Celebrity

Emily Alandt and Hunter Johnson wed, honoring Ethan and Xana

The friends who found the University of Idaho victims' bodies in 2022 married in Boise over the weekend and put three names on a sign at the reception, TMZ reports.

Emily Alandt and Hunter Johnson married in Boise, Idaho, over the weekend, and the reception had room for the friends who couldn't be there.

**Reported by TMZ.**

A sign at the wedding carried the names of Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, two of the four University of Idaho students killed in November 2022, and a third name, Katie Marshall. The line underneath: "You are forever with us today and every day."

Who they are

Alandt and Johnson were among the first at the crime scene that November. Surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen called them to the off-campus house the morning after the killings, and Johnson was one of the first inside, where he found his friends' bodies, TMZ reports.

Stacy Chapin, Ethan's mother, was at the wedding, TMZ reports. She shared photos Sunday of the newlyweds with her family, including Ethan's father, Jim, and Ethan's triplet siblings, Maizie and Hunter. The groom and one of Ethan's brothers share a first name, the sort of coincidence a wedding program doesn't plan for.

Alandt and Johnson have talked before about how they carried each other through what followed. Johnson has said he hoped they would build a family together one day, TMZ reports.

The case

Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to murdering Ethan, Xana, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, TMZ reports. He was sentenced in July 2025 to four consecutive life terms without parole. He has since tried to withdraw that plea, TMZ reports.

Coverage of this case has spent years on one name. The sign at that wedding spelled three others.

Wedding coverage is a machine for a small set of photos: the couple, the cake, the first dance. We think the sign is the shot from this one that outlasts the rest.

**The group-chat line:** the couple promised each other a future, and the sign promised three friends they would stay part of it.

  • Bryan Kohberger
  • Emily Alandt
  • Ethan Chapin
  • Hunter Johnson
  • University of Idaho
  • Xana Kernodle

About Nate Corrigan

Nate Corrigan covers reality TV and writes the group-chat line. He spent ten years performing improv and sketch comedy in Chicago and was a staff writer on a late-night comedy show for two seasons. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two kids. He maintains that he watches dating shows ironically.