Property management to begin cleanup of Moscow house where U of I students were killed

MOSCOW (Idaho Statesman) — Nearly seven weeks after four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in a house on King Road in Moscow, property managers will begin cleaning up at the scene.

The home, which police said remains an active crime scene, has been at the center of the investigation into the Nov. 13 quadruple homicide that took the lives of seniors Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; junior Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and freshman Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington.

Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle and two other U of I students had been renting the six-bedroom home since June. One other person was on the lease but was not living there, officials have said.

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The Moscow Police Department said it is working with Team Idaho Property Management Services to “begin remediation of the residence by a private company.”

“Starting Friday morning, we are going to be bringing in a professional cleaning crew to go to the residence and begin cleaning,” Moscow Police Chief James Fry said in a video statement on Thursday.

Merida McClanahan, supervisor at the property management company, told the Idaho Statesman on Thursday that the cleanup will involve removing both biohazardous materials and forensic chemicals used by law enforcement for evidence processing.

Both police and Team Idaho Property Management services said they did not know when cleanup will be finished.

The property owner “doesn’t have future plans at this time” for the three-story house, according to McClanahan. Since 2009, the home has been owned by a limited liability company out of Colorado named 1122 King LLC, according to deeds filed through the Latah County Assessor’s Office.

“They are unable to make a decision until after remediation services are complete,” McClanahan said. “They can begin going through the insurance process at that time.”

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POLICE INVESTIGATE NEW INFLUX OF TIPS

Fry said law enforcement has “received a lot more tips here recently.”

“We’re continuing to investigate those and follow up on those,” Fry said of the 19,650 leads.

The public has sent in more than 9,025 emailed tips, 4,575 phone tips and 6,050 digital media submissions, and police have conducted more than 300 interviews, according to the Moscow Police Department.

Those numbers are up from Dec. 20, when investigators said they had received 7,650 emailed tips, 4,313 phone tips and 4,583 digital media submissions — a total of 16,546 publicly submitted leads.

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Forensics evidence from the home continues to be processed at Idaho’s state lab in Meridian, Moscow Police Capt. Anthony Dahlinger told the Statesman by email Wednesday.

“We are receiving results of those processes as they are completed. We are not releasing what kind of evidence has been processed or is being processed,” Dahlinger said.

Also, police continue to seek information from the public about a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra they believe was near the home at the time of the killings. Investigators are making progress poring more than 22,000 vehicles to locate the right one.

“Investigators believe the occupant(s) may have critical information to share about this case,” police said.