FBI DENY team “lost” Idaho murder suspect on cross-country road trip to Pennsylvania

The FBI has denied losing the suspect in the Idaho murders on a cross-country trip to Pennsylvania.

Sources had told AirMail Howard Blumthat he is writing a true crime book about the gruesome murders, that the “prime suspect in a quadruple homicide that had shocked the nation had apparently been missing” for hours.

However, the FBI now denies losing Bryan Kohberger and said sources were feeding “false information” to the media.

“The FBI is aware of reports detailing alleged FBI surveillance of Idaho murder subject Bryan Kohberger,” the FBI told DailyMail.com in a statement on Thursday.

‘There are anonymous sources that provide false information to the media. The publication of false information attributable to anonymous sources is not helpful to the case against Kohberger or to the American public.”

Authorities planned to keep a close eye on the 28-year-old criminology student as he and his father traveled more than 2,500 miles back to Pennsylvania for the holidays.

Kohberger and his father, Michael, left Pullman, Washington, where he was studying at Washington State University, but the FBI lost them almost immediately.

The couple had just left the parking lot of his grad residence before he disappeared from police sight, before they were stopped twice as he made his way back to the family home, according to Blum.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that Kohberger was pulled over by a deputy around 10:41 a.m. on December 15.

Kohberger was pulled over twice in nine minutes while driving on I-70 in December, looking more concerned the second time.

After that, Blum claimed that Kohberger and her father “disappeared” for 15 hours.

Blum’s sources claimed that law enforcement became aware of the potentially disastrous slip-up “with a bit of embarrassment.”

Blum added: “It would be a disaster, not only professionally, but also for his own peace of mind.”

It also meant that the white Hyundai Elantra that officers painstakingly tracked down and linked to the murders in the first place was also missing.

Kohberger also reportedly took a “roundabout route home” with Michael telling a friend that it was one that “made little sense.”

This FBI surveillance quickly went from “panic to desperation” according to Blum, who added that he was only picked up again after an automatic license plate reader picked up his car in Colorado.

Kohberger and his vehicle were identified 900 miles after police initially lost them, about 15 hours after they left, according to Blum’s sources.

Two Indiana police stops also left the FBI “frustrated and angry,” insisting that lead investigators did not order them to stop him.

They feared that Kohberger might flee or be arrested too soon if the appeals car was recognized by local police.

Both times, however, the suspected killer was released, allowing officers to follow the car back into the Pocono Mountains.

Later, a SWAT team swept the property, arrested Kohberger, and searched the home for evidence.

Those who were tracking him were also tasked with tracking down Kohberger so they could arrest him as soon as a warrant was issued, as well as trying to seize an object to compare DNA with a sample found at the scene.

Police saw the suspect multiple times outside his parents’ $250,000 Pennsylvania home wearing surgical gloves.

Kohberger was also seen cleaning the interior and exterior of his car, with a source adding that he didn’t “lost an inch.”

And he was reportedly seen taking the trash out to his neighbors’ bins around 4 am; officers recovered the contents.

Officers responding to the scene of the gory crime on November 13 quickly discovered a K-Bar knife sheath next to the bodies of Maddie Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.

The unsealed court documents show the painstaking work done by officers, who matched the DNA found in the pod to that of Kohberger by comparing it to his father’s DNA, which he matched 99.9998 percent and identified through a genetic genealogy website.

He has been charged with the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on November 13.

Court documents recently revealed that police discovered the “blood”-covered pillow in Kohberger’s Washington apartment.

A new search warrant, made public on January 17, shows that police found several strands of hair, including one suspected to be from an animal, a black glove, a computer tower, and an unnamed object with a collection of “dark red spots”.

They also took a pillow with a ‘reddish/brown stain’ and the top and bottom of a mattress cover with ‘multiple stains’.

Investigators who raided the property in December also collected receipts from Walmart and two receipts from Marshall, as well as the contents of his vacuum cleaner.

Authorities initially sealed the search warrant for the murder suspect’s Washington home, arguing that disclosure of the details could end the investigation “prematurely.”

However, the document has since been unsealed with the approval of Whitman County Attorney Denis Tracy, who filed the motion on January 17.

Court documents show that eight strands of hair were recovered from the apartment, as well as a “possible” animal hair.

They also recovered a Fire TV device during their search. All items are now stored at the Washington State University Police Department.

Authorities reportedly said they wanted to see if any hair had been “transferred” to Kohberger and then back to her apartment, including from Kaylee Goncalves’ dog, Murphy.

Murphy was found alive in Kaylee’s bedroom by investigators who were called to the scene and has now been returned to her ex-boyfriend.

The request also indicated that the house where the students were killed had a significant amount of blood from the victims, including “spatters and discarded blood.”

Investigators believe the killer likely had evidence of blood on his body or clothing, and hoped to find trace evidence in Kohberger’s apartment.

However, they did not describe the results of any of the tests in the documents and did not confirm whether the hairs found matched those of the victims or Kaylee’s dog.

They also searched his offices at Washington State University, but officers did not seize anything.