Source: Surviving Idaho roommate never went upstairs

(NewsNation) — Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen were the survivors of the University of Idaho murders allegedly committed by Bryan Kohberger.

A source close to the families of the Idaho victims told NewsNation that Funke was not among those who discovered the bodies. She was the only one living in the basement at the house and apparently never went upstairs after the killings.

It's unclear where Funke currently resides, and, according to our source, she has not had any communication with the family members of the victims.

"No one that I've talked to has seen her (Funke) on campus at this time. ... We've heard from Ethan (Chapin)'s mother that Ethan's siblings have gone back to campus. They're trying to move forward, but we haven't heard that Bethany is back there," Lauren Matthias, host of "Hidden: A True Crime Podcast," told NewsNation host Ashleigh Banfield.

Early on in the investigation, police did state that the surviving roommates had been cooperating via interviews. However, Funke was not mentioned in the probable cause affidavit.

Survivor Dylan Mortensen, whose room was on the second floor, allegedly saw and mistook the killer as a guest of a party at the house, a source exclusively told "Banfield."

The source spoke directly with Mortensen, who said she allegedly yelled about the noises heard during the killings because she mistook it for partying.

First responders were not wearing protective footwear, a source revealed to NewsNation.

When first responders got to the house, they may have tracked snow-melting chemicals into the home, potentially disrupting the retrieval of footprint evidence.