Face of Nation : The body of missing University of Utah student Mackenzie Lueck was recovered in a canyon 85 miles north of Salt Lake City, police said Friday.
The body was recovered Wednesday, and investigators later confirmed it was Lueck’s.
“In the wake of this tragic, tragic incident I am relieved and grief-stricken to report that we have recovered Mackenzie Lueck in Logan Canyon,” said Salt Lake Police Chief Mike Brown in a news conference Friday.
Lueck disappeared June 17 after she returned from a trip to her hometown of El Segundo, California, and took a Lyft from the airport to Hatch Park in North Salt Lake. This was where she reportedly met an individual in a separate car around 3 a.m.
Police say the last person Lueck was in contact with was 31-year-old Ayoola A. Ajayi, who was also in the park. He is being held on suspicion of aggravated murder, kidnapping and desecration of a body. No attorney has been listed for him.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Friday that the investigation remains open, and investigators continue to look for more evidence regarding Lueck’s death.
Gill asked for more time to file formal charges and said Friday that charges probably will be filed early next week.
Ajayi is currently being held in prison without bail.
Students and classmates at the University of Utah remember Lueck, who was a kinesiology student with plans of entering the healthcare field, as “a nurturer.”
“I’m here to ask you, implore you, to remain respectful,” Brown said. “The tight-knit nature of this community is what helped us close this case so quickly.”
