Idaho murders: Police address Bryan Kohberger’s ties to woman’s death as parents testify
Bryan Kohberger’s parents were ordered to testify before a grand jury investigating the disappearance and death of Dana Smithers
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Police in Pennsylvania have spoken out about the possible connection between Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger and the death of a woman whose body was found almost a year after her disappearance.
It emerged this week that Mr Kohberger’s parents had been ordered to testify before a grand jury investigating the disappearance and death of Dana Smithers, 45.
Smithers vanished without a trace in May 2022 from Monroe County, Pennsylvania – where Mr Kohberger was living at the time. Her remains were found last month in a wooded area, her cause of death still unknown.
A source told CNN that the accused killer’s mother had already given evidence to the grand jury while his father was appearing to testify on Thursday.
Stroud Area Regional Police Department has now issued a statement insisting there is “NO EVIDENCE that Dana Smither’s disappearance, is in ANY WAY tied to Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger”.
The development comes days after Mr Kohberger was arraigned on four counts of murder and one count of burglary in Moscow, Idaho.
Mr Kohberger is accused of killing Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on 13 November.
The search for Dana Smithers
Smithers was last seen alive on 28 May 2022 when she left her friend’s house.
It was the following morning when Smithers’ mother realised her daughter had not come home that night.
Initially, the family wasn’t too concerned as Stacey said the 45-year-old had stayed out all night in the past.
But, when she didn’t show up for Memorial Day celebrations with the family on 30 May, they knew something must be wrong.
Smithers and her children, aged 25, 23 and 7, had a family tradition to go to Knoebels Park in Pennsylvania ever Memorial Day.
“She would not have missed Memorial Day,” said Stacey, adding that she would also never have left her youngest child for that long.
“She didn’t do anything that didn’t involve her kids,” she said. “That was her thing. I mean she was always there with the kids.”
Smithers was finally reported missing days later after Stacey said law enforcement initially didn’t take her disappearance seriously.
In June, the Pennsylvania State Police and local police carried out searches with cadaver dogs at Glen Park in Stroudsburg – a heavily wooded area close to her home. The search did not turn up anything and the case went cold for months.
For almost a year, the mother-of-three’s family desperately searched for answers and Smither’s case featured in an episode of NBC’s Dateline in December 2022 – one month after the four students were murdered in Idaho.
Stacey feared the worst, saying: “I think something happened. I don’t think she’s here anymore.”
Dana Smithers’ remains found
Almost one year after she was last seen alive, on 27 April Smithers’ remains were found in a wooded area in Stroudsburg.
Stroud Area Regional Police said that a Borough employee had discovered decomposing human remains in a wooded area close to Park Avenue in the Borough of Stroudsburg.
Due to extensive decomposition, the gender and identity of the individual was unclear at the time.
Using dental records, the remains were later identified as belonging to Smithers.
Her cause and manner of death is not yet known.
What is Bryan Kohberger’s connection to the Dana Smithers’ case?
There are many unanswered questions around what happened to Smithers – and what it may have to do with Mr Kohberger.
It is currently unclear why Mr Kohberger’s parents Michael and Maryann Kohberger have been called to testify in the case.
At the time of Smithers’ disappearance in May 2022, Mr Kohberger was also living in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, with his family.
That summer, he then moved cross-country to Pullman for a graduate program in criminal justice at Washington State University (WSU).
A few months later on 13 November, he allegedly broke into an off-campus student home just over the border in Moscow, Idaho, and murdered the four college students.
In that case, it remains unclear what motive and what connection Mr Kohberger may have had to the victims.
And now, in Smithers’ case, a possible link also remains unclear.
Mr Kohberger is said to have a solid alibi for Smithers’ disappearance and is likely not connected to her death, a source told Eyewitness News. But the grand jury investigation is still ongoing and no findings have been revealed.
However, it comes following a report that one of the accused killer’s older sisters grew increasingly suspicious that her brother could have been involved in the Idaho murders prior to his arrest.
Her suspicions were so great that – at one point – several family members searched Mr Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra for possible evidence of the crime when the family gathered to spend the holidays together, sources told NBC’s Dateline.
They found nothing but investigators had already allegedly seen Mr Kohberger scrubbing his car with bleach.
Dana Smithers’s sister noted possible link to Idaho case months ago
Back in January, Stacey posted an update on the Facebook page “Finding Dana” saying that many people had contacted her about a possible link between her sister’s disappearance and the Idaho murders.
“Thank you to everyone who has been reaching out recently regarding the possibility of the suspect in the horrific murders in Idaho having been in our area around the time of my sister, Dana’s disappearance,” she wrote.
“I have forwarded all of your suggestions on to local law enforcement. Please pray for everyone involved.”
She vanished months before the Idaho murders. Why has her death been linked to Bryan Kohberger?
Dana Smithers was last seen alive in May 2022. Her remains were found in a wooded area last month. Now, Bryan Kohberger’s parents are testifying in an investigation into her death.
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp reports:
What happened to Dana Smithers? Woman whose death now linked to Bryan Kohberger
Dana Smithers was last seen alive in May 2022. Her remains were found in a wooded area last month. Now, Bryan Kohberger’s parents are testifying in an investigation into her death. Rachel Sharp reports
ICYMI: Bryan Kohberger’s parents to testify in 2022 Dana Smithers case - report
Bryan Kohberger’s parents have been called to testify before a grand jury in Pennsylvania in a case related to Dana Smithers, who went missing in 2022, according to NewsNation.
Smithers, a 45-year-old woman, was last seen on 28 May 2022 in Monroe County and her remains were discovered in a wooded area in Stroudsburg on 27 April, around 30 miles away from Kohberger’s home in Albrightsville.
However, a source told NewsNation that Mr Bryan’s alibi proves that he likely wasn’t involved in Smithers’ missing case.
But the grand jury has not concluded their proceedings in the case and investigations are ongoing.
Novelist James Patterson, journalist Vicky Ward plan book on killing of Idaho college students
Best-selling novelist James Patterson is teaming up with investigative journalist Vicky Ward on a book about the 2022 killing of four University of Idaho students.
Little, Brown and Company announced Friday that Mr Patterson and Mr Ward will “draw from dozens of exclusive interviews, extensive on-the-ground reporting, copious court transcripts” and their own planned attendance at the trial of suspect Bryan Kohberger, who was indicated this week by a grand jury in Boise.
“The Idaho murders have captured imaginations all around the world and I’m as caught up in it as anyone else. Because all of this happened in such a small town, there are definitely echoes of ‘In Cold Blood,’” Mr Patterson said in a statement.
He is one of the world’s most prolific and popular novelists, but also has worked on nonfiction books, with subjects ranging from Princess Diana to Jeffrey Epstein.
WATCH: Moment Idaho student murders suspect arrives in court for arraignment
Four students stabbed to death, a weeks-long manhunt and still no motive: What we know about the Idaho murders
The murder of four college students in the quiet town of Moscow, Idaho, last November unravelled a months-long investigation that is now headed to trial.
The victims, all students at the University of Idaho, were ambushed in their rooms and stabbed to death with a military-style knife that has yet to be found. Police were called to the gruesome scene at the off-campus residence almost eight hours after the vicious attack.
The Independent has more:
What to know about Idaho murders and suspect Bryan Kohberger
As the sole suspect in the stabbings of four Idaho students is about to be arraigned on murder charges, Andrea Blanco, Rachel Sharp and Sheila Flynn report on the case in small town Idaho that has shocked America
Who is Bryan Kohberger? The criminology graduate being arraigned over the Idaho college murders
Bryan Kohberger became a household name across America when police swooped on his parents’ home in December and arrested him for the brutal murders of four University of Idaho students.
But who is he?
Who is Bryan Kohberger?
Speculation and rumour have swirled in the months following Bryan Kohberger’s arrest, as conspiracists and armchair detectives paint all manner of pictures of the accused killer. But who really is the former PhD student? Sheila Flynn reports
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.