CNN
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As many College of Idaho college students returned to campus this week, the police investigation into the stabbing deaths of 4 of their friends continued – however not with out confusion over a key case element.

Almost three weeks because the faculty college students have been discovered stabbed to demise in an off-campus dwelling on November 13, dozens of native, state and federal investigators have but to determine a suspect or discover the homicide weapon.

The unresolved deaths of the victims – Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen – proceed to hassle the neighborhood of Moscow and the college, the place college students have been given the choice to finish the semester remotely in the event that they aren’t comfy returning to its fundamental campus.

Previously week, police and prosecutors have made irregular statements concerning the nature of the killings, which the Moscow Police Division initially described on November 15 as an “remoted, focused assault” that offered “no imminent risk to the neighborhood at giant.” Police backtracked on that assertion the subsequent day, saying they might not be certain there was no threat to the general public.

Then, on Wednesday, the Moscow police mentioned in an announcement that the prosecutor in Idaho’s Latah County erroneously mentioned this week that “the suspect(s) particularly checked out this residence,” and “that a number of of the occupants have been undoubtedly focused.”

The police assertion mentioned the prosecutor’s feedback have been a “miscommunication,” including that, “Detectives don’t at present know if the residence or any occupants have been particularly focused.” The remark contradicts a number of earlier remarks by police that characterised the assault as “focused.”

With a view to make clear the confusion, Moscow police mentioned in a launch Thursday, “we stay constant in our perception that this was a focused assault, however investigators haven’t concluded if the goal was the residence or if it was the occupants.”

Regardless of the uncertainty blanketing the campus over the dearth of a suspect, college students gathered Wednesday night time for a vigil in honor of the slain victims.

Blaine Eckles, the college’s dean of scholars, inspired the gang to “inform the enjoyable tales, bear in mind them within the good occasions and don’t let their lives be outlined by how they died, however as a substitute bear in mind them for the enjoyment they unfold and the enjoyable occasions they shared whereas they lived.”

As detectives proceed to scour the town for info, right here’s the place the investigation stands.

The previous few days have introduced some incremental public updates within the case, together with the chance that there was a sixth roommate dwelling on the home the place the scholars have been killed.

Detectives have mentioned three of the victims – Goncalves, Kernodle and Mogen – lived on the home with their two surviving roommates, who police haven’t named. Investigators at the moment are conscious of a sixth one who is listed on the lease as a resident, however don’t consider they have been within the dwelling when the killings occurred, police mentioned in a Thursday replace.

Police initially mentioned Chapin lived on the home however have since mentioned he was solely visiting.

On the night time of the killings, Goncalves and Mogen have been at a bar in downtown Moscow, and Chapin and Kernodle have been seen at a fraternity get together. Two surviving roommates had additionally gone out in Moscow that night time, however returned to the home by 1 a.m., police mentioned, noting they didn’t get up till later that morning. Investigators don’t consider they have been concerned within the deaths.

By 2 a.m., all 4 victims had returned to the house, in accordance with police. Detectives earlier mentioned Goncalves and Mogen returned to the house by 1:45 a.m., however they up to date the timeline final week, saying digital proof confirmed the pair returned at 1:56 a.m. after visiting a meals truck and being pushed dwelling by a “personal get together.”

The subsequent morning, the 2 surviving roommates within the dwelling “summoned pals to the residence as a result of they believed one of many second-floor victims had handed out and was not waking up,” police mentioned in a launch. Anyone referred to as 911 from the home at 11:58 a.m. utilizing one of many surviving roommates’ telephones.

“The decision reported an unconscious individual,” Moscow Police Capt. Roger Lanier mentioned final week. “Throughout that decision, the dispatcher spoke to a number of individuals who have been on scene.”

When police arrived, they discovered two victims on the second flooring and two victims on the third flooring. There was no signal of compelled entry or harm, police mentioned.

The victims have been probably asleep when the assaults started, in accordance with the Latah County coroner. Every sufferer was stabbed a number of occasions, the coroner mentioned, and a few had defensive wounds.

Intensive proof has been collected over the course of the investigation, together with 113 piece of bodily proof, about 4,000 images of the crime scene and a number of other 3-D scans of the house, Moscow police mentioned on Thursday.

Detectives have obtained testing and evaluation of the crime scene proof from Idaho State Police Forensic Providers, and they’re going to proceed to obtain the outcomes of extra assessments, in accordance with police.

“To guard the investigation’s integrity, particular outcomes won’t be launched,” police mentioned.

Detectives additionally collected the contents of three dumpsters on the road the place the home is situated and seized 5 close by automobiles to be processed for proof, in accordance with police.

In an effort to find the weapon – believed to be a fixed-blade knife – detectives contacted native companies to see if an identical knife had been bought not too long ago.

Investigators are additionally counting on a trove of public suggestions, images and movies of the night time the scholars died, together with greater than 260 digital media submissions that folks have submitted by way of an FBI type, police mentioned. Authorities have processed greater than 1,000 suggestions and performed a minimum of 150 interviews in an effort to advance the case.

However even with the piles of proof at their fingertips, authorities are asking for the general public to submit any surveillance video or recommendations on uncommon conduct within the related areas, even when it seems there isn’t a motion or content material in them.

Within the absence of great advances within the case, rumors have spun across the case relating to the victims, potential suspects and weird happenings within the space. Police have tried to tamp down on misinformation by addressing just a few of the problems straight.

Investigators say they consider the next folks weren’t concerned within the killings:

Police additionally dismissed on-line experiences that the victims have been tied and gagged as inaccurate.