Amid the agony of losing three of her roommates in a tragic murder, University of Idaho student Dylan Mortensen has been seen for the first time since it was revealed she saw the killer at the scene.
Exclusive photos show the 19-year-old sophomore returning to her family’s home in Boise after a Sunday morning coffee run.
Dressed casually in shorts – despite the refreshing 44-degree weather – Mortensen had tied her blonde hair back for a quick trip to a Starbucks near her home. She also wore a navy blue fleece top.
Mortensen and Bethany Funke, also 19, both survived the Nov. 13 carnage but lost three of their housemates – Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20, in the vicious attack. Xana’s friend Ethan Chapin, 21, was also murdered.
spotted Dylan Mortensen, 19, at her family home in Boise, Idaho, on Sunday morning after a trip to Starbucks
The University of Idaho student wore a navy blue fleece and shorts – despite the 44-degree temperature – and had her hair tied back
This is the first time Mortensen has been seen since it was revealed she saw the killer at the scene
(LR) Mortensen is pictured with her slain roommate Xana Kernodle, survivor Bethany Funke and victims Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen
Last Thursday, a police affidavit released ahead of suspected killer Bryan Kohberger’s first court appearance in Moscow, Idaho, revealed that Mortensen had seen the killer – describing him as at least 5ft 10 tall and with a pair of ” bushy eyebrows”.
Kohberger, 28, a graduate student at Washington State University, was charged with the four murders and the burglary. Idaho is a death penalty state.
In the affidavit, police described how Mortensen froze in terror early on November 13 after discovering the killer after opening her bedroom door after hearing noises in the six-bedroom rental home.
She had opened the door twice already – once after hearing that Kaylee was someone in the house, and again after hearing a cry coming from Xana’s bedroom.
The teen told police she locked herself in her second-floor bedroom after encountering the killer, who was wearing a ski mask at the time but had not dialed 911.
Police were not called to the scene until 11:58 a.m. – seven and a half hours after the students died.
Funke is said to have overslept the attack in her bedroom on the ground floor.
According to the affidavit, Mortensen said she was woken up around 4 a.m. by what sounded like Goncalves was playing with her dog in a third-floor bedroom.
A short time later, she heard Goncalves say, “There’s someone here,” the haunting affidavit read. Mortensen looked out of her bedroom door but saw nothing.
As she opened the door a second time, she heard a male voice say something like, “It’s okay, I’ll help you.”
Mortensen was one of two housemates to survive the brutal Idaho murder case that claimed four of her friends. Police described how Mortensen froze in terror after discovering the killer – allegedly Bryan Kohberger, 28
An affidavit revealed that Mortensen had seen the killer on the night of the murders – he described him as being at least 5ft 10 tall and with “bushy eyebrows”.
(LR) Dylan Mortensen, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen (on Kaylee’s shoulders), Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Bethany Funke. Dylan and Bethany are the only ones who survived the murder
Investigators were pictured Friday removing one of the mattresses from the crime scene
The brutal killings occurred in the early morning of November 13th. It took investigators more than a month to arrest Kohberger
At 4:17 a.m., a neighbor’s security camera picked up audio “of what sounded like voices or a whimper, followed by a loud bang.” A dog barking can also be heard several times.”
Mortensen “said she opened her door for the third time after hearing the crying and seeing a figure dressed in black and wearing a mask covering the person’s mouth and nose approaching.”
Victim Kaylee Goncalves’ family has defended Mortensen’s actions.
Attorney Shanon Gray, representing the Goncalves family, said Mortensen was probably “scared to death” when she met the man and insisted she was “still a victim in this case”.
Police unseal an arrest affidavit that explains why they pointed the finger at Bryan Kohberger more than a month after four students were stabbed to death
“The fact that she was able to provide additional ID is an advantage in this case, I think,” Gray said. “She could kind of give the type and the physique and what [the suspect] looked like a bit – bushy eyebrows, things along those lines.
The Goncalveses are the last to defend Mortensen after the housemate of a woman who suffered a brutal attack in 1992 said she also had a delayed reaction during a similar scenario.
Alanna Zabel, 50, revealed the “uncanny similarities” to the attack she survived more than 30 years ago and told exclusively that living with “survivor’s guilt” has haunted her throughout her life.
She has slammed critics of Mortensen, saying people don’t know how they would react in a similar situation.
Zabel lived in a house with five sorority sisters off the University of Buffalo campus and said that she too had a delayed response and felt guilty that she had fallen asleep, despite hearing muffled heavy breathing in her roommate’s room and not until the next day called the police.
“Someone followed us and broke in one night when we were partying and drinking late,” she said. “They brutally beat and raped my roommate. I found her six hours later and she almost died.’
The family of victim Kaylee Goncalves exit Latah District Court in Moscow, Idaho, after Bryan Kohberger was formally charged last week. The Goncalves family have defended Mortensen’s actions
Zabel said she could understand she also had a delayed reaction as she pieced together the horrific 1992 attack.
Alanna Zabel, 50, found her college roommate near death in her bloodied room in 1992 and has defended the belated response of University of Idaho quadruple homicide survivor Dylan Mortensen
“For those coming down on the roommate who saw him in the house and didn’t call the police, I totally understand and I’m concerned that she didn’t,” she said.
“But I can also say that you don’t know how you react or would react in a similar situation until you are there.”
“I can only imagine the guilt this surviving roommate in Idaho must have felt. I also called 911 and reported an unconscious person because I didn’t understand the magnitude of what happened.
She went on to say that when you live in an environment like college, where it becomes normal to have strangers in your home, it’s hard to “fathom” a tragedy like this.
“You don’t want to believe it’s true. Being so young I can imagine she went into shock, it’s a true defense mechanism to survive,” she said.
“I pray for her healing and for all the families involved in this senseless tragedy. I ask people not to judge her, she will judge herself for the rest of her life.’