MOSCOW, Idaho – The father of slain University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves told WHD News on Friday that the arrest of a suspect in the killing of his daughter and three other students is the "first sense of joy in seven weeks."

Goncalves made the comment after the arrest of Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, in Pennsylvania. Kohberger was taken into custody by local police and the FBI at 3 a.m. in Albrightsville and is being held for extradition to Idaho for first-degree murder in connection to the slayings of Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; and Madison Mogen, 21.

UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO MURDERS TIMELINE: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE SLAUGHTER OF FOUR STUDENTS

Slain Idaho college student Kaylee Goncalves with her dad, Steve Goncalves. On Friday, Steve Goncalves expressed a sense of relief that his daughter's alleged killer had been arrested. (Instagram)

He is a graduate student at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, according to the college's website. Pullman is a 15-minute drive from the rental home where the four students were stabbed to death.

The four students were each stabbed multiple times in the torso and were likely ambushed in their sleep with a large fix-bladed knife between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, according to the coroner and police. 

Two surviving roommates, who lived on the basement level, appeared to have slept through the gruesome attack.

This photo provided by Monroe County (Pa.) Correctional Facility shows Bryan Kohberger. Arrest paperwork filed by Pennsylvania State Police in Monroe County Court, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022, said Kohberger, 28, was being held for extradition in a criminal homicide investigation in the killings of four University of Idaho students, based on an active arrest warrant for first degree murder issued by the Moscow Police Department and Latah County Prosecutor’s Office. (Monroe County (Pa.) Correctional Facility via WHD)

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Kaylee Goncalves, who was from Rathdrum, Idaho, was a senior majoring in general studies and a member of the Alpha Phi sorority. She had been set to graduate early in December and planned to move to Austin, Texas, where she had a marketing job lined up. She was also looking forward to an upcoming trip to Europe.  

WHD News' Rebecca Rosenberg, Stephanie Pagones and Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.