Photo: @xanakernodle/Instagram
One of the four students killed in an incident near the University of Idaho campus attempted to fight off her attacker, according to her father.
The autopsy of Xana Kernodle, who was killed in the slaughtering along with her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin and two roommates, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, shows that she fought off her killer as long as she could, her father, Jeffrey Kernodle, told CBS Arizona.
“Bruises, torn by the knife. She’s a tough kid. Whatever she wanted to do, she could do it,” Kernodle said.
Jeffrey Kernodle said he last heard from his daughter around midnight and said "she was fine" at the time.
Police said the four students were killed at a residence near the University of Idaho campus just after 1:45 a.m. on Sunday (November 13).
Chapin and Kernodle had attended a party on campus and Mogen and Goncalves were at a bar Saturday (November 12) night before all returned home sometime after 1:45 a.m. on Sunday. Moscow Police received a report of an unconscious person at the home at around noon.
All four of the victims were found dead from stab wounds and there was no reported evidence of forced entry at the residence. Two uninjured roommates were reported to be at the home during the killings but police have not said whether they are considered suspects.
On Wednesday (November 16), Moscow Police walked back their "no threat" claim as the suspect remained at large.
"We do not have a suspect at this time, and that individual is still out there," said Moscow Police Chief James Fry via NBC News on Wednesday (November 16). "We cannot say there is no threat to the community."
Moscow Police have yet to identify a suspect or find a weapon used during the killings, according to Fry.
"We are looking at everyone," Idaho State Police Col. Kedrick Willis said via NBC News. "Every tip we get, every we lead we get — there is no one we’re not going to talk to. There is no one we’re not going to interview."
"Currently we have 25-plus investigators working this case," Fry said, acknowledging that the FBI and state police were assisting in the investigation. "We are reviewing video that has been collected, and we are asking that citizens contact us with any information you may that will help in this investigation."