Mackenzie Lueck Update: Missing Utah Student's Remains Located, Suspected Arrested For Murder

Salt Lake City Police have a suspect in custody in the kidnapping and killing of a University of Utah pre-nursing student, as new information has emerged about the details.

Mackenzie Lueck, 23, a Los Angeles native, had originally flown into Salt Lake City on June 17 when she caught a ride-share to a park a few miles away from the airport. After getting in the second car, she hadn’t been seen since. She was reported missing not long after and authorities had begun searching for the missing college student.

Police’s search efforts led them to 31-year-old Ayoola Ajayi, who was discovered to have contacted Lueck the day before she arrived. Investigators had combed through Lueck’s phone and social media and placed Ajayi at the park Lueck disappeared from at the same time she was there. SWAT then arrived at Ajayi’s house, where they found burnt and freshly dug ground.

“Excavation of the burned area was conducted, which resulted in the finding of several charred items, that were consistent with personal items of Mackenzie Lueck,” Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said on Friday. “Other charred material was located, which has now been determined to be female human tissue.”

A subsequent DNA test linked the remains to Lueck and Ajayi.

Ajayi on Friday was arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, kidnapping, obstruction of justice and desecration of a body. He remains in custody and his being held without bail.

Additional information about Ajayi in recent days. A local contractor came forward to police, revealing that Ajayi had requested having a room in his home soundproofed.

“He was adamant about getting it done really fast and money was no object,” contractor Brian Wolf said. Wolf also revealed that Ajayi asked for hooks in the concrete wall and a fingerprint lock on the door. He turned down the job, saying that it gave him "a weird feeling" in his gut.

“As soon as he said he wanted the hooks above head height, I was like, ‘Why do you need big hooks up there?’” Wolf told the Deseret News. “And he said it was to hang a wine rack. I said, ‘Well, I can hang a wine rack and make it look a lot nicer than these big, gaudy hooks.’”

The University of Utah will hold a memorial Monday at 6 p.m. for Lueck.