Idaho Police Confident Person in White Hyundai Elantra Spotted Near Location of Quadruple Homicide

The Moscow Police Department have said that they are “confident” that the driver of a white Hyundai Elantra automobile captured in security footage near the house where four University of Idaho students were murdered in the early morning of November 13 has “information that is critical” to the case.

ABC News reports that police Captain Roger Lanier said on Thursday, “So far we have a list of approximately 22,000 registered white Hyundai Elantras that fit into our criteria that we’re sorting through. But it may not be all of them — so the public can help us.”

“Maybe one of your neighbors has one in the garage they don’t drive that often. Maybe there’s one that’s just not on the registration database, Let us know,” Lanier added.

On November 13, the bodies of 20-year-old Xana Kernodle, her boyfriend 20-year-old Ethan Chapin, along with 21-year-old Madison Mogen and 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves were found stabbed to death after police responded to a report of an unconscious person at a rented home on King Road in Moscow, Idaho. Authorities believe the four were killed between 3 and 4 am and there have been no arrests in the case.

On Tuesday, video footage emerged of the white Hyundai Elantra as a clerk at a nearby Exxon Mobil gas station was reviewing security footage from the night of the murder and spotted the vehicle driving by at 3:45 am.

According to Fox News, the clerk said, “I had a weird feeling to go get on the cameras.” On December 7, police had said they wanted to speak with the occupants of the car as they may have information on the case.

Police spokeswoman Robbie Johnson 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 it’s small, sometimes it can piece together the timeline, put those puzzle pieces together, and we get a greater, bigger picture of what was going on,” Johnson added.

Good Morning America tweeted a video of the footage.

On Wednesday, police bodycam footage emerged of officers stopping several people early in the morning of November 13 only a few doors down from the murder house around the same time of the killings. Authorities said nothing of value was found in the footage.

In November, Kristi and Steve Goncalves, the parents of 21-year-old Kaylee, said the police told them there was so much evidence left at the crime scene it’s taking longer than usual to process while authorities said Thanksgiving slowed the investigation.