MOSCOW, Idaho – One thing is certain in the mysterious Nov. 13 murders of four Idaho college students: security cameras in the quaint town of Moscow are few and far between.
"The lack of videos is going to hinder [the investigation] to a certain extent, but police obviously have access to databases," Herman Weisberg, a private investigator and former New York City Police Department detective, told Fox News Digital. "It's going to be a needle in a haystack, as usual."
The victims — Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen — did not have security cameras at their off-campus house on King Road, though some neighbors have been able to provide footage to police officers showing when the four friends arrived home in the early morning hours of Nov. 13 before they were stabbed to death around 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., likely in their sleep.
Earlier this month, police announced that they are looking for a white, 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra that was spotted driving near the crime scene around the suspected time of the murders. Fox News Digital on Tuesday obtained a photo of security camera footage showing a white sedan driving by a nearby gas station at 3:45 a.m. on Nov. 13.
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Fox News Digital submitted public records requests for Idaho Department of Transportation (IDT) traffic webcams from the morning of Nov. 13, but the department only holds on to traffic footage for several days, according to an IDT employee. Therefore, the records request could not be completed.
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A website called Windy.com holds the same traffic footage for 30 days, but the website only shows one image per day going back that far. The website did not immediately respond to a message from Fox News Digital.
Additionally, Fox News Digital also asked dozens of businesses around the gas station for footage; most didn't have any cameras. A credit union building had footage of a major intersection but said it would need a subpoena to share it.
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"Unfortunately, some of the simplest and most valuable evidence and information isn't being captured because of the lack of Ring doorbells and cameras that are in operation," Weisberg said. "That would be a big advantage to investigators. Unfortunately, they don't have that. So, they have to move on to other resources."
The first step would be to see how many white, 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantras are registered in Moscow.
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If the area has main highways and paid tolls, police "have a record of who is entering and exiting, and they can take those license plates and hopefully break down by registration, the VIN, and then do a search and determine how many of those cars were there, and then come up with a long list," Weisberg said.
"If the car is registered [in Moscow], they've already done a search of some of those types of vehicles. And it's not so hard to do. They take all of the registrations and they take the VINs, and they can reverse-engineer the VINs to show which ones are Hyundai Elantras, 2011 to 2013. That's not hard to do at all," Weisberg explained. "So, you just start with that. The ones that are in close proximity — you take those VINs and figure out how many cars there are. Look at all of the registered owners. And therein begins to work. But then you have to go outside of that."
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"But therein lies the problem, and that's why this is taking so long for them to identify any kind of suspect vehicles," the retired detective said.
It has been more than a month since the four students were murdered in their home near campus. Police have not announced any suspects or a motive in the case.
Authorities are asking the public to call in tips at 208-883-7180, email tipline@ci.moscow.id.us or submit digital media here.
