Goncalves’ sister: ‘True evil’ was watching Idaho victims

(NewsNation) — The mystery of the Idaho college killings is just starting to unravel. Alivea Goncalves, sister of victim Kaylee Goncalves, spoke out in an interview with NewsNation senior national correspondent Brian Entin for the first time since the affidavit linking suspect Bryan Kohberger to the case became public.

“We had no idea. She had no idea. I had no idea that true evil was genuinely watching them,” Alivea told NewsNation.

Alivea said she talked to Kaylee every day, which sometimes makes reading the investigative findings tough.

“That’s been the hardest part of this is to sit back and look at the totality of it. When my sister was Facetiming me about a new egg bites recipe, he was planning his next visit to the home. That’s really difficult not to wish that you had done more and wish that you had known more. But, it’s just the first step. A lot more evidence will come out,” Alivea said.

Alivea believes Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminal justice graduate student, may have been watching the investigation into the killings play out online.

“A lot of that comes from the fact that he had visited the home so many times before, late at night and early hours. He’s presented this pattern of behavior. He went back to the home the morning of, before police had been called, I think to see if his circus, so to say, had started to unfold. I think he would not have been able to refrain from engaging with the online communities, the theories, the conspiracies, and everything in between,” Alivea said.

The affidavit detailed that according to investigators, one of the surviving roommates saw someone in the home the night of the killings. After seeing the figure, she told authorities she went back into her room and locked the door.

With chatter online about the surviving roommate, Alivea came to her defense, saying that she is really young.

“She was probably really, really scared. Until we have any more information, I think everyone should stop passing judgments because you don’t know what you would do in that situation,” Alivea said.

Throughout the investigation, Alivea has been working hard behind the scenes, digging into information, trying to find leads and communicating with authorities. She finds receiving relevant tips from people helpful and encourages them to keep coming.

“Nothing is insignificant at this point. Everything is being looked through,” she said.

Alivea says her family is starting to get to a place of being able to grieve. They are in the early stages of setting up a foundation in Kaylee’s memory.

“We still have such a long road ahead of us. The relief that we all felt having a suspect in custody was, I can’t even describe it, like the weight of the world was lifted from our shoulders,” Alivea said.

Even though it may be difficult, Alivea plans to closely follow the case and attend each of Kohberger’s court hearings.