GhLinks Media
Jim and Stacy Chapin, Ethan Chapin’s parents have spoken out about the last time they saw their son.
When Jim and Stacy Chapin left the University of Idaho on November 6 last year, they traded high fives with their children, content their triplets were “having the time of their lives” – but they had no way of knowing what tragedy was coming.
“We drove out of town that Sunday morning…and we literally high fived each other that day,” Stacy said via Fox News.
“We literally congratulated each other. We were like, ‘we’ve done it, we’ve done it, they’re ‘adulting’. They’re kind. We’ve done it. We can rest easy.'”
Just a week later, their son Ethan was brutally killed along with his girlfriend, 20-year-old Xana Kernodle, and her roommates Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.
The murders threw the family into the “depths of hell” according to Stacy, and now, the family are coming through the other side and have broken their silence after months.
Jim fought back tears as he remembered the last time he spoke to his son.
He said: “We said goodbye in the parking lot Saturday night.
“Sigma Chi house. Gave him a hug. Told him to be safe. And that was the last time.”
Despite what happened, the parents are not angry.
“That’s a negative energy, and it’s not worth it,” Jim explained.
“It’s an honest answer,” added Stacy, “It’s a tough hand to be dealt, but we can’t change the outcome.”
Instead, the pair have created a foundation in Ethan’s honour from their grief – Ethan’s Smile.
It all started at Tulip Valley Farms in Mount Vernon, Washington.
Ethan had worked for the farm owner during lockdown in 2020, and following his murder the farm created the ‘Ethan’s Smile’ tulip mix.
It was the proceeds from the sales of the mix and bulbs which actually helped the Chapins launch the foundation, which will fund scholarships for students in Skagit Valley, Washington, where the children grew up, to go to the University of Idaho.
After five months of silence, it was the foundation which got the family talking again.
Following the murders, the Chapins spent two months shut in together – Stacy and Jim along with the two surviving triplets Hunter and Maizie.
