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It’s a task no family ever wants to face.
More than two years after University of Idaho murder victim Kaylee Goncalves was brutally slain, her loved ones are finally facing the unimaginable – going through the belongings she left behind.
“Note: this is not all of it, this is JUST the beginning,” a relative wrote in a Jan. 27 post on the Goncalves family’s Facebook page alongside photos of cardboard boxes and plastic containers stacked inside their Idaho home, each labeled with a simple, devastating “K.”
“There are boxes and boxes and boxes. I’m just starting here,” the family member added.
The post explained that Kaylee’s things had been moved out of her childhood bedroom because it was “just too much” to go through them there.
“I’m finally going through Kaylee’s things,” reads the post.
“I am looking for several items, such as her orange Sublime T-shirt, her grey sublime crew neck, Black death row records shirt [sic], and the outfit she was wearing out that night.
“Wish me luck. There’s no turning back now,” the tear-jerking post reads.
Goncalves, 21, was one of four students stabbed to death inside an off-campus Moscow home Nov. 13, 2022 – a tragedy that stunned the nation.
Since then, her life had remained boxed up, untouched and frozen in time – until now.
In a follow-up post, her family shared side-by-side photos of a white crewneck sweatshirt freshly pulled from a box bearing the phrase “Think while it’s still legal,” next to an undated image of Goncalves smiling ear-to-ear while wearing it.
“It doesn’t smell like her, it smells like the box it came out of, but it was definitely hers,” read the caption, accompanied by broken-heart and crying emojis.
Other painful discoveries followed.
On Friday, the family unearthed Goncalves’ mouth retainer and bright red hairbrush – with strands of her long blonde hair still tangled in its bristles.
They also found pink sticky notes bearing everyday to-do lists she never got to finish.
“Curl hair, find stuff on amazon, take murph for a walk, cut nails,” read one note, referring to Goncalves’ beloved pet golden doodle, Murphy.
On the note, which was scribbled with small hearts, Goncalves had also written down the words “manage” and “flexible,” along with questions seemingly meant for a future employer – plans for a life suddenly cut short.
Another heart-clad note simply read, “Hello my name is Kaylee.”
“These items of Kaylee’s, hit me hard today,” the family member wrote. “I just want her back so bad!!!!”
The family member also expressed rage toward her killer, Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty in July to murdering Goncalves and her pals Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
“FU BK!!!!! I wish Steve could have 1 minute in that cell with him. 1 min, that’s all it would take,” the caption says, referring to Goncalves’ father, Steve Goncalves.
The moving posts all feature the hashtags “goncalvesarmyoflove,” “kayleejade4ever” and “neverforget.”
The family’s heartbreaking work came just days after horrific autopsy reports revealed that Goncalves was knifed roughly 38 times when Kohberger, 31, targeted the King Road home.
Kohberger’s motive for the murders could remain a mystery forever, as he is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
The Goncalves family did not respond to Post requests for comment.
English (US)