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Rochester, New York

I t’s the mention of the knife sheath Kohberger left at the scene that convinces Kristine Cameron that Bryan Kohberger and Pappa Rodger are one and the same.

When Kohberger was arrested and she saw his face on the news, she thought that he looked similar to the strange profile picture of Pappa Rodger. But, she’d told herself, that could just be wishful thinking.

Kristine also thought about the fact that Elliot Rodger targeted sorority girls. In particular, he targeted the Alpha Phi sorority. Kaylee’s sorority.

“I was like, wait a minute. [Kohberger] killed all—he killed four people. Three of them are girls, three of them. He’s never had a girlfriend…”

After the arrest Kristine waits for Pappa Rodger to resurface on the Facebook page and opine about Kohberger.

But he doesn’t reappear.

And his silence starts a frenzy on the Facebook page.

People put up screenshots of his earlier posts about the murders and highlight the parts of Brett Payne’s affidavit that jibe just a bit too neatly with them.

There’s his obsession with the idea that police had found a knife sheath at the crime scene, his opinion that the killer had been in the house fifteen minutes, that he’d stopped after killing four out of exhaustion, that the house was targeted for a reason, that the killer was not in the circle of victims’ friends, that he’d left the neighborhood.

Once again, the contents of the Facebook page enter mainstream news. On NewsNation, Ashleigh Banfield does several segments on whether Pappa Rodger could be Kohberger.

Kristine and Alina half expect to get a call from the FBI or the police. It’s not every day that you find you’ve become the story you are covering.

The exposure is helpful, Kristine believes, for Alina and herself. It takes the duo a big step closer to building an audience for the true-crime podcast they want to host. Vice Media has signed them to an exclusive deal to report on Kohberger.

Kristine loves that she and Alina are joined at the hip. Both women believe their arrangement works.

Alina puts in many more hours than her partner on this Facebook page and the others they started because, unlike Kristine, she’s home most of the time because she’s struggling with medical issues around an injured back.

Alina believes that Kristine is fully supportive of her predicament; one night when Alina was recovering from a procedure, Kristine refused an invitation to go on Ashleigh Banfield’s NewsNation show alone to talk about Pappa Rodger, a sign of how robust their friendship and partnership is.

But Alina has often told Kristine that she cannot afford to continue to work night and day on the pages if they can’t find a way to monetize what they are doing.

Kristine, who has a full-time job, tells her she understands.

Their friendship and partnership are “above any sort of monetary thing,” Kristine believes.

“I would’ve put her first,” Kristine later said.

But by then, it was too late.