Missing University of Utah student was murdered, police say

By Pat Reavy, KSL | Updated - Jun 28th, 2019 @ 7:45pm | Posted - Jun 28th, 2019 @ 9:40am

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10PM: Missing University of Utah student was murdered, police say

Jed Boal, KSL TV

SALT LAKE CITY — After an exhaustive weeklong investigation, Salt Lake police somberly announced Friday that they believe a University of Utah student missing since June 17 was murdered. A man who police say she met up with on June 17 in a North Salt Lake park was arrested in connection with the death of 23-year-old Mackenzie Lueck.

"It is with heavy heart that I address you today," Salt Lake Police Chief Mike Brown said in announcing the arrest.

Ayoola Adisa Ajayi, 31, was taken into custody at 9:20 a.m. at an apartment complex at 1028 S. West Temple by a SWAT team. He was later booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, desecration of a human body and obstruction of justice. He is being held without bail.

The SWAT team had Ajayi exit an apartment at gunpoint and walk toward waiting officers with his hands on his head. In a picture of the arrest, it appears Ajayi is talking to someone on his cellphone. Salt Lake police confirmed Friday that at some point, the SWAT team talked to him by phone to have him come out of the apartment.

A second man who was in the same apartment was also placed in handcuffs and taken from the scene. Police say they questioned that man but later released him and say he has no connection to the Lueck case.

After announcing that Ajayi was in custody, Brown said he would not be saying the suspect's name again.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office was expected to review the case for formal criminal charges Friday, but charges aren't expected until next week. The arrest comes a day after Ajayi was named a "person of interest" in Lueck's disappearance after Salt Lake police spent all of Wednesday night and into Thursday morning searching his house in the Fairpark neighborhood.

Bags and bags of evidence were collected. Officers could also be seen digging holes in the backyard. Neighbors told detectives they had observed Ajayi on June 17 and June 18 burning something in his backyard.

"The search warrant resulted in the findings of a fresh dig area on his property, which is the same area that the arrested person was reported burning something. A forensic excavation of the burn area was conducted, which resulted in the finding of several charred items which were consistent with personal items of Mackenzie Lueck,” Brown said.

Gasoline was also used during those burnings, police said.

The search of those charred items also resulted in the finding of "female human tissue" that was tested and compared with DNA from other items belonging to Lueck. Brown said the DNA matched.

But the chief declined to say Friday whether Lueck's body had been recovered. Related:

What we know about Ayoola Ajayi, the man arrested in connection with Mackenzie Lueck's disappearance

A homeowner who police previously named as a "person of interest" in the case of missing University of Utah student Mackenzie Lueck has been arrested, police confirmed Friday.

"This investigation will continue. We are still looking for anybody that may have helped this arrested person, and any other evidence that would provide evidence for us to use in this case,” Brown said.

When asked more directly — "Do you have a body?" — the chief replied: "We’re not confirming that right now."

On Friday evening, Salt Lake police announced they had located the mattress and box spring Ajayi gave away earlier this week after offering it on a website. Investigators had said they believed two separate people took the items. After the arrest, Brown said he called Lueck's father.

"This is one of the most difficult phone calls I've ever made," he said, "as both Greg and his wife, Diana, were devastated and heartbroken by this news." An uncle of Lueck, who declined to be identified, read a prepared statement at the press conference. He thanked Salt Lake police for their efforts, and the community for all the tips they had provided to police.

Lueck was last seen early on the morning of June 17 when she flew into Salt Lake City International Airport after attending a family funeral in her hometown of El Segundo, California. Surveillance video at the airport recorded Lueck making her way to baggage claim, and then getting into a Lyft vehicle.

The Lyft driver told police he dropped off Lueck at Hatch Park in North Salt Lake about 3 a.m. where another person in a car was waiting for her. That was when "all communication" from Lueck's phone stopped, the chief said.

On Friday, Brown said cellphone data collected from both Lueck's and Ajayi's phones put them at Hatch Park at the same time early that morning.

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Poster Comment:

They still need a Corpus delecti to make the case stick. Everything else is circumstantial.