Mackenzie Lueck is the missing University of Utah student who was confirmed to have been killed at the age of 23. Lueck was last seen on June 17 at Salt Lake International Airport. Lueck had been returning from her grandmother’s funeral.
On June 28, the Salt Lake City Police Department confirmed that a person had been taken into custody in relation to her disappearance. Later that day, officials said in a press conference, “We are filing charges of aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, obstruction of justice, and desecration of a body in the murder of MacKenzie Lueck.”
Police have named 31-year-old Ayoola Ajayi. Authorities said that Lueck’s body was found in Ajayi’s backyard. Authorities said that “Other charred material was located which has now been forensically determined to be female human tissue.” Lueck’s belongings were also found buried in the backyard of Ajayi’s home.
Earlier, a contractor revealed that Ajayi had wanted to build a secret room in his home with hooks on the walls. During the search of Ajayi’s home, police had said that they were seeking a mattress and box spring that the suspect had recently gotten rid of. It’s not clear if investigators have recovered those items.
The Salt Lake Tribune, citing a neighbor, reported that the owner of the home where Ajavi lived had rented out part of the property through AirBnB.
Lueck was a native of El Segundo, California. When she was last seen, Lueck had taken a Lyft ride to North Salt Lake where she met someone in a car at around 3 a.m. That last anyone saw of Lueck. Ajayi’s home is located close to that park.
On June 26, Fox News reported that Lueck’s friends had told police that there had been activity on the missing woman’s Instagram account. Lueck’s account had liked another account. The account liked by Lueck’s account was named “Fatherless.”
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