At a touching memorial ceremony on Friday, the four Idaho college students who died in a
house just a block from the University of Idaho campus were recalled. The two surviving
roommates, who were there in the house during the deadly assault but unharmed, broke
their silence over the case for the first time during the remembrance.
The two University of Idaho students who survived the quadruple murder that took the lives of their companions on November 13 were identified for the first time as Dylan Mortenson and Bethany Funke. They were slain together with Xana Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, who was staying over on the night of the murders. They were Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20.
In the Moscow, Idaho, rental property that Mortenson and Funke, both women, lived with
their roommates, were sleeping in when a murderer or killers broke in and fatally stabbed the four students. According to the county coroner, the victims were on the second and third floors and were repeatedly stabbed as they slept, albeit some of them also had defensive wounds.
On November 13, a three-story mansion on King Road in Moscow, Idaho, where four
University of Idaho students were found dead, was discovered. The surviving roommates are not considered to be suspects in the case by Moscow police. According to the most recent information from Moscow police, detectives have not even found a murder weapon, considered a fixed-blade knife. Frustration over whether the victims will ever get justice intensifies as the inquiry into the horrific killings enters its fourth week without solid leads.
During Friday’s funeral ceremony, letters from Funke and Mortensen were read aloud by a
youth minister. According to WFIN, the letters depict a fun-loving group of pals who
cherished one another. Funke referred to Mogen, who served as her Pi Beta Phi sorority adviser, as the older sister she always wished she had.
Funke stated to Mogen in her letter, “You always taught me that everything occurs for a
reason, but I am having an extremely hard time trying to grasp the purpose for this.”
The four victims, according to Mortensen, “lit up each place they stepped into and were
blessings to this planet,” he wrote.
In the letter that was read aloud, Mortensen said, “Knowing these four lovely individuals had a significant influence on my life. The four victims in a recent murder case in Moscow, Idaho, are seen standing together in a screen picture from an Instagram post taken on the day they were slain.
Mogen and Goncalves were childhood best friends, while Chapin and Kernodle were
romantically involved. Mortensen emphasized the warm friendships among the circle of
friends. Mortensen said, “To Xana and Ethan – the two most incredible friends but wonderful couple together. “They had this enduring, loving connection. They would both give each other loving looks. Everyone recognized them as the perfect couple. Both of them exuded a joyous, fervent, insane, yet positive spirit. They both have a kind nature and a willingness to provide a hand to everyone.
Mortensen characterized Chapin as an “elder brother type” who was silly, sardonic, and
affectionate, while Kernodle was a “people person” and the “life of the party.” Chapin’s
“whole universe,” according to Mortensen, could be seen in Kernodle.
The author of Mortensen’s letter concluded, “I know, somewhere, Xana and Ethan are
together, keeping each other company, watching us, and assuring us it’s all right and that we have each other.
Mogen and Goncalves, her other two housemates, were described by Mortensen as “an
inseparable couple” and hard-working young ladies. Maddie and Kaylee served as my virtual second mothers. They gave me a lot of advice on how to have a happy life and be a responsible adult. They altered my perspective on life and taught me how to really appreciate it, she stated.
In her letter, Funke expressed her desire to offer each victim “one final embrace” and to
express her love for them. It will be difficult to live without Xana, Ethan, Maddie, and Kaylee, but Mortensen said, “I know they would want us to enjoy life and be happy, and they would want us to celebrate their lives.”
Twenty-two detectives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is notorious for
creating criminal profiles based on the crimes that people commit, have been dispatched to
Moscow to help with the investigation. Additionally, twenty agents are employed by other
sites in Idaho, Utah, and West Virginia.