears to slur her words as she orders a single portion of $10 carbonara.

Kernodle and Chapin posted photos together on Instagram. She posted this photo of the pair of them on October 29 to wish her boyfriend a happy birthday

Goncalves, of Rathdrum, Idaho, left, and Mogen, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, right, were in different sororities but still appeared to be good friends

'Hi! Can I please have the.... carbonara,' she says, before offering to pay with points.

Joe replied: 'Looks like you don't have enough.'

'That's OK,' she said, Kaylee, before paying $10 for the food. While she ordered, Madison greeted a young man who was standing nearby, then returned to her.

The pair then waited at the truck for around ten minutes, talking with the other young kids who were also waiting for food and taking photos of each other, before walking away.

It's unclear if they went straight home to their shared apartment on King Road - less than 1.5 miles away - or if they made one more stop that night.  

All four kids were savagely murdered in their shared house, stabbed to death then left to bleed out. Despite the seriousness of the crime and even though no one has been arrested yet, police are reassuring the community that there is nothing to fear.  

They believe it was a targeted attack, and that they are not likely to harm anyone else.

Police sources told DailyMail.com that the scene inside the home is ‘the worst they’ve ever seen’ with the victims left to bleed out following the brutal early morning attack.

'There was blood everywhere,' said one source close to the investigation.

'We have investigators who have been on the job for 20, even 30, years, and they say they have never seen anything like this.'

One of the victims – understood to be 20-year-old Ethan Chapin, of Conway, Washington – was discovered on the floor on the second level of the three-story home. 

Ethan Chapin was one of a set of triplets. His brother Hunter posted this picture on Instagram saying: 'My brother and my best friend.'

Investigators collected the contents of trash cans close to the home as part of the search for the ‘edged weapon’ they believe was used in the killings. The trash was taken to a garbage depot where hazmat-suited cops sifted through garbage bags

 On Tuesday, police were seen collecting the contents of trash cans close to the slightly run-down fray-paneled home as part of the search for the ‘edged weapon’ they believe was used in the killings.

The trash was taken to a local garbage depot where hazmat-suited cops were seen sifting through garbage bags in a screened-off shed.

The new developments come after a day where local authorities issued statements – with the local mayor describing it as ‘a crime of passion’ and cops insisted it was a ‘targeted’ crime.

Cops in Moscow, a town of some 24,000 people right on the Washington State border – also were at pains to reassure locals that no one else is at risk while saying in a statement released Tuesday that all four deaths are homicides.

The statement said: ‘On November 13, 2022, at 11:58 hours, Moscow Police Department Officers responded to a call on King Road for an unconscious individual.

‘Upon arrival, officers discovered four individuals who were deceased. The deaths have been ruled to be homicide.‘

Police Capt. Anthony Dahlinger told the Idaho Statesman: 'All I can say is the deaths are ruled a homicide at this point – and homicide and murder are synonymous.'

Although no weapons have been located, based on preliminary information, investigators believe that an edged weapon such as a knife was used.

‘Autopsies are scheduled to be completed later this week and will hopefully provide more definitive information on the exact cause of the deaths.