People on social media are defending Dylan Mortensen after a video circulated online claiming to show her at a party a year after her roommates were fatally stabbed to death inside a rental house near the University of Idaho.
The bodies of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, were found at the home in Moscow on November 13, 2022.
Bryan Kohberger, who was a graduate student studying criminology at Washington State University in nearby Pullman, has been charged with four counts of murder in connection with the case. A judge entered not guilty pleas on Kohberger’s behalf earlier this year, and he is awaiting trial.
Mortensen and another roommate in the house on the night of the killings were unharmed. She told investigators she saw a masked man in the home around the time the killings are thought to have occurred, according to an affidavit that was unsealed in January.
Mortensen said she had opened her bedroom door after she heard crying and saw a man dressed in black with a mask over his nose and mouth walking toward her. She froze and the man walked to a sliding glass door, the affidavit said. She then locked herself in her room.
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Her stepmother told the New York Post recently that Mortensen has transferred to another college and is struggling with survivor’s guilt. “There’s a lot of guilt because, you know, if someone says, ‘Oh, well, Dylan was so lucky,’ you know, you don’t want to take on that luck—because all of the children deserved luck. They all deserved to be spared from that,” Patricia Monroe said.
At the weekend, a video that was originally filmed on TikTok showing Mortensen dancing with friends at a party was posted on X, formerly Twitter, by Jonathan Lee Riches, who describes himself as an “investigate reporter” and “Truth Seeking Sleuth.”
Riches wrote that it looks like Mortensen “has recovered” from the tragedy. The clip was reportedly filmed during a Halloween party.
Newsweek has not been able to verify the veracity of the video and has contacted Riches via his website for comment.
Other users on the platform called out Riches for circulating the clip and his comments and defended Mortensen.
“‘A clip of a few seconds does not mean she is healed. She will likely never heal,” wrote @Jessika4Justice.
“Those impacted by homicide have the highest rate of PTSD, major depressive disorder, addiction, alcoholism and suicide out of all crime survivors. Those of us left behind fight an invisible battle no one else can see. Leave this young woman alone.”
Danielle Slakoff, a criminologist, wrote: “I hesitate to repost because I don’t want to give this type of true crime reporting further credence.
“But this is so wildly inappropriate. No one knows how she is feeling. This video does not show how ‘recovered’ someone is from trauma…”
I hesitate to repost because I don’t want to give this type of true crime reporting further credence.
But this is so wildly inappropriate. No one knows how she is feeling. This video does not show how “recovered” someone is from trauma… https://t.co/Zi818zHee9
— Dr. Danielle Slakoff (@DSlakoffPhD) November 27, 2023
One person wrote that it is “insane you think she can’t go out and have a fun night because her friends were murdered a year ago? Grieving people can create GOOD memories in the midst of grieving. My fiancé died and there were days I had fun and then I went home.”
Another wrote that Mortensen “literally escaped death and has had a traumatic experience and random strangers piling on her for no reason.”
She is “allowed to live her life,” the user added. “You see one video of her happy and think she has recovered? Distraction and having fun is a coping mechanism of grief.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.