Untangling the Investigation Into the Idaho College Student Slayings

How are authorities combating misinformation about the Idaho college killings?

Since day one, authorities have been under pressure to provide real-time updates, let alone solve the case.

The day after the bodies were found, Moscow Mayor Art Bettge told reporters that “most any scenario” was possible, including a burglary “gone wrong” or a “crime of passion.” That being said, he noted, “patience is needed to allow an investigation to proceed in meticulous fashion.”

On Nov. 15, Moscow Police said they had shared “every piece” of information they could without compromising their ongoing investigation. But that inevitably didn’t do much to assuage the victims’ families.

“There is a lack of information from the University of Idaho and the local police, which only fuels false rumors and innuendo in the press and social media,” Ethan’s father Jim Chapin said in a statement to NBC News. “The silence further compounds our family’s agony after our son’s murder. For Ethan and his three dear friends slain in Moscow, Idaho, and all of our families, I urge officials to speak the truth, share what they know, find the assailant, and protect the greater community.”