Kaylee Goncalves, one of four University of Idaho murder victims, no longer lived at the house when the homicides took place but was instead visiting her best friend before moving to Texas.
Goncalves’s parents, Steve and Kristi, told NBC’s Dateline in an interview that their daughter was in Moscow, Idaho, wanting to see her best friend and fellow victim, Madison Mogen, 21, before moving to Texas to start an information technology job. Goncalves, also 21, was set to graduate early and hoped to show her friend her new Range Rover before departing.
IDAHO STUDENT MURDERS: HOW POLICE IDENTIFIED AND TRACKED DOWN SUSPECT IN MONTHSLONG SEARCH
Mogen and Goncalves, along with friends Ethan Chopin and Xana Kernodle, both 20, were allegedly murdered by Washington State University criminology graduate student Bryan Kohberger, 28, on Nov. 13.
Each victim was stabbed multiple times in the chest and upper body with a large knife. A sheath for the knife believed to have been used in the quadruple homicide was found next to Mogen’s and Goncalves’s bodies. Both girls were sleeping in the same bed and died next to each other.
Investigators matched DNA taken from the sheath to Kohberger’s DNA obtained after executing a search warrant for his trash.
Kristi Goncalves told Dateline that she hopes her daughter had found a way to play a part in catching her killer.
“I just … I just said, ‘Can you believe that?'” Kristi Goncalves said. “And I said, ‘I hope that maybe a struggle, she pulled it off him in the struggle or whatever.'”
From Nov. 13, the day of death, to Dec. 30, the date Kohberger was arrested, investigators began gathering several pieces of evidence to build their cases against the accused graduate student. Police provided limited information and evidence to the public and families, much to the dismay of many.
A white Hyundai Elantra, the make and model of Kohberger’s car, was a focal point for Idaho investigators. A similar vehicle was spotted on video in the area near the victims’ homes prior to the murders and during the window of time of death, between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.
Kohberger’s car was found at the Washington State University campus after Moscow and state police put out a call to other stations asking them to search for the vehicle. The Washington State campus is a 15-minute ride from the University of Idaho.
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Police were able to gather footage of Kohberger’s face and hands after an intentional traffic stop while the suspect and his father were traveling through Indiana.
A preliminary hearing for Kohberger’s trial is set for June, marking seven months after the deaths. The hearing is set to go for four to five days. During that time, the defense and prosecutors will have the opportunity to present evidence and call witnesses, per state law.
