Five days after four University of Idaho students were found dead in a home near the Moscow campus, students are asked to remain vigilant as investigations to find those responsible for the crime continue.
On Thursday, the Moscow Police Department was present on campus with the additional support of the Idaho State Police, the department said on its official Facebook page.
"You will see an increased security presence through the weekend," the University of Idaho said in its latest update on the killings. "This is an intentional increase in response to your concerns and not a reflection of any new information or heightened threat communicated by MPD."
On Wednesday, Aubrie Goncalves, the sister of 21-year-old victim Kaylee Goncalves, wrote on Instagram urging students to flee Moscow for as long as the police do not arrest a suspect.
"To the students of the University of Idaho that are still staying around campus, leave. Your grades are severely less important than your lives," she wrote. "No one is in custody and therefore no one is safe."
The University of Idaho has reminded students that Moscow Police Department believes the murders to be a targeted attack. During a news conference on Wednesday, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said that police believe the murders were an isolated incident, but they "cannot say there is no threat to the community."
"We did believe, we still believe it's a targeted attack, but the reality is there's still a person out there who committed four horrible, horrible crimes. So I think we got to go back to there is a threat out there still possibly. We don't know. We don't believe it's going to be to anybody else, but we don't all have to be aware of our surroundings and make sure that we're watching out for each other," Fry said.
In its most recent update on the crimes, the university recommended that students exercise "increased vigilance," and encouraged anyone with any information about the deaths to contact the police.
Classes on campus have not been canceled, but any students who would not want to come back until after Thanksgiving are excused, Scott Green, President of the University of Idaho, said.
Newsweek reached out to the University of Idaho and the Moscow Police Department for contact.
What Do We Know About The Case?
Moscow Police received a call about an unconscious person in a Moscow home around noon on November 13, Fry told the public during the Wednesday news conference. On the scene, officers found the four students dead of apparent stab wounds.
The victims were later identified as roommates Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington, Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum.
According to police, the four were killed in the early hours of November 13. On Wednesday, Fry revealed that two surviving roommates were being interrogated by officers and could be "key" to solving the case. The two have not been ruled out as suspects but investigators are looking at anyone who might have been involved.
Police said the house showed no sign of forced entry, but they cannot say 100 percent whether the door of the house was unlocked.
More than 25 investigators, plus assistance from the FBI and Idaho State Police, are on the case, but the police do not have a suspect yet.
In its latest statement, the University Of Idaho wrote of the "grief" everyone at the college is working through and the "frustration and concern that no one has been arrested for those crimes."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs ... Read more
