Car Led Investigators to Idaho Slayings Suspect

Law enforcement officials said Friday that investigators of the slayings of four University of Idaho students began concentrating on Bryan Kohberger after connecting him to a Hyundai Elantra spotted in the area at the time of the killings. Once they learned he had left Idaho for Pennsylvania, an FBI team was dispatched from Philadelphia to watch him, CNN reports. Kohberger, 28, was arrested there Friday. Authorities are seeking his extradition on four counts of first-degree murder and felony burglary charges, prosecutor Bill Thompson said in a news conference Friday afternoon in Idaho. An extradition hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

Investigators believe the suspect broke into the students' house "with the intent to commit murder," Thompson said, per the AP. The knife used to kill the students has not been found, Moscow's police chief said. James Fry would not say at the press conference whether Kohberger knew the victims. Autopsies indicated that Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapinall probably were asleep when they were stabbed. "This is not the end of the investigation. In fact, this is a new beginning," Thompson said, per the Washington Post.

Fry said, per the New York Times: "These murders have shaken our community, and no arrest will ever bring back these young students. However, we do believe justice will be found through the criminal process." Police said they've received about 20,000 tips from the public during the investigation but want more to build a thorough understanding of what happened. Though a suspect is in custody, Fry said, "we still do need to be vigilant, right?" (More Idaho stories.)