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University of Idaho massacre: Was killer hiding in murdered students' home before they returned?

Another wild and unproven theory about the murder of the four students seems to have gained traction

MOSCOW, IDAHO: The murders of four University of Idaho students in their off-campus home has left the close-knit town of Moscow shaken. With the killer still at large, a new wild theory has been making the rounds on the internet claiming that the person responsible was hiding inside the home before the victims returned.

In a recent press conference, Moscow Police revealed that the four victims - Kaylee Goncalvez, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20 - were back home by 1.45 am on Sunday, November 13. The officials said Chapin and Kernodle were attending a party at the Sigma Chi fraternity house from 8 pm to 9 pm while Goncalves and Mogen were at the Corner Club sports bar between 10 pm and 1.30 am and picked up food at a food truck at 1.40 am before heading home. The bodies of the students were found on the second and third floors of the house.

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Citing these details, a person tweeted, “Could someone have entered the home and waited for the 4 to return? Authorities said they are aware of reports that one of the slain University of Idaho students, 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves, had a stalker.” Backing the claim, another user said, “I’ve walked myself through each possible entry. Thoughts I’ve had is the murderer was already inside before they all returned home hiding. Or, if associated with the victims, he could have unlocked a window, and moved a screen slightly prior to. #IdahoStudents”.

All these wild and unproved theories seem to have spread after police revealed that they were "making progress" on the case. The case has now been entrusted to 25 FBI investigators, Idaho State Police and the Moscow Police Department. The police said they conducted over 90 interviews so far and had received at least 646 tips yet, but have not found any concrete evidence leading to the killer. “Nothing we can do will bring back these young lives, but we have an absolute commitment to solving these senseless murders,” Idaho State Police Director Kedrick Wills said at a press conference.

The officials believ that the killer used a “Rambo-Style” knife to murder the students. It was revealed that two more women, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, were in the house when the students were stabbed between 3 am and 4 am. It was reported earlier that the front door with a keycode, one of two main entry points, was frequently used to enter the home and many people knew how to access it. "Most frequently, people used the door that was located in the basement, and then you took a set of stairs to get to the main floor. When I would go there, the code wouldn't be activated, so we could just open the door and get in,” a source told Fox.