MOSCOW, Idaho – Authorities have a suspect in custody in the Nov. 13 murders of four University of Idaho students, a high-ranking law enforcement source told Fox News Digital.
A man in his mid 20s was taken into custody by local police and the FBI at 3 a.m. in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the law enforcement source said Friday.
The suspect is a college student but does not attend the University of Idaho, the source added.
He appeared in court this morning in connection to the slayings of Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21, who were stabbed to death in a rental home just yards from campus, according to the source.
A press conference is scheduled in Moscow, Idaho, at 1 p.m. to announce the major break in the case.
UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO MURDERS TIMELINE: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE SLAUGHTER OF FOUR STUDENTS
The mysterious killings initially baffled investigators and left the small college town of 25,000 deeply shaken.
The four students were each stabbed multiple times in the torso and were likely ambushed in their sleep with a large fix-bladed knife between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., according to the coroner and police.
Two surviving female roommates, who lived on the basement level, appeared to have slept through the gruesome attack.
Shortly before noon, the roommates summoned friends to the house because they believed one of the victims on the second-floor had passed out, authorities said.
IDAHO MURDERS: INSIDE THE OFF-CAMPUS HOUSE WHERE 4 STUDENTS WERE KILLED
Police responded to a 911 call reporting an unconscious person at 11:58 a.m. that originated from one of the surviving roommates' phones. The responding officers found the four butchered victims on the second and third floors.
The Moscow Police Department released a detailed timeline of the victims' movements in the hours before and after the massacre.
Goncalves and Mogen went to a bar downtown, the Corner Club, before ordering food from the Grub Truck at around 1:40 a.m.
SLAIN UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO VICTIM'S PARENTS FRUSTRATED BY ‘LACK OF INFORMATION’ FROM POLICE, SCHOOL
The women used a "third-party" driver and were home by 1:56 a.m., according to police.
Kernodle and her boyfriend, Chapin, went to a party at the Sigma Chi house on campus and returned to the King Road home at 1:45 a.m.
The Moscow Police Department, which is working with the FBI and the Idaho State Police, has said that the attacks were "targeted."
Investigators have focused on tracking down the occupants of a 2011 to 2013 white Hyundai Elantra that was spotted near the home at the time of the murders.
Chapin was a freshman from Mount Vernon, Washington, and a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He was studying recreation, sport and tourism management, according to the school.
UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO MURDERS: TWO ROOMMATES WERE AT HOME WHEN FOUR STUDENTS WERE KILLED
Chapin's girlfriend, Kernodle, who was from Avondale, Arizona, was a junior majoring in marketing and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority.
Mogen was a senior from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, studying marketing and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority, according to the university.
Goncalves, who was from Rathdrum, Idaho, was a senior majoring in general studies and a member of the Alpha Phi sorority.
She had been set to graduate early in December and planned to move to Austin, Texas, where she had a marketing job lined up. She was also looking forward to an upcoming trip to Europe.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident to call 208-883-7180 or tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.
