The FBI denies reports that the agency ordered Indiana police to stop the suspect

INDIANAPOLIS – The Federal Bureau of Investigation is fighting back reports it has ordered Indiana law enforcement to arrest Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger.

Police stopped Kohberger twice, approximately 10 minutes apart, on December 15 on eastbound I-70 in Hancock County. The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office and the Indiana State Police both released body camera footage of the encounters.

In both cases, police told Kohberger that he was stopped for following another vehicle too closely. He was released with a warning.

Kohberger and his father were stopped in Indiana while driving from Washington state to Pennsylvania for vacation. They were driving a white Hyundai Elantra.

Reports later surfaced that an FBI surveillance team tracking Kohberger on his cross-country trip had directed Indiana law enforcement to stop Kohberger so they could get video of him and his hands.

The FBI said that wasn’t the case.

“Contrary to reports, the Dec. 15 traffic stops performed on the Indiana vehicle driven by Bryan Kohberger were not requested or ordered by the FBI,” the agency said in a statement distributed to the media on Thursday.

Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students on November 13: 21-year-olds Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, and 20-year-olds Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

In the probable cause affidavit released Thursday, investigators said DNA, cellphone data and a white Hyundai Elantra linked Kohberger to the crime.