Police investigating the murders of four University of Idaho students have acknowledged rampant rumours around a man who was seen near two of the victims at a food truck hours before they were killed.
The man dubbed “hoodie guy” in online sleuth communities - who police previously said is not considered connected to the 13 November killings - became the target of renewed speculation this week after the father of slain student Kaylee Goncalves mentioned rumours around him in an interview with The New York Post on Monday.
A Twitch livestream from the Grub Truck in Moscow, Idaho, captured the man standing nearby Goncalves and Madison Mogen on the night of 12 November, hours before the women were stabbed to death along with their roommate Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin at an off-campus home.
While the man was cleared by Moscow police shortly after the video emerged, Goncalves’ father Steve Goncalves suggested that police may have ruled him out too quickly in his interview with the Post, claiming that he’d heard the man had since left the country and declined a DNA test.
On Wednesday, Idaho State Police spokesperson Aaron Snell told The Independent that investigators are “aware of the rumours”, but did not confirm or deny them.
“The person in question continues cooperating with the investigation,” Mr Snell added.
Mr Snell’s statement to The Independent came after Moscow Police Chief James Fry that individuals who have already been publicly cleared as suspects may be reinterviewed by law enforcement as the investigation rumbles on for a fourth week and the killer remains at large.
Mr Fry told Fox News on Tuesday that “cleared” individuals could still be called back in to speak with police if the evidence leads law enforcement back to them.
“We always have the option of reinterviewing,” he said.
“We’ve actually reinterviewed people two or three times because we’ll get tips, or we’ll get information that we need to verify again, and sometimes we need to ask the questions just a little bit different to ensure that we’re getting the proper information to continue on with this investigation. So, that happens regularly in all investigations.”
Among the other individuals cleared out by police are two surviving housemates who were in the home at the time of the killings and the other friends who were in the home when the 911 call was made are not considered suspects.
The private party who then gave the pair a ride home from the truck and Goncalves’ former long-term boyfriend, with whom she shared a dog, were also ruled out as suspects.
The Moscow Police Department has repeatedly urged people not to engage with unbridled speculation online, and to only trust updates and information released by authorities.
“We firmly believe speculation and unvetted information is a disservice to the victims, their families, and our community. The Moscow Police Department is committed to providing information whenever possible but not at the expense of compromising the investigation and prosecution,” the department said in a statement earlier this week.
In another statement on Monday, the department confirmed investigators are aware of an “isolated” incident involving Goncalves and two men back in October. The men, who allegedly followed Goncalves into a business and as she returned to her car, are not believed to be involved in the murder, Moscow Police said.
Tensions between investigators and the victims’ families have continued to mount over the past week as official updates become more and more sparse.
Speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, Mr Goncalves revealed that he is now considering hiring a lawyer to try to force police to release information about the case.
The grieving father said he has consulted with several attorneys about what legal avenues could be used to challenge what he feels is a lack of transparency from police, as he accused officials of “messing up a million times” during the ongoing probe.
“There are things that we can request and things we can do to get to the truth faster,” said Mr Goncalves.
“You have to fill out forms to get this evidence released to you. I don’t know how to do that.”
He added: “They’ve messed up a million times. But I don’t get to say that because what experience does Steve have? He doesn’t know.
“He’s just a dad who woke up one day and had his life turned upside down.”
In his own interview with the network on Tuesday, Chief Fry broke down in tears as he vowed that the case is “not going cold” and continued to insist that “no stone will go unturned” until the killer is caught.
“This case is not going cold. We have tips coming in, we have investigators out every day interviewing people. We’re still reviewing evidence, we’re still looking at all aspects of this,” he said.
“I said early on that no stone will go unturned, and I mean that. We are going to continue. This case is not going cold.”
Choking up with emotion, he added: “I’m a dad with daughters, and it’s tough. We’re human.
“We don’t go to these and just turn it off. It affects us. But we have a job to do, and we’re going to continue to do that job, going to continue to push forward.”
