Roommates Of Murdered Idaho Students Speak Out During Memorial Service

Real Life Ministries hosted a live-streamed memorial on Friday, in which a pastor identified the pair by name for the first time, before reading messages the duo released for the occasion. The two were IDed as Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke.

According to police both Mortensen and Funke were home when their roommates, Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were killed. Authorities previously said the two were not injured or held hostage and were being cooperative with the investigation. They do not believe the roommates are involved in the crime.

The pastor first read a letter from Mortensen, who said Xana and Ethan — who were dating at the time they were killed — were “two best friends” and a “perfect pair” who had “this unstoppable, loving relationship.”

“They both would look at each other with so much love. Everyone knew they were the perfect duo. They both had this fun, passionate, crazy, but good energy,” wrote Dylan. “They both were the kind of people who cared about anyone and would help anyone.”

She said that Xana was not only “the life of the party,” but also someone who “was strong, intelligent, hard-working and a beautiful person.” Mortensen said Kernodle was also a “big people person” who could “make a conversation with everyone,” adding that, “Everyone that got the chance to know her loved her. I was and am so lucky to have experienced a life with her as her being one of my closest friends.”

While Mortensen admitted she didn’t know Ethan as well, she said he “was so sweet and so loving to Xana,” saying he treated her “like his whole world.” She said he was like “an older brother” to her and, like his girlfriend, “cared” about everyone. “I know somewhere Xana and Ethan are together, keeping each other company, watching us and telling us it’s okay we have each other,” she added.

Mortensen went on to call Mogen and Goncalves, who, by all accounts, were the best of friends, an “inseparable duo” who were also “like second moms to me.”

“They taught me a lot on how to be a responsible adult, but also how to live life happy. They changed the way I look at life and how to enjoy life to the fullest,” she wrote. Dylan said Maddie never had a “negative thought in her mind,” calling her a “happy-go-lucky kind of girl who lived life to the fullest” and “was so compassionate for everyone and wanted everyone to be happy.”

Funke, meanwhile, reportedly said the four were “all gifts to this world in your own special way, and it just won’t be the same without you,” before praising Chapin’s “brightest most fun personality” and Kernodle’s ability to be “loving, fun, energetic, funny, compassionate.” She added that the pair’s relationship “made people believe in true love.”

She also called Goncalves “sweet and giving,” determined and funny and said Mogen gave her some of the best advice.

On Friday, the Moscow Police Department issued an update saying they have poured over 2,645 emails, 2,770 phone calls and 1,084 FBI tips relating to the case — as well as collected 4,000 crime scene photos and 113 pieces of physical evidence.

“At this time, no suspect has been identified and only vetted information that does not hinder the investigation will be released to the public,” they added.

Police believe the two surviving roommates returned home by 1am the morning of the murders, November 13, and “did not wake up until later that morning.”

“On November 13th, the surviving roommates summoned friends to the residence because they believed one of the second-floor victims had passed out and was not waking up,” they added, saying a 911 for an unconscious person came shortly after from one of the surviving roommates’ cell phones. When police arrived, they found the four victims, deceased.

Their cause of death was later established as homicide by stabbing, with the coroner stating the four victims were likely asleep when they were attacked — though some had defensive wounds as well.

No murder weapon has been located.