MOSCOW, Idaho — One month after four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death inside their home on King Road, the Moscow Police Department is reflecting on the investigation and the next steps in the case.
"This investigation is not cold, we get tips every day that are viable," MPD Captain Roger Lanier said.
However, Lanier says some of those tips have been geared toward online rumors, and not the facts released by investigators.
"That has been by far the most frustrating part of this," Lanier said. "We've always closely guarded the information we've discovered at the scene, our investigative information because we want to protect the integrity of this investigation."
Lanier says those rumors have also had an impact on families and friends of the victims, some of whom received death threats.
In a recorded interview, he reflected on the previous month, including the day officers were called to the home on King Road. It didn't take long for students, even family members to gather as they waited for answers.
"They were standing outside. There was a lot of crying, there was a lot of friends trying to figure out who exactly who was in the house," Lanier said.
"It was incredibly hard for the community, but it was also really hard on our officers, some whom were very young and that was the first real major crime scene that they had encountered," Lanier continued.
Lanier says it quickly became apparent they would need additional resources on the case, including Idaho State Police and the FBI. Right now, nearly 70 investigators are still on the case. Lanier described what they'll be doing going forward.
"Eliminate the information that is not going to be relevant to the investigation and take all the new information and eventually, and we see this coming, eventually we're going to narrow in on exactly what happened and who did it," Lanier said.
Throughout the last month, police have received more than 2,770 calls to the MPD Tip Line, more than 2,645 emails to the email tip line, more than 1,084 digital media submissions to the FBI link and 113 pieces of physical evidence.
Information can be submitted through the following tip lines:
- Tip Line: 208-883-7180
- Email: tipline@ci.moscow.id.us
- Digital Media: fbi.gov/moscowidaho
Moscow Police are still asking for information regarding a 2011 or 2013 white Hyundai Elantra. They believe the person or people inside that vehicle may have critical information about the murders.
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