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Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Authorities investigating the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students are warning there may be a threat to the community following days of stating there was no immediate danger to the public. Moscow, Idaho Police Chief James Fry told reporters during a Wednesday press conference that while investigators believe the attack to have been isolated, they have not identified a suspect and the killer is still at large.
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"We cannot say that there's no threat to the community," he said, telling the 25,850 residents of Moscow, located on the Idaho-Washington border, to "please stay vigilant, report any suspicious activity and be aware of your surroundings at all times."
The warning is a change from the department's previous statements that the attack presents no imminent threat to the larger community, including in a press release issued Tuesday.
Pressed about the change in stance, Fry said there is a possible threat to the public, as "the reality is there is still someone out there who committed four horrible, horrible crimes."
The victims have been identified by the university as students Ethan Chapin, a 20-year-old freshman from Mount Vernon, Wash.; Xana Kernodle, a 20-year-old junior from Post Falls, Idaho; Madison Mogen, a 21-year-old senior from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; and Keylee Goncalves, a 21-year-old senior from Rathdrum, Idaho.
Authorities have said that the four were killed at an off-campus King Road residence early Sunday. Police found the bodies that afternoon after responding to a 911 call concerning "an unconscious individual" at the residence.
On Tuesday, investigators said that they believe the victims were stabbed to death, though no weapon has been recovered.
On Wednesday, Fry revealed that there were two other people at the residence when the murders occurred.
"There was other people home at that time," he said. "But we're not focusing just on them, we're focusing on everybody that may be coming and going from that residence."
When asked if these individuals were either injured or involved in a hostage situation during the crime, Fry said no.
He was also quick to state that they were not necessarily witnesses to the crime. Asked if they were who called police the next day, Fry said he wasn't going to divulge that information as it may compromise their investigation.
"We don't know why that call came in at noon and not in the middle of the night," he said. "Would we have loved for that to have happened? Yes, but that's not how it took place."
He said police have learned that Chapin and Kernodle had been at a party while Mogen and Goncalves had been at a bar, with all four arriving home about 1:45 a.m. Sunday.
There was no evidence of forced entry and nothing appears to have been stolen from the residence, he said, adding more than 25 investigators are working the case with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and state police.
Autopsies were being performed Wednesday to collect evidence and to determine if all four were killed with the same weapon, he said.
What they don't know, he added, is the identify of the suspect, their location, the location of the knife used or any clothing the suspect may have been wearing at the time of the murders.
"We are reviewing video that has been collected, but we are asking citizens to contact us with any information you may have that will help in this investigation," he said.
An emotional University of Idaho President Scott Green described the four slain students as "bright lights of the community."
"The crime and the loss of these young lives is just simply beyond comprehension," he said. "While our small community is certainly not immune to such things, it is not a situation our close-knit campus is used to dealing with."
