Two surviving roommates, who Idaho authorities say were home when four college students were murdered last month in Moscow, have spoken out for the first time in letters read aloud during a vigil last week.
The letters, which were written by Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, were read aloud Friday by a pastor during a memorial service for the slain students Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, CNN and NBC News reported.
Friday marked the first time the identity of the two roommates, who Moscow police believe are not connected to the crime, was publically released, CBS News and CNN reported.
"I know it will be hard to not have the four of them in our lives, but I know Xana, Ethan, Maddie and Kaylee would want us to live life and be happy and they would want us to celebrate their lives," the pastor read in Mortensen’s letter, CNN and NBC News reported.
Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle, and Chapin were killed in the early hours of Nov. 13 when they were stabbed to death as they slept at an off-campus house, the news outlets reported. As the investigation continues into the unsolved case, police have not identified a suspect or a motive.
Police have also had to backtrack conflicting statements about whether or not the victims were targeted.