Benjamin Mogen’s victim impact statement was one of the most heartbreaking moments to come out of the Idaho case. 💔 He described Maddie not only as his daughter, but as “the only great thing” he ever did in life. He talked about concerts they shared together, her love for Mac Miller, and the Father’s Day card she wrote him shortly before she was taken away forever. But the part that shattered people was when he admitted Maddie helped keep him alive during his darkest battles with addiction and depression. Knowing she was out there, living her life, gave him a reason to keep going. Now he’s left grieving the future they never got to have. “I just miss her so much and I love her more than anything.” No parent should ever have to stand in a courtroom and say those words. Read more:
University of Idaho murder victim’s dad says he has to ‘hope and trust’ police will crack the case
Credit: https://www.foxnews.com/us/university-idaho-murder-victims-father-hope-trust-police-crack-case
Idaho police have not identified a suspect or located a murder weapon in the quadruple homicide
Benjamin Mogen told Fox News ahead of a vigil for his daughter, one of four University of Idaho students murdered two weeks ago, that his daughter would always “make everybody smile.”
MOSCOW, Idaho – Benjamin Mogen, the father of University of Idaho murder victim Maddie Mogen, said law enforcement officials have been in touch with him every day about the attack on his daughter and three of her friends, but things have not gotten easier to process in the two-and-a-half weeks since his daughter was killed.
“Every time I wake up, I remember what’s going on. I don’t know how you ever get used to this,” Mogen told Fox News on Wednesday in Moscow, Idaho, ahead of a vigil for the victims.
“I just have to hope and trust that they’re doing as good of a job as anyone could do on this. I’ve never been through anything like this… It seems like they should have figured it out by now, but I don’t know.”
One of Madison Mogen’s senior pictures. (Jessie Frost Photography)
Benjamin Mogen said he wants people to know how much his daughter “loved her friends and her family and how much we loved her.” (Fox News)
Maddie Mogen, a 21-year-old originally from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was stabbed to death at her off-campus residence between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. on Nov. 13.
Two of her roommates, 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves and 20-year-old Xana Kernodle, were also murdered, along with Kernodle’s boyfriend, 20-year-old Ethan Chapin.
Maddie and Goncalves were best friends who will be remembered for their sense of humor and “ironic” love for country music, a childhood friend of the women previously told Fox News.
“You can’t even explain it if you try to,” the women’s friend said. “The only thing that makes sense about any of this is that if they were going to go, they were going to go together.”
Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, along with the women’s two other roommates in Kaylee Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the slayings. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
Benjamin said he wants people to know how much his daughter “loved her friends and her family and how much we loved her.”
“I never saw her in a bad mood,” Benjamin said. “She was just always so bright and positive, would just make everybody smile.”
The home where University of Idaho students were killed, pictured here two weeks after the murders. (Stephanie Pagones/Fox News Digital)
The University of Idaho community is holding a vigil for all four victims on Wednesday evening.
Police have not identified a suspect in the murders or located a murder weapon, but authorities and loved ones of the victims are appealing to the public for any information.
“If anyone knows anything, please just help out and give us some closure, so we can move on and get these through these days a little easier,” Benjamin said.