Moscow, Idaho, police confirmed Tuesday that they are investigating an abandoned white Hyundai found in Eugene, Oregon, in connection to the murder of four University of Idaho students.
“We are definitely aware of the vehicle and investigators are currently working on it,” Moscow Police Department spokeswoman Robbie Johnson told Fox News Digital.
The Eugene Police Department confirmed that they sent Moscow police information on the damaged Hyundai found at West 7th Place and Seneca Road.
“We have no information to indicate it is related to the Moscow, Idaho, case,” a spokesperson for Eugene police said. “However, they were sent the vehicle information so they have it to review.”
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Police have received a large number of tips regarding a white Hyundai Elantra they believe may be related to a Nov. 13 quadruple homicide near the University of Idaho campus.
(Moscow Police Department)
Moscow is about 450 miles from Eugene, which is home to the University of Oregon.
Moscow, Idaho, police have focused on tracking down a 2011 to 2013 Hyundai Elantra that was in the “immediate area” of the crime scene when four University of Idaho students were murdered last month.
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Authorities released a stock photo of the car on Dec. 7 and urged the public to come forward with any tips that could lead them to the vehicle, saying that the occupant or occupants may have “critical information” about the slayings.
Police suspect a fixed-blade knife may have been used in the slayings of four University Idaho students, inset. Caution tape surrounds the house near campus where the students were slaughtered.
(Credit: Ka-Bar / Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Eugene police did not disclose whether the abandoned car is an Elantra produced between 2011 and 2013.
IDAHO POLICE SEARCH FOR WHITE HYUNDAI ELANTRA IN MOSCOW COLLEGE MURDER CASE
The car came on the radar of Oregon officials Dec. 17 at 5:19 a.m., when a person called 911 to report an individual sleeping inside the vehicle.
Officers responded and made contact with the occupant, but the spokeswoman had no further details on the interaction.
The victims of the Nov. 13 University of Idaho massacre.
(Instagram @xanakernodle / @maddiemogen / @kayleegoncalves)
Photos circulating online, which couldn’t immediately be verified by Fox News Digital, show a white Hyundai without plates and a damaged front bumper, parked across the street from a Panda Express.
Police have not publicly identified a suspect in the murders of Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, who were stabbed to death some time between 3 and 4 a.m. on Nov. 13.
The detail about the white Hyundai Elantra is the most significant piece of evidence that police have released.
A memorial for the slain students at the University of Idaho, Monday, Nov. 28, 2022, is covered in snow. The memorial is in honor of the victims of a quadruple homicide in an off-campus home on November 13.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Moscow police, with the help of the Idaho State Police and the FBI, are running down a list of 22,000 registered Hyundai Elantras that fit their search criteria, according to a press release issued last week.
“Even though there’s sometimes a fascination with the particular case, some people simply don’t see the news and may not know that we’re looking for it,” Moscow Police Capt. Roger Lanier said in a video posted to YouTube Thursday. “Maybe your neighbor has one in the garage that they don’t drive very often, and maybe there’s one that’s just not on the registration database: Let us know.”
There have been numerous sightings of white cars in surveillance footage in the small town of Moscow – including a sedan that passed a gas station at about 3:45 a.m. the morning of the killings.
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Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident to call 208-883-7180 or email tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.
Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
