A bored gas station employee with an ‘intuition’ may have given police a break in the case of four murdered University of Idaho students.
An overnight assistant at the Mobil station on White Avenue and Highway 8 told DailyMail.com she may have spotted the white Hyundai Elantra that police believe is connected to the fatal stabbings speeding away from the scene.
She said she spent days pouring over surveillance footage from the night of November 13 before she spotted a white sedan traveling westbound on White Avenue at around 3.45am the night of the murder before turning down a side street.
Authorities have said they believe Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were all killed between 3am and 4am on the night of November 13, and have previously asked the public for any information about a white Hyundai Elantra spotted near the off-campus house where the students were stabbed.
It remains unclear whether the car caught on the gas station’s surveillance cameras is, in fact, the Hyundai Elantra police are looking for.
But Idaho State Police have now collected a total of eight hours of surveillance footage from the gas station to sift through as the investigation into the students’ death marks a full month without any suspects.
Idaho police have said the four University of Idaho students were murdered in their sleep between 3am and 4am on November 13. Pictured: Victims Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Maddie Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and 20-year-old Ethan Chapin
A clerk at a local gas station spotted a white sedan speeding in the area that morning
The unnamed clerk had poured through hours of surveillance footage at the gas station in hopes of finding any information that could lead to the arrest of the murderer
Investigators spent Tuesday morning pulling surveillance video from the Mobil station on White Avenue and Highway 8, taking a full shift’s worth of video from the fateful night.
The overnight manager, who asked not to be named because the killer is still on the loose, said she could not see inside the vehicle from the footage, but told DailyMail.com: ‘It could be the one that police are looking for.’
And based on the Moscow Police Department’s reaction to the footage, she said, ‘It definitely seems like it could be something.’
She said she had spent days sifting through the gas station’s surveillance footage after authorities asked for any information about the Hyundai Elantra earlier this month.
The officers believe ‘the occupant or occupants may have seen something’ that could help track down the killer,’ Police Captain Roger Lanier explained on Monday.
‘I was just sitting here on the graveyard shift, really bored, and I decided to look through the surveillance footage,’ the overnight manager said. ‘I just thought I would find something. I’m really intuitive.’
She added that Tuesday morning actually marked the second time police have been by the Mobil station to look at the video.
Investigators also pulled video footage from a 76 gas station on Main Street just down the road from the police headquarters on the day after the murders.
The Moscow Police did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the footage.
But Robbie Johnson, a police spokeswoman, told FOX News Digital the Moscow Police Department is continuing to seek help from the public.
She would not confirm whether the car on the gas station’s video was the Elantra, but said: ‘If you saw anything that night that looks strange… anything you have to report, even if you don’t think it’s anything, we’re still encouraging people to send that in.
‘When we get that information, even [if] it’s small, sometimes it can piece together and we get a greater picture of what was going on.’
Authorities had asked for any information about a white Hyundai Elantra spotted near the scene of the murders — though it is unclear whether the white sedan caught in surveillance footage is the same vehicle
In an update on YouTube, Moscow Police Captain Roger Lanier said officers believe the ‘occupant or occupants may have seen something’ that could help track down the killer
The update comes a full month after Gonzales, Mogen, both 21, as well as 20-year-old sweethearts Chapin and Kernodle were found stabbed to death at their off-campus home.
No suspects have been detained yet, and the Moscow Police Department has faced scrutiny as it continues to withholds details about the case — leading to rampant speculation online.
Some are now pointing to new footage from a police stop that occurred near the student’s King Street home.
An officer’s bodycam captured the moment plain clothes officers made an unrelated stop in the area for three students suspected of underage drinking.
In the background of the video, several people can be seen moving quickly past police on Taylor Avenue, just two houses down from the scene of the crime.
It occurred just minutes before police said the students were killed.
True crime vlogger Olivia Vitale, who highlighted the video, said it was imperative police track down the potential witnesses, who may shine new light on the case.
‘Between the people with law enforcement and the people in the background of the bodycam footage, that is about half a dozen people, Vitale told Fox News. ‘The importance is they may have witnessed something unbeknownst to them.’
While officials have previously said there is nothing of value in the bodycam videos of that night’s stop, it remains unclear if police questioned the people seen walking hurriedly in the background.
Internet sleuths have found bodycam footage showing a plainclothes officer stopping three students for underage drinking nearby
A group of people could be spotted walking hurriedly past police when the officers made the unrelated stop near the victims’ King Street home
Authorities have insisted the fatal attack was ‘targeted,’ and in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, former Moscow Police Captain Paul Kwaitkowski, 64, suggested the killer may have been seeking vengeance.
The retired Moscow police captain who spent 20 years investigating every local homicide in Idaho claimed the perpetrator responsible for the murders most likely knew at least one of the victims.
‘Somewhere along the line, something bad happened, something that pi***d someone off enough to go after these people.’
Retired Moscow Police Captain Paul Kwaitkowski, 64, said it is likely the Idaho murderer knew at least one victim and may have been motivated by revenge
He admitted he doesn’t know who the target was, claiming as many as all four of the students could have been targeted or just one, with the others serving as collateral damage.
‘Why they were targeted, nobody knows yet,’ he added. ‘That involves deciphering all the digital data that [police are] going to have to go through.
‘You have 20 people looking at tens of thousands of pieces of information. That will lead them to something. But it’s going to take time,’ he said.
Kwaitkowski’s comments come amid the police’s uncertainty about whether or not the victims were targeted.
Officials said they initially believed the attack was not targeted, but weeks later recanted their statement in one of many contradictions that have left the public and the families of the victims frustrated over the investigation.
Kaylee’s father, Steven Goncalves, has since publicly aired his anger over the bungled police investigation into the gruesome murder of his daughter, who was last week revealed to have suffered ‘significantly more brutal’ injuries than her three friends.
Kaylee’s father Steven Goncalves shared new details about the violent injuries his daughter sustained, revealing Kaylee had suffered ‘big, open gouges’ and her wounds did not ‘match’ those of her friends
Maddie Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves (right) who were best friends since sixth grade, died in the same bed, according to Kaylee’s father Steve
Kaylee and Madison were found on the top floor of the Moscow, Idaho home. College lovers Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were found in a second-floor bedroom while survivors Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were sleeping on the first floor
Before Steve Goncalves said Wednesday that his daughter Kaylee died in the same bed as Maddie, this is where it was believed the college students had died
The bereaved dad shared new details of those injuries on Monday, revealing Kaylee had sustained ‘big open gouges’ and that the knife slashed open her liver and lungs, Fox News reported.
Goncalves said his daughter’s wounds ‘definitely did not match’ those of Mogen, who was found in the same bed as Kaylee, after asking coroner Cathy Mabbutt how many times the victims were stabbed.
‘She says, ‘Sir, I don’t think stabs is the right word, it was like tears, like this was a strong weapon, not like a stab’,’ he told the news outlet.
‘She said these were big, open gouges. She said it was quick. These weren’t something where you were going to be able to call 911. They were not going to slowly bleed out.’
Based on the victims’ wounds, Goncalves said, the coroner’s office suspects the killer was likely a ‘strong individual’ who he believes is a ‘sadistic male’ though authorities have not yet determined the assailant’s gender.
‘It was a hell of a battle going on down there, from what the coroner told us,’ he added.
‘I got outraged by them not just coming out and saying this was a woman or a man because they should know by the amount of strength it took to deliver the injuries.
‘They’re just being cowards. There are girls walking around the street right now that deserve to know. They should be looking out for a sadistic male,’ Goncalves said.
But while Goncalves’ father slammed police over the ongoing investigation, her mother, Kristi, said she is looking to fundraise to help bring her daughter’s killer to justice.
‘Our family would like to fundraise in hopes to offer a reward, and possibly hire a private investigator if that becomes necessary,’ Kristi told Fox News Digital.
The family is using both GoFundMe and GiveSendGo to raise money.
Similar campaigns created in honor of Kernodle, Chapin, and Mogen have raised more than $160,000 cumulatively.
While speaking with Fox News Digital, the grieving mother said that in addition to raising money for the private investigator and reward, the family will also use a portion of any funds raised to pay for their daughter’s funeral services.
‘The money raised will go directly to getting us answers as well as helping to pay for Kaylee’s final arrangements and her celebration of life on Dec. 30,’ Kristi said.
As of Tuesday, the GiveSendGo fundraiser organized by a family friend had reached over $5,700 of its $20,000 target.
‘Kaylee’s family deserves to know the truth about that dreadful night. They stress that this absolutely cannot become a cold case, so we need everyone who is on board with this, to donate here, in order to make sure this does not happen,’ the GiveSendGo campaign’s description reads.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk