Eagle-eyed online observers noticed a detail that authorities may have missed in previously dismissed bodycam video, showing cops stopping suspected underage drinkers on the morning of the Idaho student murders.
Multiple shadowy figures can be seen walking in the background of the footage, which was shot at around 3 a.m. on November 13, merely a 10th of a mile from the home where four University of Idaho students were murdered.
The students who were stopped by the officers were uninvolved in the crime, and investigators have said that the footage was of no evidentiary value to investigators, police have said.
Online sleuths, however, have noticed several people walking in the vicinity of two houses down from the off-campus home where Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Ethan Chapin, 20; and his girlfriend Xana Kernodle, 20, were stabbed to death between 3 and 4 a.m. The bodycam clip is stamped at 3:12 a.m.
Local law enforcement and the FBI did not confirm if they had identified or interviewed the people captured walking in the videos, Fox News said. The news outlet made several inquiries about the images, but did not receive a response.
“During the timeframe of the murders, there were people in the general vicinity,” said crime vlogger Olivia Vitale, a popular TikToker. “Between the people with law enforcement and the people in the background of the bodycam footage, that is about half a dozen people. The importance is they may have witnessed something unbeknownst to them.”
Pat Diaz, a former Miami-Dade homicide detective-turned-private investigator, agreed with the online sleuths.
“If they haven’t yet, they need to locate them ASAP. That is a great lead. Someone knows something,” Diaz said.
Joseph Giacalone, a professor at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a retired NYPD sergeant, said that investigators should use cell tower data to track phones that were in the area at the time.
“They can see what phone numbers are attached to a specific cell site,” Giacalone told the outlet. “Since we know there are two cops standing there who probably have cell phones, they can narrow down other people within that general vicinity.”
Moscow police spokesman Robbie Johnson was asked by Fox if any search warrants had been served outside of the home or if there are unnamed persons of interest, for which she stated, “That is not information that is being released at this time.”
On Monday, police Capt. Roger Lanier said investigators were sifting through “hours and hours and hours” of video.
“Those videos are from all over town, gas stations and specifically the area around King Road. It does take a lot of time,” he said. “We have literally an army of analysts who have been sorting through videos that have been submitted through the FBI.gov Moscow upload site.”
