Idaho student murders: Police say Hyundai Elantra found in Oregon unrelated to case

More than a month after the slaying of four University of Idaho students as they slept in their beds by an unknown assailant, police are still looking for answers.

Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were found dead with multiple stab wounds the morning of Nov. 13.

Police still have not located or named a suspect, nor have they found the murder weapon, believed to be a fixed-blade knife.

Moscow Police Chief James Fry has said detectives are looking for a 2011-2013 white Hyundai Elantra, which police have said they believe was in the “immediate area” of the students’ residence during the early morning hours of Nov. 13.

Police believe the person or people inside of the vehicle may have “critical information to share regarding this case.”

After a similar car was seen in Eugene, Oregon, local police investigated but found it wasn't the one from the crime scene.

"Investigators are aware of a Hyundai Elantra located in Eugene, Oregon and have spoken with the owner. The vehicle was involved in a collision and subsequently impounded," Moscow PD said in an update the evening of Dec. 20. "The vehicle is registered out of Colorado and the female owner is not believed to have any relation to any property in Moscow, Idaho or the ongoing murder investigations."

In a press release sent out earlier in the day on Dec. 20, Moscow Police Department had said they are "aware of a Hyundai Elantra located in Eugene, Oregon" and working with local police to "determine if the vehicle is related to our case."

In an email to NBC News, a spokesperson for the Eugene Police Department confirmed a Hyundai Elantra was located in the Oregon city about 500 miles southwest of Moscow, Idaho.

"At 5:19 a.m. on Dec. 17, a person was reported sleeping inside a vehicle. It was a Hyundai Elantra," a police spokesperson said in an email on Dec. 20. They added that officers responded to the call and made contact but "there was no further report."

"We have no information to indicate the vehicle is related to the Moscow, Idaho, case," the email continued. "However, they were sent the vehicle information so they have it to review."

In a recorded video shared on Dec. 20, Fry said they're still working through thousands of phone and digital tips.

"All of this helps build the picture that we’re trying to put together here to solve this case," he said. "What we want you to know is we appreciate all your help."

The update comes as the families and friends of the slain students are questioning the investigation and worry the case has gone cold.

A lawyer representing the family of Goncalves, one of the four slain students, questioned if local police are equipped to solve the quadruple homicide in an interview with TODAY that aired on Dec. 19.

Shanon Gray said that the Goncalves family is far from satisfied — and extremely frustrated — with authorities’ lack of answers regarding the Nov. 13 stabbings.

“We want to let them know that we were holding them accountable for their decisions,” Gray told TODAY. “And if they are in over their heads, then acknowledge that and turn the investigation over to someone who is more versed in handling these types of matters.”

Kristi Goncalves, the mother of Kaylee Goncalves, also told TODAY that she had first learned of the search for the Hyundai vehicle at the same time as everyone else.

“My first thought just started being like, how long have they had this information? Where do they get this information? Was it on a camera?” she recalled, adding that while she'd initially been happy to hear the update, she was later confused. Her initial burst of happiness gave way to confusion. “The United States just found out the same time I did.”

The investigation into the stabbings of the four students has been fraught since the morning their bodies were discovered.

Police initially said they believed the slayings were "targeted" and "isolated," then walked back those claims. Later, they'd reverse course again, saying they didn't believe the public to be in danger.

The case has become the subject of true crime viewers around the world and in Moscow, where police have had to continually issue "rumor control" statements debunking theories that capture the attention of the public.

Police have also had to issue statements ruling out people as suspects, like a man who drove two of the victims home from a bar the morning of their deaths and the two roommates who discovered the deceased.

EDITOR'S NOTE (Dec. 20, 2022 at 8:30 p.m. ET): This story has been updated to reflect Moscow Police Department's later statement that the vehicle located in Eugene, Oregon, was not related to the Moscow, Idaho case.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com