In the quiet, early morning hours of November 13, 2022, Xana Kernodle was still alive—awake, scrolling on her phone, and eating a late-night meal she had just picked up from the front door of her Moscow, Idaho home. What she did not know was that, at nearly the same moment, Bryan Kohberger was entering the house, setting in motion one of the most chilling mass murders in modern American true-crime history.
Newly released crime scene photos—part of more than 350 images disclosed by Idaho State Police and obtained by PEOPLE—offer a devastating glimpse into Xana’s final moments. They don’t show blood. They don’t show bodies. Instead, they show something far more unsettling: normalcy abruptly interrupted.
On a cluttered kitchen table sits a Jack-in-the-Box bag, its large sticker still intact:
“Order prepared for: Xana.”
Nearby are discarded food wrappers, an open jug of orange juice, red Solo cups stacked haphazardly, and—on the opposite counter—a half-eaten order of french fries. Investigators believe this was the exact spot where Xana was eating when she realized something was wrong.
At 3:59 a.m., a DoorDash driver dropped Xana’s order outside the front door. Investigators believe she retrieved it shortly afterward and brought it into the kitchen. Digital records show she remained active on her phone, scrolling through TikTok until approximately 4:12 a.m. She was awake. She was alert. She was alive.
At 4:06 a.m., surveillance footage captured Bryan Kohberger parking his car in a small lot overlooking the house.
Somewhere in that narrow window—just minutes long—investigators believe Kohberger entered the home. How he got in, and exactly where Xana was at that moment, remains one of the case’s most disturbing unanswered questions.
According to Idaho State Police Lt. Darren Gilbertson, investigators believe Xana likely heard a commotion upstairs while eating her food—possibly the brutal murders of Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21, who were being attacked in Mogen’s third-floor bedroom.
Concerned, confused, or alarmed, Xana left her food behind.
She went upstairs to see what was happening.
Investigators believe this is when Xana came face-to-face with Kohberger—possibly inside or near her roommate’s bedroom. Realizing the danger, she turned and ran, fleeing back down the stairs toward her own room.
During that pursuit, investigators believe he dropped his knife sheath, later found at the scene—one of the most critical pieces of physical evidence in the case.
A surviving roommate, Dylan Mortensen, later told police she heard someone say words that still send chills through anyone who reads the court documents:
“It’s okay, I’m here to help you.”
Investigators believe those words may have been spoken by Kohberger.
Xana almost made it.
Blood spatter evidence suggests Kohberger caught up with her just as she reached the doorway of her bedroom. It was there that the attack began. Xana was stabbed more than 50 times in a violent struggle that unfolded in seconds.
Inside the bedroom was her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, who had been asleep. He, too, was murdered. Investigators believe the severity of his injuries would have left him unable to help Xana.
At 4:17 a.m., a security camera approximately 50 feet from the house recorded the sound of whimpering, followed by a loud thud—a moment prosecutors believe corresponds with the final stages of the attack.
Just three minutes later, at 4:20 a.m., Kohberger’s car was captured on camera speeding away from the neighborhood at a high rate of speed.
The new images released do not show the victims or their bedrooms. Instead, they show what was left behind: a meal never finished, a kitchen frozen in the middle of an ordinary night, and silent proof that Xana Kernodle was awake, aware, and desperately trying to understand what was happening inside her home.
What remains unresolved is perhaps the most haunting detail of all:
Did Xana cross paths with the killer earlier than investigators believe?
Was she already moving through the house when he entered?
Or did those two unknowingly share the same space—just feet apart—before either realized the nightmare unfolding?
For investigators, those missing minutes may hold the final answers.
For the public, the images serve as a chilling reminder of how quickly life can shatter.
A DoorDash bag.
Cold fries on a counter.
And a young woman who never got to finish her last meal.
