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Kaylee Goncalves' parents remember her and best friend Maddie Mogen one year after their deaths

Up on a shelf in the Goncalves family home, Kaylee and Maddie's ashes rest side by side. Forever best friends, the two shared a bond like sisters.

Kara Valentine

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Published: 9:30 PM PST November 13, 2023
Updated: 10:50 AM PST November 20, 2023

This publication is Part II of a four-part series.

"I feel like it's been forever," Kristi Goncalves said. "And I feel like it was yesterday. So much of it has been a blur, it's been tremendously painful, and I know that it's still coming and it's not over. I don't think that it will ever be over." 

Kristi Goncalves is the mother of Kaylee Goncalves, one of four University of Idaho students murdered in an off-campus home in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022. 

One year after the heinous Moscow murders, Kaylee's parents, Steve and Kristi, talked about life after loss, their beloved late daughter's memory and the overwhelming support that's paving a path toward healing.

In an interview at the Goncalves family home in Rathdrum, Idaho, Kaylee's parents were happy to share their stories about Kaylee and all the joy that she brought into the world. They were quick to recount sweet memories of Kaylee as a little girl. 

"She had a ton of spirit, she was so fun," Kristi was beaming as she spoke. "She was like a little princess, and she wanted to do all the fancy stuff, a true girl," Steve said. 

Kaylee was one of five children; she was the middle child.

"Alivia is our oldest, and then Steven and then Kaylee, then Autumn and Aubrey," Kristi said, naming her children one by one.  

Credit: Goncalves Family

Steve and Kristi not only lost Kaylee on that awful November day, they also lost Madison Mogen. She lived at the King Road house, and was also one of the four victims. Mogen was Kaylee's best friend and like a daughter to the Goncalves'. She and Kaylee met in the 6th grade and the two were inseparable ever since.

"Kaylee came home talking about this Maddie girl, and the rest was history! They were just inseparable," Kristi recalled. "Kaylee was either there [at Maddie's], or Maddie was at our place, so they had the best of both worlds." 

Steve chimed in about the special bond between the two girls. "They did high school together and college, they picked the same school."

Kaylee and Maddie loved the University of Idaho. They felt like it was their home away from home.

"You could see that in photos of them, you could see the happiness in them, the love, the bright light," Kristi shared. "I do think the famous picture that is out there of all of them with Ethan and Xana and the two survivors, I think it kind of sums up their relationship. Laughing, smiling, in the moment," said Kristi. 

Kristi said the now-famed photos of the roommates outside the King Road house were taken the day before the murders.

"Kaylee texted those photos to me a little after 2 p.m. on Saturday the 12th of November. Maddie is up on her shoulders. That's the last text message I have from Kaylee," Kristi said through tears. 

Credit: Goncalves Family

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