Recently disclosed internal emails from Washington State University have shed light on how campus police identified Bryan Kohberger’s vehicle weeks before he was identified as a suspect in the fatal stabbing of four Idaho college students.
In a communiqué addressed to the Washington State University Police Department staff, the former chief, Gary Jenkins, detailed the efforts of Officer Daniel Tiengo and Sergeant Curtis James Whitman. They successfully located Kohberger’s white 2015 Hyundai Elantra just 16 hours after receiving a tip about the suspect vehicle on November 28, 2022.
Kohberger was taken into custody on December 30, 2022, marking a significant development in the high-profile case.
In a January 5, 2023, email, Jenkins highlighted that the police had pinpointed the Hyundai Elantra even before the timeline laid out in the arrest warrant affidavit.
Madison Mogen, seen in her final Instagram post smiling from the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, appears alongside Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates. This snapshot was shared just a day before the tragic incident when the four students lost their lives.
Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (Facebook)
“Note that the timeline for locating the vehicle is not entirely correct in the affidavit. The affidavit indicates that area law enforcement agencies were asked to be on the lookout for the suspect vehicle on November 25 [2022] when, in fact, they did not ask for that until the morning of November 28 [2022],” he wrote.
The email was sent just after the arrest warrant affidavit was made publicly available on December 29, 2022. In those emails, he praised the two officers for their work in quickly identifying Kohberger’s car.
Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, listens during his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court, Monday, May 22, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (Zach Wilkinson/Moscow-Pullman Daily News)
“You are all probably aware that Kohberger’s arrest warrant affidavit was made available to the public today. “The affidavit describes the great work Officer Tiengo and Sergeant Whitman did in tracking down a possible suspect vehicle which was, as it turned out, the suspect vehicle.”
“We should now all look to embrace opportunities that reframe how others view WSU PD. The difficulties in the past will not define us. It is the great work of Tiengo and Whitman that puts WSU PD in a favorable light on a national stage,” Jenkins added.
The emails from Jenkins were made available on Thursday through a public records request to the university.
Timeline of Nov. 13, 2022:
- 4 a.m.: Suspect arrives at house
- Between 4 and 4:17: Time of murders
- 4:19: Roommate calls three victims; no one answers
- 4:22 to 4:24: Surviving roommates text each other from inside house
- 4:27: Roommate calls victims again; no one answers
- 4:32: Roommate texts Goncalves, “Pls answer”
- 10:23: Surviving roommate texts victims; no one answers
- 11:39: Roommate calls her father
- 12 p.m.: 911 call placed from roommate’s phone
Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing on July 23, 2025 in Boise, Idaho. Kohberger pleaded guilty in exchange for being spared the death penalty for the stabbing of four University of Idaho students nearly three years ago. (Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)
In a separate email dated Nov. 27, 2022, then-Moscow Police Department Lead Detective Corporal Brett Payne also released on Thursday, he urged local law enforcement agencies not to stop the white 2015 Hyundai Elantra under any circumstances.
“The vehicle in the flyer is of interest to MPD Investigations, however you must understand YOU ARE ORDERED NOT TO STOP, DETAIN, OR CONTACT THE DRIVER unless it is a life-or-death emergency,” Payne wrote.
The victims of Nov. 13 University of Idaho massacre, from left to right: Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen. (Instagram)
Kohberger pleaded guilty to the murders of Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves in a July 2, 2025 deal that took the death penalty off the table. The four University of Idaho students were found dead Nov. 13, 2022, at their house in Moscow, Idaho, located near campus.
In exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table, Kohberger will serve four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary.
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